STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2136

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2893

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2893 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A SCHOOL SUPPLY SUBSIDY PILOT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a one‑year school supply subsidy pilot program to explore methods for relieving the financial burdens of education on low-income families.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education and Na‘alehu Elementary School. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (Title I), provides federal financial assistance to local educational agencies and schools with high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure educational success.

Your Committee further finds that a pilot program to subsidize school supplies for schools composed entirely of students eligible for participation in Title I, such as Naalehu Elementary School, would be useful to identify methods for relieving the financial burden of education on low-income families.

Accordingly, this measure establishes a one-year pilot program in certain Department of Education schools to explore methods for relieving the financial burdens of education on low-income families.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the pilot program to extend to all schools composed entirely of students eligible for participation in Title I, including Naalehu Elementary School;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 2893, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2893, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair