STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3195

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 60

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Higher Education, Hawaiian Affairs, and Health, to which was referred S.R. No. 60 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII JOHN A. BURNS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE TO ESTABLISH A NATIVE HAWAIIAN HEALTH TASK FORCE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine to establish a Native Hawaiian Health Task Force.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, The Queen's Health Systems, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Waimānalo Health Center, ‘Aha Kāne Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males, and eighteen individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

     Your Committees find that the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine's Department of Native Hawaiian Health recently completed a two-year study entitled "Assessment and Priorities for Health and Well-Being in Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Peoples".  The results of this study were presented to a joint legislative committee on September 23, 2013, along with recommendations and priorities to improve the health and well‑being of the State's indigenous and Pacific Islander populations.  The study also detailed successful programs that have led to reduced risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, and these programs include weight and blood pressure management.

     Your Committees further find that it is necessary to address the findings and recommendations of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health's study by creating a task force to formulate policies and procedures to eliminate the disproportionate impact of the social determinants of health and chronic disease on all individuals, with particular focus on Native Hawaiians and other Pacific peoples.  This measure requests the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine to establish a Native Hawaiian Health Task Force to examine these issues.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education, Hawaiian Affairs, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 60, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 60, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________ MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair	____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair
	____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair