STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3544

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 217

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.C.R. No. 217 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE EARLY LEARNING BOARD TO PREPARE A REPORT CONTAINING A ROAD MAP, INCLUDING PROPOSED LEGISLATION, FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT 46, SESSION LAWS OF HAWAII 2020,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Early Learning Board to prepare a report containing a road map, including proposed legislation, for the implementation of Act 46, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020 (Act 46).

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Early Learning, Early Childhood Action Strategy, and Hawaii Community Foundation. Your Committee received comments on this measure from Children's Action Network Speaks! and the Early Learning Board.

Your Committee finds that providing every child with access to early learning opportunities supports positive outcomes in academics, promotes emotional well-being, and establishes for each child a strong foundation for a lifetime of success. Your Committee further finds that approximately 34,500 children aged three or four years reside in the State. Only fifty percent of those children, however, have access to early learning options.

Your Committee additionally finds that one of the purposes of Act 46 is to build the infrastructure and develop resources necessary to serve one hundred percent of all otherwise unserved children who are three to four years of age, or will not be at least five years of age on or before July 31 of the current school year, with access to early learning by the year 2032. Accordingly, this measure promotes access to early learning by requesting the Early Learning Board to assess the progress of implementing Act 46 and develop a plan for continued implementation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 217, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 217, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair