STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2639

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 Ways and Means, 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 Office of the Vice President for the University of Hawaii Community Colleges prepare an annual report relating to the Construction Academy.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii Community Colleges.

     Your Committee finds that the Construction Academy began in 2004 with a grant provided by the United States Department of Labor.  This grant funded a pilot program between the University of Hawaii Community Colleges and specific Oahu high schools to prepare students for construction industry jobs.  The Legislature appropriated moneys in 2006 to institutionalize and expand the program throughout the State.  Your Committee also finds that the Construction Academy has since established itself as an integral program of construction-related education for the State and thus, there is no longer a need for a separate annual report on the Construction Academy.

     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. 2971 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair