STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 467-24
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2024
RE: H.B. No. 2556
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2024
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 2556 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII ABLE SAVINGS PROGRAM,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Amend the sources of funding for the Hawaii ABLE Savings Program trust fund;
(2) Amend the authorized uses of monies in the trust fund, including providing incentive payments to Hawaii public school ABLE savings account owners;
(3) Appropriate funds to the Department of Budget and Finance to fund the incentive payments; and
(4) Appropriate funds to the Department of Health to establish one position within the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to support the Hawaii ABLE Savings Program.
Your Committee finds
that the Hawaii ABLE Savings Program is a program that allows individuals with
disabilities to have the same types of flexible savings accounts as individuals
without disabilities. Through these accounts,
individuals with disabilities can accrue funds to pay for a variety of
expenses, such as medical and dental care, education, community-based supports,
employment training, assistive technology, housing, and transportation. Your Committee further finds that approximately
twenty-three thousand individuals with developmental disabilities are eligible
to open an ABLE Savings Program account and an additional twenty thousand
individuals with other disabilities who are eligible for an ABLE Savings
Program account. This measure is
intended to provide funding and resources to grow the use of ABLE accounts in
the State, which will allow more of the State's disabled residents to have
access to resources of their own.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000,
to encourage further discussion; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2556, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2556, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Homelessness,
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____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair |
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