STAND. COM. REP. NO. 195

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1233

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 Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1233 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish within the Department of Human Resources Development the State Internship and Workforce Development Program that provides participants with practical work experience, fosters interest in public service careers, and helps address workforce shortages in state departments and agencies.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaiʻi System, Department of Human Resources Development, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, and Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the State faces a labor shortage that is only predicted to grow in coming years. Internships offer a practical long-term solution to labor shortages by not only training a new workforce, but also cultivating a wider, more diverse talent pool. This measure establishes a State Internship and Workforce Development Program to assign and train interested interns in state positions facing labor shortages. According to the Department of Human Resources Development, intern placements are especially advantageous in the context of public service because interns are not subject to civil service law, allowing both the intern and state employer to gather more information and determine best fit before permanent hiring decisions are made. This trial period and the additional training the internship program offers will provide the State with a sustainable resolution to workforce development issues.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation amount; and

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

Your Committee notes that this measure, as amended, contains an unspecified appropriation amount. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriation amount of $333,000 for the implementation of the internship program and establishment of four full-time equivalent (4.0 FTE) Human Resources Specialist V positions and one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Account Clerk V position in the Department of Human Resources Development.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1233, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1233, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

________________________________

HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair