STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2057
Honolulu, Hawaii
President of the Senate
Twenty-Eighth State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2426 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT MEALS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to ensure that financially disadvantaged students will not be denied school meals solely because of an inability to pay under certain circumstances.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Hawaii State Teachers Association; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Rainbow Family 808; and five individuals.
Your Committee finds that hungry students are under a dramatic disadvantage in regard to learning. Those students who are unable to pay for school meals frequently come from financially disadvantaged families, who may already struggle to provide nutritious meals for their children. The parents of such students often live paycheck-to-paycheck, and may occasionally not have sufficient funds to pay for school meals. Your Committee further finds that students should not be forced to compound financial hardship with hunger at school, and that such hunger places unnecessary obstacles in the path of the students' academic success.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2426 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,
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________________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair |
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