STAND. COM. REP. NO. 52

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 742

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. 742 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DATA SHARING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a Data Sharing and Governance Working Group within the Office of Enterprise Technology Services;

(2) Require the working group to submit annual reports to the Legislature; and

(3) Appropriate funds for the working group.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Enterprise Technology Services, Executive Office on Early Learning, Workforce Development Council, Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative, HawaiiKidsCAN, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative, Transform Hawaiʻi Government, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Hawaiʻi System, and Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education.

Your Committee finds that data sharing is key to efficiency and good governance in the modern era. Existing data-sharing agreements demonstrate the utility of these systems by providing valuable insights that allow departments to track outcomes for students and the workforce. Information gaps caused by siloed data lead to delays, redundancy, and potential holes in policy. Your Committee finds that developing a system to facilitate and improve data access, analysis, and sharing will cultivate superior information to inform policy decisions, ultimately leading to better outcomes for Hawaii's people. This measure establishes a working group to facilitate the first steps towards forming a comprehensive data-sharing system for the State.

Your Committee notes that this measure 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 $2,640,000 to establish and support the Data Sharing and Governance Working Group, to be allocated as follows:

(1) $1,200,000 for data governance, a data-sharing platform, and data management;

(2) $590,000 for six full-time equivalent (6.0 FTE) positions; and

(3) $850,000 for two years of consulting resources for implementation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 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 Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 742, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 742, 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