CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 116-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

RE:    S.B. No. 3126

       S.D. 2

       H.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 3126, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to accelerate the goals of the Department of Education to cool Hawaii's schools, reduce energy costs, meet the State's clean energy goals, and authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds and the use of funds from the green infrastructure loan program to implement cooling measures in public schools to provide students with a better learning environment.  Among other things, this measure:

     (1)  Requires the Department of Education to establish the sustainable schools initiative with a goal of becoming net-zero with respect to energy use by January 1, 2035;

     (2)  Requires the Department of Education to establish in each county at least one microgrid pilot project at public schools that also serves as emergency shelters to allow for continued operations even during the failure of the larger electric grid during a natural disaster;

     (3)  Requires the Department of Education to expedite the cooling of all public school classrooms to a temperature acceptable for student learning, and to submit a report to the Legislature about the implementation of measures taken to cool public school classrooms;

     (4)  Appropriates funds from the Hawaii green infrastructure special fund to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism for maximizing the energy efficiency of all schools;

     (5)  Authorizes the Department of Education and Department of Budget and Finance, with the approval of the Governor, to borrow funds from the green infrastructure loan program for capital improvement program equipment and installation costs for air conditioning and other energy efficiency measures related to heat abatement in public schools; and

     (6)  Appropriates general obligation bond funds to fund capital improvement program equipment and installation costs for air conditioning and other energy efficiency measures related to heat abatement in public schools.

     Your Committee on Conference finds that there is an urgent need to implement air conditioning and other heat abatement measures in public school classrooms to preserve and promote the health and safety of students and teachers and to foster a more productive learning environment.  In his 2016 State of the State address, the Governor challenged the Department of Education to cool one thousand classrooms by the end of the year, and while your Committee may not agree on the proposed method of financing, it views this measure as a vehicle and an opportunity to quickly bring relief to students and teachers statewide.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Removing language in the purpose section relating to cooling one thousand classrooms by the end of 2016;

     (2)  Deleting language establishing a sustainable schools initiative within the Department of Education;

     (3)  Deleting language requiring the Department of Education to establish a minimum of one microgrid pilot project;

     (4)  Deleting language requiring the Department of Education to expedite cooling measures in all public school classrooms;

     (5)  Deleting appropriations from the Hawaii green infrastructure special fund and general obligation bonds;

     (6)  Deleting authorization for the Department of Education and Department of Budget and Finance to borrow funds from the green infrastructure loan program;

     (7)  Appropriating $100,000,000 in general funds to the Department of Education for capital improvement program equipment and installation costs for air conditioning, heat abatement, energy efficient lighting, and other energy efficiency measures at public schools;

     (8)  Making this measure effective upon its approval; and

     (9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3126, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3126, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ CHRIS LEE, Co-Chair	____________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair
____________________________ ROY M. TAKUMI, Co-Chair	____________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Co-Chair
____________________________ SYLVIA LUKE, Co-Chair	____________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Co-Chair