STAND. COM. REP. NO. 890

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 113

       S.D. 2

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. 113, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII STATE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys for the implementation and administration of the Hawaii state loan repayment program for primary and behavioral health care.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii, the Department of Public Safety, Hawaii Medical Association, Lanai Community Health Center, National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, The Queen's Health Systems, and thirty-one individuals.

     Your Committee finds that many residents in Hawaii are unable to obtain timely and appropriate health care due to a shortage of primary care and behavioral health providers.  Your Committee also finds that many individuals attempting to become health care professionals take on a significant amount of debt to pay for their education.  The Hawaii health corps program provides student loan repayment to health care providers who serve in counties with a shortage of providers.  The loan repayment program is meant to encourage providers to serve in underserved areas of the State, and since September 1, 2012, a total of sixteen physicians and nurse practitioners have received loan repayments as part of this program.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Changing the amount of the appropriation to an unspecified sum; and

(2)  Changing the effective date to 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. 113, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 113, S.D. 2.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair