STAND. COM. REP. NO. 323

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 423

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 423 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT MEALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit denying a student a meal for the first:

     (1)  Thirty days of the first semester of a school year while the student's application for free or reduced lunch is being processed; or

     (2)  Week that the student's meal fund balance is zero or negative.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii Children's Action Network, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, and eighteen individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

     Your Committee finds that forty-seven percent of public school students in Hawaii qualify for the Department of Education's free and reduced lunch program.  Your Committee further finds that gaps in coverage for individual students in the program can arise due to delays in processing applications or the financial situation of the student's family.  Your Committee additionally finds that chronically hungry students suffer significant hardship compared to their classmates, and can experience achievement gaps, concentration loss, illness, increased absenteeism, behavioral problems, depression, and misdiagnosed learning disorders.  This measure will ensure that students qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program will not go hungry due to delays in application processing or missed payments.

     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. 423 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 Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair