STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3404

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 110

       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 Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 110, S.D. 1, entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO AFFIRM ITS COMMITMENT TO UPHOLD THE TENETS OF TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENT ACT OF 1972,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Education to:

     (1)  Affirm its commitment to uphold the tenets of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX); and

     (2)  Study and report on the addition of a Title IX coordinator to each complex area.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Community Alliance on Prisons, American Association of University Women of Hawaii, American Association of University Windward, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the administration of any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, was enacted more than forty years ago.  In that time, great progress has been made toward eliminating sex discrimination in education, but more work remains to be done.  Until recently, the Department of Education did not have a Title IX coordinator, and access to services and reporting under Title IX remains difficult throughout much of the State.  This measure works to help address this by requesting the Department of Education to, among other things, increase accessibility to Title IX information and resources, increase Title IX staff, and provide training on Title IX's protections.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 110, S.D. 1, and recommends its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair