STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2333

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2971

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Higher Education and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2971 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the requirement that the University of Hawaii prepare an annual report on the development of the Construction Academy program.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawai‘i Community Colleges.

     Your Committee finds that the Construction Academy began in 2004 with a grant from the United States Department of Labor that funded a pilot program between the University of Hawaii Community Colleges and certain Oahu high schools.  The pilot program provided students with the skills needed to pursue careers in the construction industry.  In 2006, the Legislature appropriated funds to institutionalize and expand the program to high schools throughout the State.  Your Committee finds that the Construction Academy program has established itself as an integral part of the pathway for construction-related education in Hawaii.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2971 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education and the Arts,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair