STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1674-12

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

RE:   S.B. No. 2320

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 2320, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide essential home- and community-based services for Hawaii's elderly population by:

(1)  Establishing a home- and community-based services program within the Executive Office on Aging; and

(2)  Appropriating funds:

(A)  For the Home- and Community-Based Services Program and the Healthy Aging Partnership Program; and

(B)  To provide funds for grants, pursuant to Chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for senior centers and for the Alzheimer's Association, Aloha Chapter, for a wanderer's registration service to protect individuals with Alzheimer's disease, and for other Alzheimer's disease-related services and programs.

The Maui County Office on Aging; Department of Community Services of the City and County of Honolulu; Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs; Hawaii Government Employees Association AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; ILWU Local 142; Lanikila Pacific; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; AARP; Alzheimer's Association, Aloha Chapter; Child & Family Service; Hawaii Community Foundation; Waikiki Community Center; Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans; Catholic Charities Hawaii; Goodwill Industries of Hawaii, Inc.; Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance; Partners in Development Foundation; and numerous individuals testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Human Services, Executive Office on Aging, Director of the Hawaii County Office on Aging, and an individual commented on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Changing references from the "home- and community-based services program" to the "Kupuna Care Program";

(2)  Authorizing, rather than requiring, the Executive Office on Aging to establish the Kupuna Care Program and to provide the program in every county as a function of the aging and disability resource centers;

(3)  Specifying that the appropriation for the home- and community-based services program is for the Kupuna Care Program; and

(4)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2030, to facilitate further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2320, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2320, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair