STAND. COM. REP. NO. 340

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 530

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 530 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BRAILLE LITERACY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish Braille literacy as a policy of the State;

(2) Require literacy assessments for eligible low vision and blind students to include Braille instruction and the use of Braille;

(3) Authorize the Department of Education to adopt administrative rules;

(4) Establish the Braille Literacy Resource Center; and

(5) Appropriate funds.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Department of Human Services, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii, and seven individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committees find that there are approximately twenty-five thousand low vision or blind residents across the State. Presently, the Department of Human Services offers Hoopono Services for the Blind to assist individuals with low vision or blindness who are seeking higher education and competitive, integrated employment. However, integration of Braille into the Department of Education would allow for more students with low vision or blindness to integrate into educational settings while receiving a high-quality education. Therefore, this measure promotes educational equity to ensure all students are globally competitive for the twenty-first century world.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that any section 504 plan and individualized education program shall include results of the initial or most recent assessments;

(2) Clarifying that if consideration of the initial or most recent assessments required support a determination by the section 504 plan team or IEP team that Braille instruction or Braille instructional materials are not appropriate for the student, that determination shall be documented in the section 504 plan or individualized education program;

(3) Specifying that the date of any new assessment agreed upon by the IEP team shall be included in supporting documentation;

(4) Changing the appropriation to an unspecified amount; and

(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

Your Committees note 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 $300,000 for the establishment and operation of the Braille Literacy Resource Center.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 530, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 530, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health and Human Services,

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair

________________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair