STAND. COM. REP. NO. 544

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 926

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 926 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILDREN,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to continue to prepare children with the fundamental skills they need for a lifetime of learning.

     More specifically, this measure appropriates funds, to be expended by the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services, for programs designed to address school readiness and early childhood development.

     Your Committee received comments in support of this measure from Dee Jay Mailer, Chief Executive Officer, Kamehameha Schools; Robert Witt, Executive Director, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools; Robert Peters, Chair, Early Learning Council; and Rebecca Sanada-McGuire, President, Hawaii Baptist Early Education Association.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from Patricia McManaman, Interim Director, Department of Human Services; and Elisabeth Chun, Executive Director, Good Beginnings Alliance.

     Your Committee finds that early childhood is a critical time for development of fundamental skills necessary for educational success throughout life.  Your Committee further finds that many services designed to help children succeed in school have been eliminated or drastically reduced, and it is necessary to provide adequate funding for these programs.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 926, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 926, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair