STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2055

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2698

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2698 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT INFORMED CONSENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require public schools to offer students educational alternatives to the dissection and vivisection of animals.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Humane Society of the United States, Good Shepherd Foundation, Animalearn, and six individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

     Your Committee finds that dissections and vivisections are a well-established part of many biology class curricula, but that some students have ethical, moral, or religious objections to those practices.  Advancements in computer software and other technologies have made it possible for schools to achieve the educational objectives met by dissections and vivisections while still respecting the positions and convictions of students regarding the humane treatment of animals.

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

     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. 2698, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2698, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair