STAND. COM. REP. NO.  380

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   H.B. No. 913

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Education and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 913 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EARLY LEARNING WELLNESS GUIDELINES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to encourage healthy choices and behaviors on the part of Hawaii's children by establishing early learning wellness guidelines for all programs and services of the State's Early Learning System.

The Executive Office on Early Learning, Department of Health, Department of Education, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, the Community Children's Councils, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, Good Beginnings Alliance, Special Education Advisory Council, and a concerned individual supported this measure.  The Department of Human Services provided comments.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Providing that the requirement to establish the early learning wellness guidelines will not be codified;

     (2)  Changing the entities with whom the Department of Health will partner to establish the wellness guidelines to specify the Executive Office on Early Learning, rather than the Early Learning Council, and to include other stakeholders expressing an interest;

     (3)  Deleting language specifying agencies and entities, other than partner agencies, to be involved in the development of the wellness guidelines;

     (4)  Deleting the requirement that the Department of Health distribute copies of the wellness guidelines to specified individuals and agencies;

     (5)  Narrowing the purpose of the appropriation to the funding of meetings for the development of the wellness guidelines; and

     (6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 913, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 913, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health,

____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair

____________________________ ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair