House Standing Committee on Education

Good afternoon, everyone. Now convening the Joint Hearing between the Committee on Higher Education and the Committee on Education. Today is Wednesday, February 5th, 2:01pm we're here in conference room 309. My name is Andrew Takuya Garrett, Chair of the Higher Education Committee. To my right is the Chair of the Education Committee, Chair Woodson.

We have one joint bill on the agenda today, which is House Bill 707. This bill is relating to the College Savings Program. It establishes a state income tax deduction for contributions made to Hawaii 529 accounts through the College Savings Program.

Conforms to the amendments of the Internal Revenue code that authorize 529 benefits to be used for K12 educational expenses. Up first, we have the Department of Taxation providing comments.

Good afternoon. Chairs, vice chairs, Members of the committees. My name is Winston Wong, on behalf of the Department of Taxation. The Department has submitted written testimony and comments on this bill. We reiterate that we can administer it as written. I'll be available for questions after. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Up next via zoom Tax Foundation of Hawaii. Not present. Thank you. Providing comments. Is the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities on zoom or?

Okay, yes, I'm sorry.

Go ahead, please.

Thank you. I'm Daintry Bartoldus, Executive Administrator for the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities. We are in strong support of HB707, and we respect request and amendment. The Achieving a Better Life Experience, which is. Called the ABLE accounts be added into this measure. ABLE accounts were created from the 529.

College Savings Plan and is compatible with the proposed College Savings Plan proposal in this measure. So we respectfully request replacing Hawaii College. Savings Program to Hawaii's College Enabled Savings Program. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Members, please note we also have testimony from the Department of Budget and Finance providing comments and several individuals testifying in support. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify? Anyone via zoom? Seeing none. Thank you Members. Any questions? Hospital 707. Okay. If not, I have one dotax, please.

Just if you could provide comments regarding the suggested amendment from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities about folding in the ABLE Program into this Bill.

Yes, Chair. It looks like that's just an issue with the title of the program. The title of the College Savings Program. Wouldn't technically include the K-12 educational expenses that are being included here or that it'd be expanded to. So just calling it a College Savings program and keeping that title may not be consistent with the expanded purpose.

Okay, thanks for pointing that out. Didn't catch that earlier. Thank you Members, any other questions? Okay, seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. House Bill 617 relating to nursing. This bill appropriates funds to establish the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program. Oh, actually, you know what?

I'm sorry, I need to recess out of the Joint Hearing and then we're going to gavel back in for the higher ED only hearing. Sorry about that. Okay, as I was saying, House Bill 617 relating to nursing, appropriates funds to establish the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College appropriates funds.

Up first, we have the University of Hawaii, VP Teraoka.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. I am Della Teraoka, Interim Vice President for the University of Hawaii Community Colleges. I have submitted written testimony and we will are in support, and we stand on our testimony.

I do have some members from Maui on Zoom, so if you have questions, we can answer your questions. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Up Next, via Zoom. Dr. Wieland not present. Providing testimony and support. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Seeing none.

Members, please note we have several pieces of testimony and support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Hawaii chapter of the American Nurses Association, the Hawaii Primary Care Association, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, and several individuals. Members any questions House Bill 617?

Okay, seeing none. I have a question for Vice President Teraoka or perhaps someone that's on Zoom. Does UH Maui College face challenges with faculty for the nursing program?

Can we bring up the Maui folks?

Sure.

On Zoom.

What is the name?

We should have, Laura Nagle Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. I believe one of the nursing faculty, Anne Scharnhorst is there and Louie might be in the room. Laura.

Aloha. Yeah, I can answer. I'm Anne Scharnhorst. I'm a Professor of nursing and the Department Chair for Allied Health. And we do struggle with getting faculty, but we have a big cadre of working nurses who do support us.

The biggest struggle we have is not qualified applicants, but that we have many master's prepared nurses who love education, but they do make less than they make in school service. But we have this. We are fully staffed.

This proposal would only require one more in the third year, so we feel pretty confident about the quality and the quantity of our staff. And it's an initiative. We work every single year, so we're growing a cadre. But you're very perceptive with that question. And thank you for knowing that.

Flattery will get you everywhere. Thank You. Well, just continuing on, do you anticipate any challenges with clinical placements if we do expand UH Maui college with the BSN program?

No, there's two answers to that. Number one is we admit 40 twice a year. So we have a total of 80 simultaneous clinical placements, and we're going to go to 30. An admission class of 30, and that will give us 90 simultaneous clinical placements.

And the chief nurse Executive at Maui Memorial, I said, is that going to be hard for you? And she said, oh, no, I'm just worried about you guys. So we are well able to get placements. In the past, when I first began teaching here, we admitted 40 twice a year.

We had 160 simultaneous clinical placements, and we used evenings and weekends, which we do not at all now. So we have a big runway for clinical placements in front of us. That's not an issue we have on Maui.

Okay, thanks for clarifying. Right now, is there a. My understanding is there's a RN to BSN pipeline or an online option for students at UH Maui College Is that correct?

Oh, yeah. In 2012, Manoa Kapiolani Kauai and US formed the Hawaii Statewide Nursing Consortium. And we all design the same curriculum. We all teach the same curriculum, specifically so that community college students could seamlessly go and get their bachelor's degree. So that our first graduates were 2012.

And now here in 20, our last graduation, 24, we've had less than 20% of the graduates go and follow that pathway. Another 20 have gone off island to online programs. And currently with the last data from the center of Nursing, which we're going to get another one in 25.

But at 23, Maui has only just over 50% BSN prepared nurses. So we lag way behind the state. Our state's about the highest in the country in the high 70s. And we lag behind the.

So this proposal would put the floor in the BSN population for Maui because more than half the nurses who work there are our grads. So we would slowly build that BSN.

And that same chief nursing exec has been at our Advisory Committee five years in a row asking, can you please offer a bachelor, Would you please make the program a bachelors so that we can pursue a magnet status, which requires that 80% national recommendation for nurses with BSN or higher.

So, Chair Garrett. Yes, please. Were you asking about the University of Hawaii at Manoa online option? There is an online program now from Manoa. I believe there were possibly 10 students that they can pursue that option, but they wouldn't be able to do that on the island of Maui. Right. Like, it's a in person.

Okay. So people. Students from Maui would have to go to physically to Manoa for an online.

No, I'm sure.

But I guess what I'm saying is the coursework would be in person.

No, we don't.

Oh, I see.

For you guys, Maui. Am I putting words in your mouth? Yeah, but there is a Manoa. Yeah, but there is a Manoa program that exist. So. And we do have. We did talk to University of Hawaii at Manoa, and they're supportive of the BSN at Maui.

Got it. Okay. And the last question. I'm not sure if this is better for you, VP Taroka, but does UH Maui College envision keeping both programs in place if we do provide funding for the BSN? So the. As well as the BSN, yes, we.

Plan on having two tracks. So one is for the working student who will use the nursing career ladder. So our CNA to PN to asn. And then they could use that manoa. BSN to RN. Sorry. RN to BSN Bridge.

And then alongside that is for the more traditional student who would come in and within four years would earn the BSN. And that is what is being proposed at the moment.

Okay, thank you. No further questions for me. Members? Seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. Thank you. House Bill 718, relating to positions at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. This bill appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine for faculty positions in the fields of cardiovascular biology, tropical medicine, quantitative health biostatistics, and environmental health and safety officer position. Up first, we have the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Dean Shomaker testifying in support.

Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato, Members. Sam Shomaker, Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. We're strongly in support of House Bill 718. We will stand on our written testimony and answer any questions that you might have.

Okay, thank you, Dean. Up next, we have the University of Hawai'I Professional Assembly. Okay, thank you. Standing on their testimony in support. Members, please also note we have testimony from the Hawaii Primary Care Association in support. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify? Anyone via Zoom? Seeing none. Thank you. Members, questions? House Bill 718. Okay.

Seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. House Bill 1279 relating to health. This bill establishes a medical education liaison position within the John A. Burns School of Medicine to support programs that utilize a team of medical Specialists to support primary care providers and other healthcare professionals through mentorship and guidance and appropriates funds.

Up first, the Department of the Attorney General, providing comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Deputy Attorney General Candace Park. The Department has two constitutional concerns. The first can be addressed by identifying the Bill as a law of statewide concern.

The second is if the intent of the bill is to administer grants, then the constitution would require inserting standards for the provision of those grants. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much, Deputy Ag up next, UH, system. We have three names listed here. Dr. Withey, please, providing comments. No, no.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Committee. I'm Kelly Withey. I hope you're taking a deep bre that you decrease your stress level, but we're just standing on our comments.

Okay, thank you very much. Members, let's all take a deep breath on three. Okay, up next, Hawaii Primary Care Association, testimony in support. Not seeing them present. Are they on via zoom? Eric Abe? Okay, thank you. Let's see via zoom. Individual Daniel Saltman. Is he on? Okay.

Yes.

Daniel, go ahead, please. Providing comments.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Please proceed.

Thank you Chair Garrett and the Committee Members, Vice Chair and the Committee. I would like to stand on my written written submission, but I also want to say that the Bill as written and the Bill as written adds a sort of layer of bureaucracy that's not that. Not really that helpful, I think, in moving ECHO programs forward.

Project ECHO is an educational methodology that improves primary care skills in specialty. In specialty areas. And it offers an effective way of closing some of the gaps that are present in specialty care in the state. Things like gastroenterology and endocrinology, for example. In the existing contract with the MedQuest providers.

Currently there is language that supports Project ECHO programs, but those that has not been manifest especially. So there are not really very much. There's not really very much support, including in the RFP that they put out that the current contractors have bid on and have agreed to. It includes financial support for the programs as well.

So those things are not really happening. And it would be an improvement on that bill to have the language rewritten so that the position at the university was one of being a liaison and the support person. I'm not stating it very well, but to look at the.

To manage the management aspects instead of running programs themselves, that's really what it is. And I'd be happy to take questions about why ECHO is such an effective methodology for closing these gaps in the state and thank you for your consideration.

Okay, thank you very much. Members, questions House Bill 1279? Seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. House Bill 1169. This is relating to the University of Hawaii Conference Center Revolving Fund.

Establishes the UH Conference Center Revolving Fund and accounts under the fund to facilitate the administration of the revolving fund for conference center programs among various campuses and operating units of the UH System. Repeals the Conference Center Revolving Fund, UH Hilo, and the Community College Conference Center Revolving Fund.

Transfers all appropriations and encumbrances of the Conference Center Revolving Fund, UH Hilo and the Community College Conference center revolving Fund to the UH Conference center revolving Fund. Up first we have the University of Hawaii system, Kalbert Young.

Good afternoon. Chair, Vice Chair, Members. University can stand on its testimony in support. This Bill is somewhat of a housekeeping measure to consolidate the existing statute. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Anyone via zoom? Assume not. Thank you. Members questions House Bill 1169? Seeing none. We'll move on to the next Bill.

House Bill 1168, relating to the University of Hawaii revenue bonds, authorizes the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to issue revenue bonds for up to 800 million for the purpose of financing qualifying priority capital improvement projects. First, we'll welcome back Kalbert Young, UH system testifying in support.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. University can stand on his testimony and support. This bill is procedural in that the Legislature would need to pass a bill to authorize the University to issue revenue bonds. That has been done in the past. There are no projects, though, identified or contemplated specifically for these revenue bonds.

So the Bill would be somewhat preemptive. But the University is supportive and would desire the Bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify on House Bill 1168? Seeing none. Anyone via zoom? Seeing none as well. Members, questions? Hospital 1168?

Yes, please. Please.

Yes, Vice Chair, Go ahead.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Kalbert Young, for being here. So could you tell me the cost to service $800 million in bonds, please?

Sure. Well, I couldn't tell you because it would depend on the interest rates and the agreed upon negotiated rates at the time that we were to sell bonds.

But for example, if we were to be in the market today selling these types of bonds, the interest rate that I would expect would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.25% annually.

So I had my staff kind of calculated out, and it looks like it would be anywhere from 33 to 41 $1.0 million per year to service the debt on the bonds.

Yeah, right. So 4% of 800 million. Yeah, right.

So Article 7, Section 9 of the White constitution gives the power of the purse to the house. So you know, the house should receive clear, transparent requests for even from excellent entities like uh, I mean, you know, we support you. So could you please tell us explicitly what the 800 million would potentially be used for?

Yes, good question. So I mentioned that we don't have any specific projects identified in order to issue revenue bonds. The process is you need two components. One is the authority from the Legislature to issue revenue bonds, but the second is the actual appropriation by the Legislature for specific projects. So those two would be the trigger. So we, what my mention was, we don't have any specific projects at them.

That being said, there are a number of projects that have been out in space for the last several years that could be coming down the road for the University or for the state that matter, such as student housing, which could be in the neighborhood of 400 plus million in order of magnitude, a student housing project that's on a project that our facility that is currently closed.

The order of magnitude of that could be anywhere from 80 million to another 350 million. Then there are smaller but not less significant facilities of the University in the area of research. So research facilities and these individual projects could be smaller, say let's say in the neighborhood of 30 to 50 million.

So these are waiting in the wings, if you will. I would expect that maybe as early as next year the University will be coming in and asking for funding for those projects. And the avenue of.

One avenue of funding that the Legislature, the University of State could consider is a portion of it via revenue bonds or some other funding means. Sorry.

Yep, no problem. Quick follow up. So I understand the University has about 800 million in deferred maintenance. Is there any thought that some of this money would go towards that huge deferred maintenance backlog?

So again, those could be potential avenues purposes for funding, but truthfully that is not part of the schedule. Strategy to address deferred maintenance is to put that type of funding onto revenue bonds. One, because the revenue is not as clear.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you Chair.

Okay, thank you. Vice Chair Members, any other questions? Yes, Replica, please proceed.

Question Director for the. Who is the current owner for the property? What work has, is currently. What work has undergone, you know, with the owner and like let's say you did receive the funding. How would that affect or I guess what, what, what would it entail for Uh, in relation to the current, I guess. Right.

Developer, owner, what.

What projects would be, could be candidates are eligible.

Is it. We're not on this. I'm sorry. I'm asking about the next Bill.

Oh, okay. She's so anxious about the St. Francis Bill. She's jumping ahead. But that's okay. We will get to that next in short order here. House Bill 1168, uh, Revenue Bonds. Any questions on that? No. Okay. All right. Okay. Sorry.

CFO Young, if you just stay there, can you educate the Committee like when revenue bonds might be a better means of financing than a General obligation bond?

Well, for. Generally, for the University, revenue bonds will never be a better source than General obligation bonds. And that's because revenue bonds is debt of the University. We of course, would prefer it to be the debt of the state or anybody else other than the University.

But actually, from a financing perspective, it does make sense that there are particular types of projects that are more apt or more suited for revenue bonds versus, say, state GEO bonds. And so the University does have existing revenue bond debt.

The ones people will most notice would be on the medical school Jabsom in Kakaako and on the Cancer center, both in Kakaako. They were 100% funded via, uh, revenue bonds. The pharmacy school at, UH, Hilo was partially funded with revenue bonds mixed with GEO bonds.

And the things that make revenue bonds more attractive than GEO bonds is if there is a specific revenue stream that can be isolated to support the debt. So with Jabsom and Cancer center as the example, there is a specific revenue stream, taxation, revenue from the state that is pledged or dedicated to that.

And then the University can back up that pledge with University revenues if we, if needed be. So that's why it makes sense it's not debt of the state, but of the University.

Sure. Okay. I have a question more toward the process for the Board of Regents, but I don't think anyone here from the board is present. Maybe you can take a stab at this. But what would be the process if we grant, say we grant this authority to issue revenue bonds?

What would be the process, do you think, for the Board of Regents before they actually issue it?

Yeah, that's actually a really good question. So thank you very much. The two requirements that I had mentioned earlier are the requirements constitutional, statutory requirements that the Legislature needs to satisfy.

But for the University of Hawaii, the Board of Regents policies would require that before we could issue, before the University can actually take on to the transaction to issue debt, the Board of Regents would have to pass a resolution authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds.

And then the board would also, as part of that process, would also be approving the specific project that is to be financed with revenue bonds and the amount. So. But that's internal to the University.

And so my responsibility as the University CFO is to secure each of these points, the legislative requirements, as well as the University's governance requirements. Okay, thanks for the explanation.

Members, any other questions? House Bill 1168 saying. None. We'll move on to the next bill. Thank you, Mr. Young. House Bill 548, relating to the. Actually, you can just stay there. Relating to the acquisition of the St. Francis School campus for the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

This bill authorizes the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to issue revenue bonds for the acquisition of the St. Francis School campus located at 2707 Pamoa Road in Honolulu. Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii for the acquisition of St. Francis School campus located at 2707 Pamua Road in Honolulu.

So up first, we have UH CFO, Young testifying in support.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the University can stand on its testimony and support. Some details we have outlined in the testimony. But I should make the point. This property is currently owned by a private landowner and has not communicated to the University that it actually is available for sale. But we are still supportive of the bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Up Next, we have Mr. Howard Luke testifying in support.

Thank you, Chair Garrett. And I'm here, basically, I came here to thank everyone for resurrecting this bill. It's like a phoenix rising out of the ashes. It didn't make it all the way through the last time it was introduced by Chair Garrett, and I'm so pleased that it is that is now here before the Committee.

I ask that you recognize the St. Francis property is a little over 11 acres. It is, to my knowledge, the only property that is contiguous or abutting, connected to the main campus. It looks like it's part of the main campus, except it wasn't, because for several years, it was the site of St. Francis School.

I was on the board of St. Francis from 1996 to 2006. And at that time, we were pretty flush with money. After I left, the campus went into demise, and The Sisters of St. Francis, and particularly the St. Francis in Syracuse, New York, decided to sell the campus. I was so disappointed the University did not purchase it.

I won't talk about the feasibility of the amount of money that was that, you know, was requested by the sisters. It was, you know, subject to approval.

But I will say that I just feel that generations from now 10, 20, 50 even 100 years from now, people will look back and if we acquired the campus, you would all be. We would all be so grateful that it was now part of the University of Hawaii.

And if we don't, people will be saying, can you imagine? They could have got this purchase.

They could have purchased this campus in, what is it 2025 or in a few years prior to 2025, and miss the golden opportunity. I think for our children, for the entire student body, as well as the faculty members, it's just a wonderful place.

I'm hoping that it will not only be approved here, but ultimately this campus will be part of St. Francis, excuse me, part of the University of Hawaii. Thank you very much and appreciate your consideration of the bill. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Luke. We have a few testifiers on via Zoom. Okay. Okay. Up Next we have Dr. Ellen Sofio providing testimony and support.

Chair Garrett.

Can you. Am I on?

We hear you. We don't see you.

Oh, okay.

Not sure if your camera is off.

I turned my video on. But anyway, as long as you can hear me that's all you need, right?

Yes, go ahead.

Okay. So I live right next door to St Francis Manoa. I've lived here for over 20 years. And I didn't know, although I knew, that there was lots of rock wall in our neighborhood that extends quite a way, like probably at least a half mile Mauka of St. Francis.

I didn't know until sometime early last year when I looked at some literature from Manoa Heritage center and discovered to my amazement that Carol Kawachi, a State Historic Preservation Division archaeologist in 1988 did a field study and recorded St. Francis as a heiau.

So after I found out that information that was so startling, I started to take photographs of the walls, the rock walls surrounding the campus and eventually discovered that there's actually ancient dry stack while surrounding almost the entire campus still, except for where it borders the Manoa stream, where there's a steep bank and where it was disturbed to build the Jesuit Newman Center adjoining UH and at the Pomoa Road entrance to the campus.

So I did a PowerPoint presentation in September that included all my photographs of the heiau walls and also other historic information about the property, including related to the fact that the sister of St.

Francis of the Newman purchased the property in 1931 from Lilio Kalani, the son in law of Lilio Kalani's attorney, Paul Newman, who had owned the property up until the late 1800s when he transferred it to his son in law's name.

Since then, I've become part of an archaeological inventory study that the property owner, Avalon, is in the process of doing right now. There have been two online meetings and a site visit.

Matt McDermott, an archaeologist from Cultural Resources, is the lead archaeologist in the course of that AIs and initially right after my PowerPoint presentation to the city's Oahu Historic Preservation Commission in September, Alani Apio, who is the cultural consultant for Avalon's development, did a slideshow right after mine.

And everyone's jaw dropped when a slide came up that showed an image of a 1910 army map of St. Francis, which was basically labeled the entire property as a temple heiau. Since then, at one of the AIS online meetings, I've seen another map from 1847 that had the name of Abner Paki on the property.

I didn't know who Abner Paki was, but I looked him up and found out that he was a high chief, descended from the king of the 1800 king of Maui, and he was the father of Bernice Puahi Bishop. Since then, I discovered in an archaeological survey of UH that was very comprehensive.

That was done 10 years ago by cultural resources consultants from the same company that Matt McDermott works for who's currently consulting for Avalon. Their names are Scheideler and Hammett.

I'm sorry, Dr. Sofio, we have your written testimony with this all outlined. Would you mind summarizing, please?

Okay, so what was discovered was that Emma Nakuina. You can look her up on Wikipedia. She's amazing. She wrote a book of Hawaiian legends in 1904, and in her legend of Kahala Opuna, she refers to the heiau by name as the Kauala heiau, which means hail of the sacred rain.

Her middle name and her high chiefest mother's name was Kaili Kapu Olono, which means the Kapu ILI of Lono, the God of agriculture, fertility, rain, music and peace. So the entire ILI of Kaula is St Francis Manoa, which is the heiau of Kaula. It's sacred. It's an amazing remnant archaeological site.

And it's been made more sacred by the presence of the Catholic Church's convent, which was built with funding from Kalaupapa residents to provide a retirement place for the sisters that served for their adult lives at Kalaupapa, caring for mostly Hawaiian Hansen's Disease patients. It's also.

I'm sorry Dr. Sofio, could you summarize, please.

Okay. It's also linked to the legacy of St. Mary Ann Co. So I stand on my written testimony about the heiau.

There's no way this heiau should be desecrated by Geometrical $2 million row houses with no affordable units, 152 units and 378 cars at the end of 20 foot wide road that's only supposed to serve 25 dwellings according to the city's own subdivision street standards. It's going to endanger pedestrians trying to access UH what they've done from the back door there for years, over decades, is going to endanger UH workers, UH faculty.

It's going to endanger local residents. It's going to create a fire hazard below Waahila Ridge that could create another Lahaina. It's going to cause, you know, terrible evacuation issues if there is a fire on narrow Pamua Road where there's mostly Kupuna living who could not flee on foot if this happened.

And it's going to impede emergency access and caused deaths because of, because of delayed emergency access to cardiac arrest.

Okay, thank you, Dr. Sofio, for your summary.

Okay, so I stand in on my written testimony and my oral testimony in conditional support of this bill. HB548 to be transferred to UH in order to preserve and protect this sacred property forever as an educational sanctuary to honor the Hawaiian culture, Hawaiian history and language. That's my testimony.

Okay, thank you very much. Up next, Edward Chung III not present. Okay, is there anyone in the room wishing to testify? House Bill 540.

Thank you for joining us today. If you could just identify yourself, please, for the record.

I will. Hang on a second.

Of course. Take your time.

My name... Biggie Smalls.

Yes. Please proceed.

Good afternoon, Members of the Committee. My name is Liko-o-kalani Martin. I am a lineal descendant of Abner Pākī, and here to testify on this bill. I'd like to start this presentation with respect to the issue of historic preservation issues in the Hawaiian Islands. And I'd like to bring to your attention and put on the record of the existence of the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1955, Volume 1, Chapter 14, entitled Certain Rights of the People Hawaiiana.

And I bring this to your attention because within those revised laws, there are already provisions with respect to the powers that are existing with the Governor to designate this property without the Legislature and the people of Hawaii by any means to be having to come up with the money to pay for it. One of the first issues that comes to point is that I'm sure you're aware that there is a process for historic preservation occurs at the county level. About a year ago, the County of Honolulu did not have a certified historic preservation program.

And at that hearing at the City Council, I provided more than adequate information to allow the county to install the proper type of structure. Okay. Administrative structure to handle issues such as this. Okay. In October of last year, I traveled to Washington, DT, DC to file a letter requesting for oversight at the House Judiciary Committee with respect to major inconsistencies in the historic preservation state system, State of Hawaii, state system of historic preservation.

Because under Title 16, Conservation Chapter A, Historic Preservation, the State of Hawaii and none of the counties are properly certified because they are not in consistency with the chief governing authority that is identified under the Revised Laws of Hawaii 1955 as the civil codes of the Hawaiian Islands of 1859. And I'm sure, maybe. Maybe I'm not.

You're not sure. I cannot be sure of whether or not you're realizing that the disparity here in this process is that the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1955, under them, there is no such entity as a Native Hawaiian. Under Hawaiian law, there is no identity as a Native Hawaiian.

That distinction is only given because of the Revised Laws of Hawaii through the act to create the State of Hawaii. And under that definition, there is not the authority to circumvent the titles and interests and claims in the Hawaiian Islands under Hawaiian law set by Hawaiian judicial precedent.

And if I'm getting too far out there, please ask questions. I'm happy to ask questions. So the first thing in my short notes is that the state system is inconsistent under the federal statutes. It is inconsistent with the federal Constitution and the obligations under the Admissions Act, which was set by Congress.

They could not sign it because, as we all know, there is no treaty of annexation. Okay. So I hope you follow me there. I'd like to give the specific very short to wind up my testimony, so. And I can provide all of the letters that I submitted to the County of Honolulu. And it was... They took it into consideration, rightfully.

The Mayor expressed that. His aide expressed the Mayor's concern for the liabilities because of the structure that was being put in place. I have shared this information in detail, brought it before the City Council. And I'm here just to kind of close off. I will read to you the provision, if I may. It's very short within the Revised Laws, and you make your determination. The section is 14-10.1. Territorial monuments; reservation of land; semicolon. Relinquishment of private claims. Period.

Upon the recommendation of the Commission, which does not exist under the Constitution of the United States by the County of Honolulu, the Governor is authorized to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the territory, which the State of Hawaii is still controlling, to be territorial monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.

When such objects are situated on a tract covered by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object, may be relinquished to the territory. And the Governor is hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the territory. In Section 14-10.3, Hawaiian Antiquity.

Any person who appropriates, excavates, injures, or destroys any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument or any object of antiquity situated on lands owned or controlled by the territory without the permission of the territorial department head or heads having jurisdiction over the lands on which such antiquities are situated, as provided in Section 14-10.2, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than 90 days or both.

And the last section I'd like to, which really emphasizes this. And this is all brought before the counties. The only Historic Preservation Review Commission that exists under is under the federal Constitution exists on Kauai. Okay. All of the counties are cultural resources, but the problem is that they are started trying to impose their authority by the Admissions Act and it's just not there. So this under the fourth powers of the Commission, which I wish we had a commission, otherwise we would not be here. The powers and duties.

The Commission shall locate, identify, and preserve in suitable records information regarding heiaus, ancient burial places, and sites of historical interest. The Commission shall cooperate with other territorial agencies and owners of private historical sites, in asterisk, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

No public road, street, highway, or public construction or improvement of any nature resulting in the toll or partial destruction of any heiau, ancient burial place, or site of ancient or historical interest shall be undertaken or prosecuted without the concurrence of the Commission, except as hereinafter provided.

If the concurrence of the Commission is not obtained within 30 days after the filing of a request, therefore with the Commission by or after the filing of a notice of objections by the Commission, the agency seeking to proceed any project. In this case, it would be the developer, if they're brave enough to step out on the own beyond what the county was not able to provide them to authorize this issue. Such agency may apply to the Commission to exercise any power or perform any functions as such, in case of civil or...

Sorry, Mr. Martin, would you mind just summarizing, please? Thank you very much.

So I think I've just laid a case here. The liability. This measure is improperly before the Legislature. I would say that this is an attempt to extort money through malfeasance in the government operation. Okay? And as I said, I've already filed requests for the discretion of the Secretary of Interior.

But now we have a change in the guard. And for three years I waited for any response from the Secretary of Interior with respect to this issue, but all of my transmissions have been interrupted and interfered with. So that's. I'm just saying bring this to your attention. This matter does not belong.

There are already procedures in place to preserve that heiau period. So thank you very much. Any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can contact me at Liko Martin, Hawaii, Liko Martin Hawaii at gmail dot com. Okay. So thank you very much. And thank you for everyone who's supported, especially to Ellen who contacted me and made me aware of this. And thank you for your consideration.

Okay, thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Anyone else via Zoom? Seeing none. Members, questions? Rep. La Chica. House Bill 548.

Apologize earlier. CFO. So you mentioned that so it is owned by a private developer, but the developer has not communicated that the property is for sale. I mean it's not my community. And so, you know, wanted to just under understand what do you what, what are the current plans of the private developer, and should this bill pass, how would the University interact with the current plans, I mean with the developer and in their current plans.

Right. So this property actually shares two boundaries with the University of Hawaii Manoa campus. It's on the farthest mauka point of that campus. It is owned by a private developer. My understanding is the developer would desire to build a residential community on the on the site. I think Dr. Sofio had mentioned the order of magnitude, the number of units, 300 plus units. I that number has somewhat changed, but the plan is to build a residential community.

If this bill, so if this bill were to pass, we would, the University, we would communicate with the landowner to let them know that the University is interested and that there is a legislative funding mechanism. But as I mentioned in our testimony, back in 2020 when this property was actually listed for sale by the sisters of St. Francis, New York, they were the title holders.

The University did submit a proposal to buy the property with an amount. There was legislative appropriation and authorization of revenue bonds, $10 million in revenue bonds towards the University's acquisition of St. Francis. The University was not successful with the Sisters to acquire it. The current landowner was. So that's where it is. And this bill, as I stated in the testimony, this bill does not give the University any special powers to force or compel a private landowner to sell unless they are willing. All it does is provide us a potential means source of funds.

Alright. And so if, so the developer can still opt to... I mean, if they decide not to sell it, then there's no notice, like there's no way to move forward with it. They'll still proceed with their current plans.

That's correct. And I'm, in talking with Chair Garrett, the introducer of the bill, we're both clear the landowner has not said that they would be willing or interested in selling this property or specified a price. So I would say this bill, again, it's somewhat preemptive, but it's good to have it. And if the opportunity arose or if perhaps the landowner is interested in parting with it, the bill would be useful in that the University would be positioned to purchase it.

You'd have the mechanism. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Rep. Kapela.

Thank you so much. I was wondering if you could also, and I think there are some testifiers that kind of alluded to it in their testimony. But just a quick Google search, you can kind of find that this is, could essentially become a luxury development with a very large amount of homes that are valued far greater than I think even University employees would be able to afford.

I think it says something about between 300 to like 85 homes valued at, starting at the very low 1.5 million, but going up to 3 million. Having driven in that area, gone to the University, there's not a lot of space to develop something like that. Can you kind of talk about if this, if the developer were to continue on and UH weren't able to potentially buy it, what would it, how would this damage I think the, the ecosystem of the, of the University and how would this harm, I think, the students and the professors who are trying to get to and from the University just to be able to learn?

Yeah. So I think from what we've seen, what I've seen of the schematics and the renderings of what that development could look like, and the landowner has been very good to listen to community concerns and size it or shrink it or whatever, but it definitely would add density, a significant amount of density.

Again, right at the mauka most part of the Manoa campus. Two sides of that property is actually bordered by UH Manoa. And then anecdotally, I think from what we've observed is it is possible for you to walk or traverse across this property to get into Manoa Valley in order to get to the University of Hawaii Manoa.

And we have observed that there is some student flow like that or pedestrian, neighborhood pedestrian flow. That probably would be compromised once you put, you know, a whole bunch of single family homes on their property. I mean, generally, homeowners don't like to have people traversing through their property, you know, to get someplace else.

So working with the developer to find if there's an avenue to preserve that, a pedestrian walkway perhaps, something like that, but that would still add a lot of density. Traffic is also a big issue I think that one of the testifiers mentioned. So this property access is not through the University of Hawaii.

It's actually accessed through Manoa Valley on Pamoa Road, which is the, that's the 20 foot road that another testifier had mentioned. It's probably a substandard road that wasn't intended to support a large residential development like that, but that would add traffic flow.

Again, it's not through UH, so I would not expect that UH is going to be impacted. But the traffic flow that flows into UH and Manoa Valley is already pretty constrained, so those would be the issues. But it's, that's not to say that the University would oppose this project. We're supportive of the bill because of what it could mean for, you know, completing the University of Hawaii Manoa campus.

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you so much, Chair.

Okay, thank you. Members, any other questions? Yes, Rep. Muraoka.

Hi. Thank you for your coming. I know we're talking about a lot of ifs and maybes and eventually. And based on that, what would be UH's reason for wanting this land? Would it be significantly... I mean, I asked these questions based on the Doctor and Mr. Liko's testimonies and the significance of Hawaiian history. Would UH be purchasing the land to preserve the history or would it be to expand on the UH campus?

So I couldn't say, I couldn't say what would be the intent now, but what I would say. Because that this is not something that I have discussed broadly with the University President, Board of Regents, stakeholders in the Manoa campus, et cetera, et cetera.

But I will say that that was done back in 2018-2019, and when the University decided that we would submit an offer to acquire St. Francis, the intention was that we would repurpose that school, or the former school, into a University utility, specifically faculty housing. Again, this was the intent back in 2020.

And some of the merits of that idea was, I mentioned this private substandard road. Well, if it was faculty housing, the University, we could close the entrance on that road so we would spare the neighborhood, then the roadway neighbors the issue about that they currently have with traffic flow into the property via their roadway.

The other thing is we do have a shortage of housing within the state. We have a shortage of housing for faculty housing. There is faculty housing in Manoa Valley that's multifamily townhouse walk up faculty housing with the level of density is not as dense or tight as being contemplated in the current developer's design.

The intention would have been we could have replicated that same level of density onto that site to address housing. Since this is faculty housing, there's actually very low vehicular need because these are faculty that we're working on campus. So that helps address traffic issues. And faculty housing generates money, right?

Because faculty pay rent or lease the properties, you know, they're tenants. So there's a revenue flow, and that is what made sense for the revenue bonds. That it wasn't the state putting up the money. The University could issue revenue bonds, the debt of which would be secured by the rental income. That all made sense.

At the time, we were aware that along... I'll speak specifically about the archaeological significance. We know that there's registered and recorded archaeological significant primarily burials that run along Manoa Stream, even onto the University of Hawaii Manoa property. So we knew that.

At the time, I actually thought that anybody who wanted to purchase this property that was not the University of Hawaii would, after doing some due diligence, they would maybe have some concerns. But since the University of Hawaii, we are the adjoining neighbor, we already have these very same consequences. That's why I thought the University of Hawaii would be the right candidate. Now this is back in 2020, so it's nothing against the current landowner or the purchaser. The question about, well, what would the University intend to do with it now?

There's a lot of ifs, because, one, I don't know if the University would ever acquire this even with this bill or not. And I also don't know if the current landowner, how far along are they to develop the property. They may be already set in motion. So. And then in light of, you know, Dr. Sofio and Mr. Luke's testimony and knowledge about the area, you know, those are things that may reshape what we could intend to put there. But there is a school site there that's been there for 50 plus years. I mean there are already constructed buildings there. Yeah.

Thank you, Chair. One more question for Mr. Liko. Mr. Martin, please. Thank you. Mr. Liko. Really, really good testimony, but I'm a bit unclear or maybe I just missed it. You are in support of this bill or are you in support of the Governor?

I am not in support of the bill because it is, it's a circumvention of what I respect to be a process already in place to preserve this area. And it's just kind of an anomaly of the creation of the State of Hawaii and the whole foundation of illegitimacy that it goes back to the time of 1893.

So of course I would not. I would. As a descendant of Abner Pākī, my inherent rights as well as others, the tenants on the land have never been extinguished. I grew up from Diamond Head to Manoa. The area is very historic, always has been. Thanks to Ellen, it was brought to my attention.

And so I'm just saying that this process is putting not exactly the cart in front of the horse. I think we're in the wrong stable, especially given the authority under the Revised Laws of Hawaii, which unfortunately has not been brought to bear within any other county. I can understand why they would not want to do that.

Okay. And that whether or not that is an issue, I think it is an issue in the executive level of the United States government. But it is also the onus of the Governor, the Office of the Governor, who represents the laws, Hawaiian laws on this land, whereas the United States represents the stars and stripes that fly over to protect the territory of the Hawaiian Islands.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Members, any other questions? Seeing none. Members, apologies, I failed to note that we do have several other, a few dozen testimonies in support from various individuals and testimony in opposition from the landowner, Avalon Development Company. So with that, we move on to the next bill. Senate... I'm sorry.

House Bill 563 relating to the University of Hawaii Space Science and Engineering Initiative. This bill appropriates funds for salaries and fringe benefits.

Chair Garrett, I'm sorry, Is it possible. For testifiers to ask a quick question?

We've moved on to the next bill.

Okay. Eminent domain. That's what's needed.

As I was saying House Bill 563. This bill is relating to the University of Hawaii Space Science and Engineering Initiative. Appropriate funds for salaries and fringe benefits of positions for the UH, Institute for Astronomy, Space Science and Engineering Initiative, Workforce Development Program, Maunakea Scholars Program and Internship Program.

Appropriates funds for office equipment and supplies, operational costs and stipends for the Maunakea Scholars Program and Internship Program. Up first, we have the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, Mr. Doug Simons, testifying in support.

Mahalo, Chair. And mahalo, all Members of the Committee. I'm Doug Simons, the Director of the Institute for Astronomy. I and Dean Marioka from the College of Engineering and Provost, Bruno provided written testimony that we stand by.

My only sort of summary comments are. First of all, to send a mahalo to the Legislature, who two sessions ago sponsored 10 new faculty positions, which allowed us to essentially jumpstart the new Space Science and Engineering Initiative.

I'm happy to report half of those positions are filled, and we're well on our way to filling out the rest as well. It's a great collaboration between us and University of Hawaii at Hilo.

The aspect of this whole program that we're trying to address through this bill is to fill a gap, and that is between what we've established through the funding that we have and the local community by putting together a workforce development team to go into the local schools, reach into those educational systems, and inspire and engage local students to get into the new degree engineering degree program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

So with that, I thank you for the time to offer a few thoughts on that. I'm happy to take questions later on. Mahalo.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Simons. Up next, we have Maunakea Scholars, Mary Beth Laychak, testimony and support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. My name is Mary Beth Laychak, and I've been the program lead for Maunakea Scholars since its inception in the 2015-2016 school year. Testifying in strong support of this bill, and I have some additional comments to my written testimony.

The program works with Hawaii high school students, predominantly students from the Public Department of Education, and facilitates the opportunity for students to apply for observing time for their own independent research projects.

Schools fit the program into the curriculum however it best suits their needs, which means that I work with students ranging from AP STEM classes to credit recovery programs. The goal of the Maunakea Scholars Program is to empower students to see themselves as people who can work in a variety of STEM professions, not solely as professional astronomers.

While several alumni have gone on to major in astronomy, more have chosen to pursue paths in education and engineering. I know at least two students whom I've worked with since high school who have gone on to graduate from college with their degrees in engineering, both of which have found work outside of the State of Hawaii.

I've spoken to them and their parents, who deeply hope that after gaining experience, their children can find positions here in Hawaii, enabling them to return home. I want to emphasize that Maunakea Scholars is in fact, poised for expansion.

It's not a question if teachers and students are interested, but a matter of adding capacity to reach them and integrate the program into their curriculum. If this bill passes and a dedicated staff Member is higher, I believe that we can rapidly expand the program. Mahalo for the opportunity to provide testimony your consideration.

I'm also available for questions at the end.

Okay, thank you very much. Up next via Zoom, Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce not present. Submitted testimony and support.

I'm in. Present. I'm present. Excuse me.

Sorry for the mix up. Go ahead, please.

Okay. Aloha Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato and the Committee on Higher education. Founded in 1968, the Kona-Kohala Chamber works to enhance the quality of life for our community through a strong, sustainable economy on Hawaii Island.

With 460 Member businesses and organizations, the Konokohala Chamber of Commerce strongly supports House Bill 563 relating to the University of Hawaii's Space Science and Engineering Initiative. As an organization that supports the growth of Hawaii's technology sector, we believe this Bill will foster innovation, diversify the island's economy and provide quality, high paying jobs for the people of Hawaii.

We support educational programs that feed directly into the region's key industries, including the astronomy industry on Hawaii Island. Just one Sec here. Therefore, we support this educational initiative that promotes workforce development and internship programs in STEM funding. The University of Hawaii's Space Science and Engineering Initiative and Mauna Kea Scholars is a strategic investment in Hawaii's workforce.

The passage of House Bill 563 is critical for the continued success and growth of Hawaii's economy and for its people. And just to note, I have lived in Hawaii for nearly 40 years. I am a graduate of University of Hawaii Hilo and the University of Hawaii Manoa, with a graduate degree in education.

I believe these reasons are enough to convince you that that we would really like you to support this bill. Thanks so much.

Okay, thank you for joining us today. Up next via Zoom. Mauna Kei Observatories testifying in support.

Aloha. Aloha. Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato and Members of the Committee apologize. My video is just having a few problems. My name is Andrew Odell and I'm testifying on behalf of the Monica Observatories Mauna Kei Observatory. Stand on our written testimony in support of HB 563. With just a few comments.

We very much look forward to partnering with the transformational work happening as part of the, uh, Space Science and Engineering Initiative. Further, we're confident this initiative will benefit our local community by connecting our Keiki 2 K through career opportunities, helping to develop a highly skilled statewide STEM workforce. I'm available to answer any questions.

Mahalo. Okay, thank you very much. Members, please note we have testimony in support from the County of Hawaii, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and several individuals. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to Testify? House Bill 563. No one via Zoom Members, any questions? House Bill 563. Yes, please. Vice Chair.

Go ahead.

Thank you. Chair, I have a question for Doug Simmons, please. Thank you for your testimony. I love it when we can expose. Our students to space. I'm just curious. The 250,000 for office equipment supplies, operational costs and internship stipends is rather vague. How much money will actually go to student stipends?

Yeah, it's a function of how many students we're able to support that's basically scaled off of a comparable program called the Akamai Internship Program.

I'm familiar with that.

Yeah. And I'm very familiar with that and worked extensively. We're big supporters of that program. But it's also massively over subscribed, so there are a lot of students that simply can't participate in it. And the overall budget and the FTEs allocated are very comparable to that demonstrated program.

Okay, thank you. Sure.

Thank you, Vice Chair, Members. Any other questions? House Bill 563. Seeing none, we'll move on to the next bill—House Bill 443. Relating to the University of Hawaii at Hilo, it appropriates funds for one retention coordinator position, one internship coordinator position, and student enrollment management initiatives at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Up first, we have Chancellor Bonnie Irwin Hilo testifying in support. Thank you for joining us today.

Aloha, Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato, Committee Members. I am Bonnie Irwin, Chancellor at, uh, Hilo. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. And I would also like to thank Chair Garrett for introducing this bill, which is very much necessary for our campus to proceed in our enrollment management plans.

I stand on my written testimony and support, and I am available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Chancellor. Members, please also note we have testimony and support from the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify? Seeing none. Anyone via Zoom? None either. Members, questions?

Hey, Chancellor, if you don't mind coming back up—since you came all the way from Hawaii Island—want you to have the full legislative experience.

I've had it before.

Let's see here. Can you explain what you mean by enrollment management initiatives? Are we talking about like software programs or?

A number of things: professional development for staff, software programs, technological tools, and also, on the retention side—both, again, technological tools that we might be able to use—as well as training for faculty and staff on best practices around retention efforts.

So, it's a combination of things we're looking for to support our new strategic enrollment management plan. Some of this is digital outreach. Some of it is targeted recruitment based on geography and interests. Some of it is retention based on, again, students' career plans—which is where the internship coordinator comes in.

We have a lot of research that supports internships as one of the key things to promote student success and ensure that students will land in a reasonable job when they graduate—so, all of those things together.

Okay, understood. Thank you, Chancellor. Members, questions? Okay, seeing none. Move on to the next bill. House Bill 3 HD1, relating to beach management on the North Shore of Oahu. This bill extends a deadline for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program to submit the North Shore Beach Management Program to the Governor and Legislature effective 7-1-3000. Up first we have you each UH SOEST testifying in support.

That's right. Aloha. Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'll keep this brief. My name is Dolan Eversole. I'm here on behalf of the University of Hawaii. Standing on our written comments in support and available to answer questions as needed.

Okay, thank you for joining us. Do we have someone here from DLNR? Please. Testifying in support.

Thank you, Chair. Michael Cain on behalf of DLNR. We stand by our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Anyone via Zoom? Seeing none. Members, questions? House Bill 3 HD 1. Seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. House Bill 309 HD1, relating to fish ponds.

This bill establishes a fish pond inventory working group within the UH Sea Grant College program to create an inventory and map of all fish ponds on state land and to conduct a literature review, appropriates funds, effective 7-1-3000. Up first, we have DLNR testifying in support.

Thank you. We stand on our written testimony in support. And I'll just add that our office has worked closely with KUA and the Fish Pond Hui in the past, so we do look forward in partnering with them again. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Up next, University of Hawaii System testifying in support.

My name is Katy Hintzen. I'm extension faculty with the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. We stand by our written testimony in support. Hawaii Sea Grant has supported the restoration of loko i'a and loko i'a practice for many decades as part of our mission to improve the understanding of and stewardship of coastal marine resources. We've partnered very often with Hui Mālama Loko Iʿa and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and we hope to continue those partnerships and bring the expertise of our program to support this important work.

Okay, thank you very much. Is there anyone here from the Department of Agriculture? Seeing none. Testimony in support, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo testifying in support.

Aloha, Chair and Vice Chair and Members. I'm Olan Leimomi Fisher, advocate for Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo or KUA, and we serve as a support organization for three island wide networks, the largest of which is our Hui Mālama Loko Iʿa. And we helped to develop this measure with the support and help of DLNR and UH Sea Grant.

And we just think that it's a very important thing to do to get some, you know, dedicated state funding to do this inventory of fish ponds. And yeah, we all know the numerous benefits of fish ponds and loko iʿa restoration, so we urge you to please support. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. I think that's all we have scheduled to testify. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to do so? You could identify yourself, please, and any organization.

Angela Melody Young, ROAR, CARES, in strong support of Hawaiian fish ponds. So we need the Hawaiian fish ponds and the Western culture to work together at this point in time to perpetuate Hawaiian culture as well as to integrate our current culture practices.

So according to NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and the data points about Hawaiian fish ponds, it says a growing network of fish pond practitioners and organizations from across Hawaii are restoring the fish ponds. Once upon a time, 500 fish ponds provided local Hawaiian communities with seafood.

Fish ponds served as an integrated agricultural and ecosystem management strategy to perpetuate the ahupuaʻa system. A societal move towards more centralized governance and economics, with the overthrow and annexation of the Hawaiian government, and with natural disasters, development, and cultural economic ties, it led to only four working fishponds by the dawn of the 21st century.

So an effort is underway to restore the pond structures and reconnect communities to support community based initiatives and networking opportunities to build capacity to restore and to care for these fish ponds. So the amendment I'd like to propose is under number four. Okay, so there's 1, 2, 3. Right.

Director of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program shall be in the working group. And the Administrator of the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands of the DLNR shall be in the working group, and so will the Administrator of the Land Division of the DLNR will be in the working group. But can it also be considerate of students of University of Hawaii to also provide advice to the working group? So that's my proposed amendment. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll take it under advisement. Thank you, Ms. Young. Anyone else in the room wishing to testify? Seeing none. Move on to our last bill on the agenda. House Bill 1352, making an appropriation to the University of Hawaii.

This bill appropriates monies to the University of Hawaii program for the hiring of one graduate assistant and acquiring a new website domain. Apologies, Dean Osorio, for your patience today. Testifying in support? No, just you today.

Thank you for. Thank you. Chair Garrett and Vice Chair Amato. Members of the Committee. I'm here as the dean of the School of Hawaiian Knowledge, and one of our departments is Kawaii Huilani Center for Hawaiian Language.

I'm going to give you a brief summary of what this program is, because there's nothing about this in the bill: what Ihua na Mao Lalo is.

In 2021, this program was launched by Kahikina D. Silva, Professor—now an Associate Professor—and it basically is an outreach to Kula Kaiapuni, Hawaiian Language immersion schools, and Hawaiian-focused charter schools to provide additional curriculum materials. Eventually, what they became is a quarterly reader for second, third, fourth, and fifth graders.

Basically, it's bringing Hawaiian language undergraduates and a graduate student together to research, design, and produce these quarterly readings. And the intent is eventually that all four of these grades will be covered. So far, we've only got grade three—and also an online Hawaiian language newsletter. The importance of this can't be overstressed.

The burden on Hawaiian language instructors—I mean, I'm sorry, instructors and teachers—in the Kula Kaiapuni is enormous. They basically have to produce their own curriculum. They don't have a huge infrastructure of curriculum to rely on, and they put in extra hours for fundraising. This has been one of the things that the University has been able to do.

Kumu Kahikina gives all of her time to this. And what they are asking for is continued support for the graduate assistant and the undergraduate produce—you know, writers and editors. I strongly favor this. And the last thing I'm going to ask you is: at 1:40 yesterday, Kumu Kahikina emailed me and said she was having trouble posting this online.

I offered to bring the testimony here and leave it with you.

Thank you. We'll make sure it's reflected in the record.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Dean. Okay, Members, please note we have testimony from three individuals in support as well. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? House Bill 1352. Anyone via Zoom? No. Members, questions? We have one question for Dean Osorio, if you don't mind coming back up to the podium.

The Bill description says that the purpose of the appropriation of $179,378 is for the hiring of one graduate assistant and to acquire a new website domain. Yes, that's correct.

Yes, that's correct.

Is that correct? Okay. Just wanted to make sure that's not reflected in the text of the Bill itself. So what we'll do is amend it to reflect that that's what the money is going toward.

So, I am a little confused because we had asked for funding for the undergraduate writers as well. They're basically student help working at minimum wage for no more than 10 hours a week.

So, I'm not sure that that would really be an overwhelming burden on this bill, but I wanted to make sure that we could use it for that purpose as well.

I see. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Okay, Members, we're going to recess.

Okay, good afternoon. Reconvening the committees on higher education and education. So we're going to go into decision making. The first bill, House Bill 707, this is relating to the college savings program.

As the gentleman from DOTAX pointed out, we may have a defective title here relating to the college savings program when it says in the bill description that it might be used, may be used for K-12 educational expenses.

So we're going to defer this matter till Friday, February 12 at 2pm. That'll be our next scheduled hearing in this room. And in the meantime, I will ask the attorney general for an opinion regarding the title. Members, any discussion? Chair Woodson, your concurrence?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, if it's okay if we can also, if you'd also consider having it on one of the Tuesday or Thursday agendas as opposed to the Friday agenda.

Actually, you know, I'm sorry, it's not Friday, it's Thurs, Wednesday. My apologies. Wednesday. But if you're, if you're going to have a hearing on Tuesday the 11th?

Yes.

Okay, what's a good time for you folks?

2:00.

Okay, so apologies. I take back that back. We are going to defer this till Tuesday, February 11th at 2:00pm in this room. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair Woodson.

All right, we will recess the joint hearing on that bill. We'll reconvene on the remainder of the agenda, starting with House Bill 617. Members, this is the bill regarding setting up a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

Okay, so members, chair would like to recommend an HD one, essentially blanking out the appropriations currently in the bill, which will be reflected in this standing committee report. We'll be inserting a defective date of 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. And we will be asking the Finance Committee to look at potentially funding this into the, UH base budget.

Members, any questions? Comments? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote, please. House Bill 617, HD1.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on House Bill 617. Chair's recommendation is passed with amendments. [ROLL CALL] Thank you. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, Members. Next bill, House Bill 718. Chair's recommendation is to also pass this out with amendments, blanking out the appropriations for the four positions and defecting the date to 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote please. HD1.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on HB 718. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Noting the arrival of Representative Kila. All members being present. Are there any members voting with reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you,Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Next bill, House Bill 1279. This is the bill regarding the medical liaison position. I've read the bill two or three times and I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I still can't figure out what exactly the bill purports to do. So my recommendation is to defer this indefinitely.

Members, any questions? Comments? And I believe there is a vehicle moving in the Senate. So if it does cross over to us, we'll reconsider it then. Okay, so deferring indefinitely, House Bill 1279. Up next is House Bill 1169 relating to the University of Hawaii Conference Center Revolving Fund. I believe this is rather housekeeping in nature.

Does consolidate a few accounts into one. We do want to make one amendment courtesy of the Hawaii, I'm sorry, the House Majority Staff Office. Bless you. To change the language in Section 4, page 4, lines 13 to 14. Currently it reads all appropriations and encumbrances. The suggestion from HMSO is to change that to all unencumbered funds.

I'll note that the bill already has a blank appropriation. We would also like to make some technical, non substantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency. And to also insert a defective date of 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote please. HD1.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on House Bill 1169. Chair's recommendation is to vote with, as to pass with amendments. Noting the presence of all members. Any members voting no? Any members with reservations? Seeing none. Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, members. Next Bill is House Bill 1168. This is an administration bill relating to the University of Hawaii revenue bonds. You know, chair would note that as CFO Young testified, there's no current projects scheduled for this money.

You know, I was alarmed at the amount that they were requesting, but I think for the purposes of supporting the Board of Regents and, you know, autonomy in general for the University, the inclination is to, I'm sorry, the recommendation is to pass this with an HD1.

We will blank out the amount that is being authorized for the Board of Regents and ask the Finance Committee to consider the appropriate amount. We'll also insert an effective date of 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote, please. HD1

Voting on HB 1168. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any members voting with reservations? Reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you very much. Next bill, House Bill 548 relating to the acquisition of the St Francis School campus for the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As you know, we had a lot of discussion on this bill. Just to reiterate during that point, this bill is not an eminent domain bill.

It would simply position the University to potentially acquire the parcel if it came on the market once again. You know, being the representative for the area, I know this is a rare opportunity to potentially acquire a contiguous parcel to the University.

So in terms of the recommendations, you know, we will keep the amounts blank for both the revenue bond portion as well as the general obligation bond portion. Proposal for the HD1 is to make some technical, non substantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and silence and a defective date of 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion.

Members, any questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote, please. HD1.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 548. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any members voting no? No for Representative Muraoka. Any members voting with reservations? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you., members. House Bill 563 relating to the University of Hawaii Space Science and Engineering Initiative. Let's see here. Okay. This is a program I'm really excited about. You know, we need to support more STEM careers. And I'm glad to hear Mr. Simons talk about the progress they're making in filling the faculty positions.

I think it's important for Hawaii island to grow their own engineers. And I know this helps fund a pre engineering pathway for students from Hawaii Island. So the chair's recommendation here is to pass this out with an HD1, blanking out the appropriations as well as the current FTE counts.

And we'll request that the Finance Committee consider the appropriate amount. We'll put that in the committee report. And lastly, we will insert a defective date of 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote, please. HD1

Voting on HB 563. Chair's recommendation is passed with amendments. Are there any members voting no? Any members with reservations? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you very much. Next bill, House Bill 443 relating to the University of Hawaii at Hilo. I just want to thank Chancellor Irwin for hosting the committee back in December and we met with her team.

It was very clear that the Student Services section, you know, they made a very passionate plea for help to try to reverse the enrollment decline that's happening there.

This is something I'd like to see proceed going forward in terms of the HD1 would just like to blank out the appropriations and insert the effective data 7/1/3000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote please. HD1

Voting on HB 443. Recommendation is pass with amendments. Are there any members voting no? Any members with reservations? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Next bill, House Bill 3 HD1 relating to beach management on the North Shore of Oahu. This is a bill that we received from the Water and Land Committee. You know, the chair believes that a one year extension is certainly reasonable, noting that there is already a defective date of 7/1/3000 in this bill.

Recommendation is to pass as is. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote please. HD 2, I'm sorry, as is.

Voting on HB 3 HD1. Chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Any members voting no? Any members with reservations? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you very much. House Bill 309 HD1 relating to fish ponds. Similarly, this is a bill that came over from the Water and Land Committee. Members, you notice that we had several dozen pieces of testimony in strong support. The recommendation here is also to pass this as is, noting the defective date of 7/1/3000. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote please. As is.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 309 HD1. Chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Are there any members with voting no? Are there any members with reservations? I'm sorry, Rep. Muraoka, were you voting no? Oh, okay. Just making sure. All right, thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you. The last bill, House Bill 1352 relating to, I'm sorry, making an appropriation to the University of Hawaii. We did hear from Dean Osorio on the merits of this bill. Certainly acknowledge that we need to do more to support Olelo Hawaii.

I just want to make sure that we have the appropriate language so there's no restrictions on the School of Hawaiian knowledge and how they deploy this money. So I'm going to work with Dean Osorio and the bill introducer to get the appropriate language.

So this bill, we will defer to our Wednesday, February 12th agenda at 2pm in this room. Members, any questions? Comments? Seeing none with that, we are adjourned. Thank you very much.