SB3161

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the Hawaii community appears ready to collaborate on efforts to build social infrastructures capable of sustaining shared solutions to community problems. After decades of conducting hundreds of effective one-off projects to tackle pressing community issues, Hawaii leaders appear ready to build permanent social structures and institutional relationships that provide collective strength and capacity to solve the State's perennial problems.

The legislature seeks to encourage and participate in statewide community efforts that slowly and deliberately build new and lasting civic relationships of trust and collaboration. Current efforts, including the Hawaii Community Foundation's CHANGE Program, have built a valuable common dataset that enables shared visions and goals, at least among some top business, philanthropy, and government leaders in the State.

Going forward, the challenge is to engage residents with direct experience in the problems that the CHANGE Program seeks to address. The legislature believes that lasting change happens when people learn to understand each other over time, especially those from different backgrounds and organizational cultures, and when every resident is invited and welcome to participate.

In this Act, the legislature intends to release selected state resources, under certain conditions, to join a civic collaborative to build social infrastructure for sustainable solutions to community problems. The civic collaborative would operate a cross-sector platform to connect individuals, groups, and projects with Hawaii's story of community advancement toward collective goals, including the CHANGE Program. The civic collaborative may also facilitate small, achievable projects open to all community members ready for collective action, including neighborhood disaster resiliency teams.

The release of state resources cited in this Act is for the State's participation in one or more civic collaboratives, which are self-organized, trusted groups of residents from all sectors of the community. The purpose of a civic collaborative is to call on each resident to join in building lasting civic structures that empower collective actions to solve shared problems. Civic collaboratives are safe spaces for all residents to participate in efforts to improve the quality of life in the State and advance toward statewide community goals and aspirations using common knowledge and datasets, shared tools, and online platforms to connect participants with each other.

The legislature finds that the State's participation in a civic collaborative could involve representatives of the office of the governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and president of the senate; representatives of the community foundation and association of nonprofit organizations; and representatives of communities that feel excluded from civic life in Hawaii.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to enable the State to participate with civic sector leaders and residents in building social infrastructure for sustaining shared solutions to community problems by:

(1) Authorizing certain state grant recipients to redirect the recipient's regular programming during governor-declared states of emergency to conduct civilian disaster responses pursuant to authorized plans of the Hawaii emergency management agency;

(2) Authorizing the governor to release qualified state workers to serve in community-based disaster relief networks during governor-declared states of emergency;

(3) Appropriating funds to the department of business, economic development, and tourism for training workshops and resources to support the State's participation in a civic collaborative that includes state grant-in-aid grantees, community foundation grantees, state nonprofit association members, United States census outreach participants, and under-represented communities; and

(4) Appropriating funds to the department of defense to train participants in community-based disaster relief networks pursuant to authorized plans of the Hawaii emergency management agency.

SECTION 2. Chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§42F- Contract provisions for governor-declared states of emergency. A recipient may request, from the expending agency of the allocation for the recipient's grant, amendments to grant contracts for the release of a contractor's employees during any state of emergency declared by the governor pursuant to section 127A-14. A department director may approve these contract amendments for deployment of recipient employees to conduct civilian disaster responses pursuant to authorized plans of the Hawaii emergency management agency; provided that the contract amount shall not be increased and contract amendments shall be made pursuant to written criteria issued by the governor as an executive order. Within sixty days after termination of a state of emergency, the governor shall submit a public report on utilization of recipient employees to the legislature."

SECTION 3. Chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§127A- Release of state employees during states of emergency. Upon the issuance of an emergency proclamation by the governor, the governor may release designated employees to join a state civilian corps to support community-based disaster relief teams in the employees' neighborhoods. The governor may require all departments, at the discretion of each director, to designate employees who may participate in community-based disaster relief teams. Within sixty days after termination of a state of emergency, the governor shall submit a public report on utilization of employees to the legislature."

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $100,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 for the following:

(1) Program ID BED 142 to support the State's participation in building a social infrastructure for community problem solving; and

(2) Training workshops and resources to support the State's participation in a civic collaborative that includes state grant grantees, community foundation grantees, state nonprofit association members, and United States census outreach participants.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $50,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 to train participants in community-based disaster relief networks pursuant to authorized plans of the Hawaii emergency management agency.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of defense for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3161
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII