STAND. COM. REP. NO. 342-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: H.B. No. 1943

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1943 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LANGUAGE ACCESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Health to establish two full-time equivalent permanent program specialist positions within the Office of Language Access to assist state agencies and state-funded agencies in implementing the requirements of Hawaii's language access law.

The Judiciary, Office of Language Access, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Hawai‘i TESOL, Filipino American Citizens League, Tinalak Filipino Education Council, Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee, Filipina Advocacy Network, Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights, and a few individuals supported this measure. The American Immigration Council provided comments.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1943, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1943, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Human Services,

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair