STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1683

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1283

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1283, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the employers of first responders to develop and provide dementia training for first responders.

More specifically, this measure:

(1) Requires the employers of first responders to develop and provide dementia training for first responders, at no cost to the first responders;

(2) Enumerates the required dementia training subject areas; and

(3) Authorizes the Executive Office on Aging to set the standards and frequency for the dementia training and coordinate with all entities responsible for the services provided by first responders for the provision of the dementia training.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from AARP Hawaii and ten individuals.

Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Honolulu Police Department.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Executive Office on Aging.

Your Committee finds that an estimated twenty-nine thousand persons in the State who are sixty-five years of age and older have been diagnosed as having Alzheimer's disease, with that number expected to reach thirty-five thousand by 2025. Accordingly, your Committee believes that it is appropriate and necessary for first responder personnel to be trained in interacting with persons having Alzheimer's disease and related types of dementia.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Conforming the new material established in Section 2 of the measure with Part XVIII of Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by:

(A) Replacing the term "first responders" with the term "first responder personnel"; and

(B) Deleting the definition of "first responders";

(2) Permitting, rather than requiring, the employers of first responder personnel to obtain dementia training for first responder personnel;

(3) Deleting a provision authorizing the Executive Office on Aging to set the standards and frequency for dementia training;

(4) Clarifying that the Executive Office on Aging may coordinate the dementia training schedules and standards with all public and private entities and agencies responsible for services provided by first responder personnel;

(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(6) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1283, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1283, H.D. 1, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair