STAND. COM. REP. NO. 873

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1016

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1016 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys to establish a life support ambulance based in Puna, Hawaii.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii County Council.  The Department of Health submitted written comments on this measure.

     Your Committee finds that the Puna area on the island of Hawaii is the fastest growing district in the State and has a projected population of seventy-five thousand residents in the next fifteen years.  For many Puna residents, their access point to health care is through the Hawaii County Fire Department's Emergency Medical Services System.  In addition, natural disasters affecting the Puna area, such as Tropical Storm Iselle and the ongoing lava flow, present potential obstacles to timely emergency care.  A life support ambulance based in Puna will help serve the increased population of this area and provide an additional emergency health care option in the event of a natural disaster.

     Your Committee suggests that, should subsequent Standing Committees decide to hear this measure, the Committees request the Department of Health to provide a more accurate estimate of the amount of funding needed to fulfill the purposes of this measure. Your Committee requests that subsequent Standing Committees also confirm that the emergency medical services special fund has sufficient moneys to fund the appropriation.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Appropriating funds for fiscal year 2016-2017; and

(2)  Making the effective date July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     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. 1016, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1016, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair