STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1133

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 563

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 563, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII'S SPACE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INITIATIVE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Institute of Astronomy, in collaboration with the College of Engineering, to support the University of Hawaii's Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaiʻi System, Department of Research and Development of the County of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce, NexTech Hawaii, Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and fourteen individuals.

Your Committee finds that there is an opportunity for the State to foster a diverse and sustainable advanced-technology sector of the State's economy. Your Committee further finds that investment in the University of Hawaii's Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative will yield a dedicated workforce development program designed to engage with local schools, engineering firms, teachers, and community organizations that will produce long-term benefits for the State and its communities. Your Committee also finds that a dedicated workforce development program that takes a K-career approach will establish a bridge between students and STEM jobs. This measure will enable a workforce development program under the University of Hawaii Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative as a long-term investment in STEM education and workforce development for the State.

Your Committee notes that while the University of Hawaii's Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative has succeeded in establishing a two-year pre-engineering program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, it has not yet established a four-year engineering degree program. Your Committee further notes that the Legislature invested in the Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative with the expectation that it would culminate in a four-year engineering degree program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Your Committee also notes that a four-year engineering degree program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo would allow prospective engineering students from Hawaiʻi Island to remain close to home while completing their studies and strengthen Hawaiʻi Island's STEM workforce. Therefore, your Committee believes that the University of Hawaii at Hilo should prioritize the development and establishment of a four-year engineering degree program.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) 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 Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 563, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 563, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair