STAND. COM. REP. NO. 328

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1419

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 Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1419 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ACT 253, SESSION LAWS OF HAWAII 2023,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Update the name of the Neighbor Islands Blind and Visually Impaired Service Pilot Program established by Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, by replacing the term "visually impaired" with the term "low vision"; and

(2) Clarify the pilot program's implementation timeframes.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services and National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, established the Neighbor Islands Blind and Visually Impaired Service Pilot Program to bridge the gaps in services for blind and low vision residents across the State, particularly focusing on those living on the neighbor islands. Your Committee further finds that the Department of Human Services' efforts to implement the Act were delayed until July 2024 as the Department's staff were responding to the needs of staff and residents impacted by the 2023 Maui wildfires. This measure appropriately updates the implementation timeframes for the Pilot Program and establishes the term "low vision" as the standard language in place of references to the more stigmatizing term of "visually impaired".

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the Department of Human Services shall submit a written implementation plan for the Neighbor Islands Blind and Low Vision Service Pilot Program to the Legislature prior to the convening of the regular session of 2026, rather than the regular session of 2025; 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 Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1419, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1419, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair