House Standing Committee on Finance

We're going to convene the Committee on Finance to hear certain Senate bills. So first up is Senate Bill 325 SD1. Vice chair.

First up, we have the Department of Taxation with comments.

DOTAX stands on our written testimony.

Thank you. We have the Tax Foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation of Hawaii. We will stand on our written comments and be available for questions.

Okay. Thank you. That's all the written testimony we received for this measure. Is anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, Members, questions? Okay, thank you. Move on to the next Bill. Senate Bill 933 SD2.

First up, we have the Judiciary in support.

Chair, Members of the Committee, Brandon Kimura for the judiciary.

Thank you. We have Hawaii Youth Services Network in support on zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Members of the Committee, I'm Judith Clark, Executive Director of Hawaii Youth Services Network, a statewide coalition of youth serving organizations, and we are in strong support of this Bill. Federal funding for nonprofit organizations provides critically needed services for vulnerable children, youth and families.

Federal funds provide housing, health care, educational services, and protection from child abuse and domestic violence. We need these services so that children and youth can grow up safe, healthy, and ready to succeed. Hawaii nonprofit organizations currently receive 630 federal grants totaling more than 1 billion doll billion in the current year.

Hawaii Youth Services Network alone has more than $2 million in federal funds for services to homeless youth that are at risk. As the Federal Fund Administration works on cutting funding for essential services, it is equally essential for our state government to ensure that the most needed services are able to continue. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Thank you. We have Aloha United Way in support on zoom. Not present. We have Catholic Charities Hawaii in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. I'm Betty Lou Larsen for Catholic Church Hawaii. We really ask you to consider this Bill because nonprofits are at a crossroads, really at a financial crossroads.

You know, many of us are in deficit already, and if we were at whole, maybe we could withstand these federal cuts that are coming, but we're already down there.

So we're really saying that this Bill would help to basically help to stabilize the organizations that help the homeless, help seniors provide services to those who can't pay for them. They're underserved, they're marginalized, they're the poor or even the middle class like Ellis, families that are struggling.

So we really ask you to support this Bill, and we hope that we can become more stable so no matter what happens in the future, we will still have a strong health and social service or continuum of care. Thank you.

Thank you. Child and Family service in support. Thank you. Hawaii True Cost Coalition in support.

Aloha chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Hannah Lesiak and I'm here on behalf of the True Cost Coalition in strong support of SB933. You have our written testimony.

But just briefly, I wanted to emphasize that our coalition is comprised of over 70 community based nonprofit organizations that provide crucial services for our most vulnerable populations. And with that said, the true cost of these services has increased far more dramatically than appropriations from contract increases have. And federal funding cuts have caused an even greater threat.

So with that said, we believe that this Bill would provide great support to the operations of these necessary organizations. I want to thank you for hearing this measure and I'll be available for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Hawaii Public Health Institute in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Nate Hicks with Hawaii Public Health Institute in support of this Bill. Social services are an incredibly important part of our community, providing food, shelter, nursing home services. If these things get cut, it's obviously terrible for the person who's dealing with that situation.

But the long term effects, the long term costs on our society are also great. If people aren't housed, if people aren't fed, they can't show up to work and be a productive Member of society. Businesses are hurting as a result.

If nursing home care is not provided, people have to take off of work to care for a loved one, aren't able to contribute to the society. So in the short term, yeah, these costs might be painful to incur, but the long term impacts are going to be even greater.

And so I think this is an opportunity for us to make sure that we, you know, understand the value that these services are providing. And I also want to say that this is very much a moving target. We are not sure where all the cuts are going to come.

Just earlier this week, the CDC cuts from the Federal Government are huge, impacting many of us here as well. Right. This just came out and we're expecting, unfortunately, many more cuts to be continuing as we go. And so having a pot of funds that can be used to address these situations are very important. Right.

Our organization, 60% of our funds come from federal contracts and federal funds, and we're not rare. Right. This is a significant portion of a lot of our organization's funds. So a lot of scary times. And I think this would be a great opportunity to help all of us. Mahalo.

Thank you. We have Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations HANO in support.

Good afternoon Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Jodi Robinson testifying on behalf of the Hawaii alliance of Nonprofit Organizations and strong support of this Bill. Attached to our testimony is a sign on letter from 76 nonprofit orgs in support of funding providing funding to our nonprofits.

In light of some of this federal funding cuts, I wanted to highlight a few of the amendments HANO has proposed in our testimony. I will just talk about the main two first, we are hopeful that the Legislature will consider expanding the eligibility of these emergency grants to all nonprofits in Hawaii.

As currently written, it's only providing funding to health, human services and legal services organizations. And as we all know, there are federal funding cuts across all subsectors happening from education, arts and culture, environment, societal benefit. There are far reaching effects and ongoing effects with some of the pending executive orders and the outcome of the litigation.

So we'd like to the Legislature to expand eligibility to provide access to all organizations facing shortfalls. Second, we'd like to encourage that the lawmakers explore perhaps an expedited GIA process or reopen the existing GIA application process for accessing funds provided by this Bill.

And the reason is the existing GIA applications happened prior to the funding freeze and of course existing grantees have received funding for different projects and as current needs have changed, we'd like to be reactive and reflective of that.

This also provides an opportunity for new organizations to apply for this emergency funding and gives lawmakers an opportunity to kind of reassess where the current needs are and then make decisions based on the best available data. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.

HANO has a lot of data and resources that we can provide to this Committee as you make decisions in conference Committee. Mahalo for passing this Bill and for your support of nonprofits. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have Kumakahi Health and Wellness in support on zoom? Not present. Parent and children together in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee Tricia Kajimura for Parents and Children Together or PACT. We're in strong support of this Bill and I wanted to share a little bit about how federal funding cuts could impact pact. We provide early learning services, Head Start, Early Head Start on Hawaii island and Oahu.

We that is our largest federal grant. We also have federal funds in our state contracted programs such as in home or youth behavioral health services, domestic violence shelters, child welfare and after school programming for youth living in public housing. On top of the true cost issues the cuts to federal funding will force us to reduce services.

We are actively contingency planning. But we definitely could use the state's help in addressing this future challenge. Thank you.

Thank you. That's all the people I have signed in. We also received testimony and support from the Hawaii State Energy Office, 25 other organizations and 14 individuals all in support. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, Members, questions?

Yeah. Thank you Chair, for HANO, thanks for being here. I had a real quick question and you can send this to me offline. Sure. Of all the organizations and I've been on your website, how many of your organizations have been active for 10 or more years? Do you have a breakdown of all of the nonprofits?

We often see nonprofits created, you know, at, during COVID or doing certain recovery. Right. Do you have a list of your nonprofits and the lifespan of those nonprofits for your different organizations?

And you can send that to me? I can send that to you. Hanno is also working on a State of the sector report that's going to be released at the end of the year. And I'd be happy to do kind of a legislative briefing.

Some of the data that we're connecting and collecting initially, overall In Hawai, about 7,000 nonprofit organizations, but only about 5,000 of them are financially active, meaning they've filed tax returns. And then above of that 5,000, about 2,500 make report income less than $200,000. So these are kind of small organizations. We don't have the best data for that.

I also read a stat or got data from that. There's only about seven new organizations in the past couple of years, so that provides some context. And I'll follow up with you as far as the lifespan span of the other orgs.

Yeah, that would be great. And then in addition to that, I know Hawaii Community foundation has their change framework. Do you have any information as to how they're aligning with that change framework or any saids that they might be aligned to?

I don't. I know that they testified in support of the Bill, but no, I can't answer that question. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Okay, thank you. Further questions? Okay, thank you. We'll move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 326, HD, SD, SD 1.

First we have Department of Budget and Finance in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Luis Salaveria, Director of Finance. Here to testify, and I'll stand on our testimony in support of this bill. But would just also like to make a comment that, you know, the provision in statute that requires non-general funds to be self sustaining does not just apply to revolving funds, they also do apply to special funds as well. So I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Tax Foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, Vice Chair, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation. We will stand on our somewhat cynical comments and be available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, questions? Members? Thank you. We'll move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 1464.

First Department of Taxation in support.

Good afternoon. Kristin Sakamoto, Deputy Director of Taxation. The Department supports this measure, which is our annual conformity bill. And we just wanted to point out that there was one piece of federal legislation that may be relevant here and that's the Federal Disaster Tax relief Act of 2023. I'm available if you have any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Tax foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation. We'll stand our written comments and be available for questions.

Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Questions, members? Okay, thank you. We'll move on to the next bill, Senate Bill 1465 SD1.

Okay. Department of Taxation, in support.

Kristen Sakamoto, Deputy Director of Taxation. We support this administration measure, which amends the PTE tax law, and basically it just is intended to restore it back to the original intent to be revenue-neutral. I'm available if you have any questions. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. And Tax Foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation. We do not agree that the taxpayer is getting a double benefit under current law, so--and we have a detailed analysis that we have provided in our testimony. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much.

Okay. Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Okay, thank you. We'll move on to the next bill.

We'll move on to the next bill: Senate Bill 1466.

Okay. Department of Taxation, in support.

Thank you. Kristen Sakamoto, Deputy Director of Taxation. The department supports this administration measure, and just simply, it addresses two features of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The first, it addresses an issue with respect to nonresidents and the amount that they may claim and also limits the carry forward for the Earned Income Tax Credit for Tax Year 22. Thank you.

Thank you. Tax Foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation. We'll stand on our written testimony, be available for questions.

Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Thank you. Questions, Members? Thank you. We're going to move on to the next bill, Senate Bill 1470.

First, we have Department of Taxation in support.

Kristen Sakamoto, Deputy Director of Taxation. The Department supports this administration measure, and basically it just adjusts the withholding limitations to allow the Department to more accurately calculate withholdings for taxpayers. I'm available if you have any questions.

Thank you. And Tax Foundation of Hawaii with comments on Zoom.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation of Hawaii. We are in agreement with the rationale behind the bill. I'd be available for questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members? Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 383 SD2.

First, we have the State Procurement Office, in opposition.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Bonnie Kahakui, Administrator, State Procurement Office. We stand on our written testimony in opposition to this bill.

While we acknowledge that prices have increased, this is a matter of transparency, fair and equal treatment to all vendors. We provided data for you that shows the impact of the hundreds of small purchases that will be impacted and also the dollar figure. So we're talking--we're not talking small amounts, we're talking 15, 18 millions of dollars. Thank you. Available for questions.

Thank you. We have the Department of Transportation, in support. [Muted audio]. Thank you. We also received testimony in support from the City and County of Honolulu. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Any questions? Members? Thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 441 SD1 HD1.

First, we have the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in support.

Aloha. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, my name is Dane Lamb and I am the music and artistic Director of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. The HSO provides services to people all throughout the state. We have free concerts in parks. We've got live streams of our concerts.

We showcase local Hawaiian recording artists, we perform masterwork series, we go into schools, we do side by side concerts with the Hawaii Symphony.

And we believe, and we've been able to prove that this has a net benefit not just on the emotional and the spiritual well being of society, but a direct financial impact as well in terms of the direct employment of 84 full time musicians who are at the absolute top of their game, but also to the restaurants, to the car parks, to the vendors around our concerts.

For 300 years now, Symphony orchestras have survived through the support of individuals, corporations and governments. And the reason they've been supported for such a long time is because of the myriad of benefits that they bring to society. Symphony orchestras are funded because they benefit society. Like schools, like hospitals, like universities.

And of course, to be a great world state, there needs to be a great art museum, great University and a great symphony orchestra. We have this in this community, these fantastic musicians who are at the absolute top of their game. They are the athletes, really the elite athletes of the musical world.

And not only do they give performances, but they teach our children and that is invaluable. Without the Hawaii Symphony, these musicians would not be on this island. So I commend you all and thank you for considering this truly landmark and transformative bill that could ensure the future of generations of music lovers in perpetuity. Thank you.

Thank you. We have pride at work Hawaii in support. On Zoom, not present. We have Tyree Jenkins in support. Sorry, if you're going to unmute comments, could you please come to the mic? It's for the recording and it's a.

Really important part of our community. And not only do we support the musicians and the music lovers, but we also support industry and there's so much connection in, in the community between the businesses and Hawaii Symphony Orchestra that there's just a wide reach. And I thank you for considering this bill.

Thank you. We have James Moffatt in support.

Hi. Thank you. My name is James Moffitt. I'm President of the Musicians Union as well as a clarinetist in the White Symphony Orchestra. And I stand by my testimony. Thank you for hearing this.

Thank you. We have Anna Lenhart in support.

Make sure I can be heard on this. I'm a brass player, so normally I don't deal with microphones since we're usually loud enough. Aloha. My name is Anna Lenhart. I'm the principal horn of the Hawaii Symphony.

And after moving here, I also began teaching at Punahou UH BYU Hawaii, as well as performing chamber music with chamber music Hawaii around the state. Three days ago, I traveled to the Big island with four fellow brass players, between our 9 a.m. arrival and our 8 p.m. departure, we played three different concerts in Hilo, La. Poehoe and Honoka.

After each concert, we were flocked by really excited attendees. And it was especially exciting at Hilo High, where all the Brass students chose to spend their lunch break excitedly asking us questions about practice routines and career paths and playing techniques.

I did notice one student who was kind of hanging on the fringe and I went up to her and asked her, Oh, do you play an instrument? And she's like, yes, I play the flute. And you guys were great, but it would be much better if you brought the whole symphony.

And I promised her we were working on it, so here I am. So how would designating the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the State of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra help your constituents? When I won the principal horn audition here in 2018, I heard a lot of musicians referring to the Hawaii Symphony as the Frequent Flyer Symphony.

Many musicians saw the symphony as just another low paying but fun gig to take at the start of your orchestral career and then move on to something bigger.

So lots of people, they lived in New York or LA and flew in every couple months to play a concert, drink a few Mai Tais, and take all their expertise back to the continent since it just didn't make financial sense to move here.

But Hawaii deserves a lot better than just being a rotating door for people beginning their orchestral career. You as a state, we deserve to have the highly trained musicians who can not only live here, but teach here, perform here, and mentor here.

Investing in the symphony gives us musicians the ability to invest back in Hawaii because we want to stay here. We want to stay for all the quiet kids who find their voices through music lessons. We want to stay for the kupuna who sing along to our Christmas carols and we get to go play in their retirement centers.

We want to stay for when we had a Beethoven concert a few months ago, there was just silence and we just heard a woman whispering wow. Into the silence after the last chord. And I want to stay for that flute student who really wants a symphony concert in her hometown.

We want to stay here and build community because music connects people in a way that transcends language and cultural barriers and it will bring more peace and understanding. You know, the phrase is music soothes the savage beast and there's a lot of raging going on in the world right now and it could use some music.

With our current resources, we can't bring the soul healing music to Hilo yet and to everyone else who wants and needs it. But this bill will enable us musicians not only stay in Hawaii, but to expand our influence to neighbor islands and underserved communities. So thank you for helping us help your constituents.

Thank you. We have Jenny Tu in support. Thank you. Candy Green in support.

Thank you, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Members of the Committee, for the opportunity to speak today. I'm here as a private citizen. I strongly believe that even in these times of economic uncertainty, it's more vital than ever to the well being of Hawaiian ohana, community, and societies writ large that the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, also known affectionately as HSO, serve the state's people in more places than ever before.

Research has proven irrefutably that our brains are wired to receive and respond to music from the time we are born until the day that we die. Neuroimaging has shown that music lights up nearly every part of our brains. The consequences are huge. As you've just heard from Music and Artistic Director Dane Lam, the HSO has as one of its many goals building communities from keiki to kupuna and achieves that. Let's take our keiki first.

Again, going to the reasons that you care for your constituents about approving this bill. Research shows time and again that music, whether played or listened to, positively impacts children's and adolescents' brains and whole selves through enhancing cognitive skills like language, memory, and attention while also promoting emotional regulation, stress reduction, and social skills.

Our kupuna are no less affected. Their quality of life and physical and emotional well being are demonstrably enhanced by listening to music. Again, research illustrates that listening to music can improve cognition and mood, reduce stress and anxiety, fight depression, foster social integration, escalate memory and recall, reduce blood pressure, and boost immune function. Perhaps you ask, well, what does the HSO really have to do with any of that?

As a member of the broader community who volunteers as an usher and in other ways to support the HSO, I have some firsthand observations to answer that question. First, the astounding diversity of HSO's programming draws in audience members from the youngest to the oldest members of our community and everything in between.

I have personally helped seat many kupuna who I know looked forward to the concert at hand for weeks and saved every precious ounce of energy to make it there. After accompanying their slow and cautious walk or roll to their seats, I had the honor of folding up their walkers to put aside safely or making room for their wheelchairs. Then I basked in the glow on their faces when I returned their means of mobility to them after the concerts.

If at an evening performance of, for example, a Tchaikovsky symphony, they bonded through a shared listening experience with an audience that also included many of working age, students, and younger retirees like myself. If it was instead something like the recent free weekend matinee of Beyond Beethoven designed for families, they were as young as two, grandparents sharing music with their grands, families with school age kids, and so so many others.

If it was additionally a free sunset program in a park showcasing varied genres, there were massive numbers of families picnicking, kids waving their arms and pretending to conduct an orchestra themselves as they bounced along the sidewalks when leaving, and smaller groups of every age enjoying a common musical experience and time together. HSO's diversity in programming is not just about venue, it's not just about age.

I see them draw in all kinds of audiences and members of society to go well beyond what some might call a stereotypical classical musical crowd. In presenting music from Star Wars to gaming scores to Hapa Symphony programming of local musical legends playing alongside the orchestra.

As Artistic Director Lam mentioned earlier, the HSO makes sure that the documented benefits, emotional and physical, of listening to live music reach a wide variety of Hawaii's residents and generations. Just to note one, when I worked Jake Shimabukuro's concert with the orchestra, I promise you I had to change a lot of gears, figuratively and literally.

HSO itself, both literally and figuratively, is one of the cornerstones of a Hawaiian musical ecosystem that can be meaningfully nourished further through your positive decision. You might not be surprised to hear that I listen to Hawaiian Public Radio on a daily basis.

I have been charmed, thrilled and amazed to hear Sharene Taba's interviews of a number of school age musicians and musical directors from a range of Hawaii's elementary, middle, and up through high schools. She also broadcasts many of the subject's performances.

The breadth and diversity of kids and directors and the schools represented is astonishing, as is the quality of the music I have heard. What a living treasure we have here to be further enriched. I did some research of my own and discovered that UH Mānoa's outstanding program in music education deserves at least some of the credit.

According to their statistics, during the last five years more than 80% of the graduates from their undergraduate and post baccalaureate programs obtained full time positions teaching in the music field across the state. Some of the credit must also go to the individual musicians of the HSO, as you've heard about today.

And other staff who have engaged in teaching at multiple levels, including on the staff at UH and go into the libraries and schools and other venues to offer their free program and through their presentation of free talks for a variety of ages and kids and to kids from kids to kupuna and everything again in between. A thriving symphony offers a professional home to these givers of themselves and their time who are also world class professionals.

As the officially designated state orchestra and with increased funding, HSO would be able to model for so many more keiki across the islands how to dream big about a career in the arts and enhance the ways in which they can strive towards those aspirations and benefit along the road just by trying. As a state orchestra with increased funding, HSO could also offer more listeners of all ages across the islands the chance to connect and listen and find benefits in a multitude of ways and places through live music.

As a taxpayer, as a mom, as a community member, and a lover of many types of music, I wish more and more of our residents could access all of this. These are times of tremendous stress and anxiety over a multitude of threats, upheavals, and uncertainties, not just economic ones. In the face of these, please support the expansion of a tool we know can facilitate a stronger immune response and enrich all of Hawaii so meaningfully. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Gene Corpuz in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Gene Corpuz. I'm speaking as an individual, but I will mention some other things. But I came to support this bill because I find that, as mentioned in the previous testifier about music is important for the overall health.

I'm also a health coach by profession and so I believe in not only physical, mental, and those things, spiritual is enhanced with the listening and participating in music, but also as I also am a member of the Oahu Choral Society, the premier choral group in Hawaii.

I'm the tenor section leader and, and we have always enjoyed our collaborations with the orchestra. I think right after the pandemic we did Carmina Burana, but also just recently this month, we did Beethoven's Ninth before a packed house in the Blaisdell Concert Hall. And it was a very thrilling experience. And from a chorus member, you know, usually, well, we got to standing ovation.

People always like Beethoven's Ninth, but I never saw anything like that. They literally jumped out of their chairs, and I didn't time it. Some of the choir members did and they said, you know, that ovation, it lasted four minutes. So the orchestra is well loved in this state and in this community, and we would like you to provide continued support for this organization. Thank you.

Thank you. We also have John Mark Mageo with ABC Stores in support. Yes, please.

I am Paul Kosasa, President and CEO of ABC Stores, also the Chair of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra Board. So if you're a Star Wars fan, this is your lucky day because this weekend we are playing Return of the Jedi live in front of the movie screen. Words cannot describe the performance of the orchestra. But if you go, you will feel the emotion and the passion and the joy that the orchestra performs for our community.

Nobody owns the orchestra. It's not like I own it or anything like that. It belongs to our citizens. It belongs to our community. And like London, Tokyo, Berlin, New York, you name the city, all of them have great orchestras, and so should Hawaii. And so I support, strongly support this bill. Thank you for allowing me to testify.

Thank you. That's all the people I have checked in to testify. We also received testimony with comments from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, seven other organizations in support, as well as one individual with comments, and about another about 150 individuals in support. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Please come forward. Please just state your name and position for the record, and then proceed.

Good afternoon, Committee and Vice Chair and Chair. My name is Tim Leong, and I've been a musician with the Hawaii Symphony and the Honolulu Symphony for over 44 years. When you ask what the symphony is, for me I can give you my personal story, which is I grew up with the symphony.

I was maybe 3-4 years old when I first heard the symphony at the Waikiki Shell. It impressed me. That's what the City of Honolulu has given me personally. When I went to school, I passed the test that the state put into the program. And a man brought a whole bunch of violins that taught the children, and that's how I got interested in music.

My teachers were all from the symphony. That's what you support when you support the symphony. People like me, we're very much the same. But the opportunity to play music is very rare and I think very valuable. I look at the children in our community and the symphony supports all of their education, the personal lessons, and gives them the opportunity to one day perhaps have my position in the symphony.

This is what you support and this is what you perpetuate, the hope that the children can participate in music. And I would like to say that, in my opinion, music best represents our humanity through the sound of voice of music. It's just the way we communicate, and hopefully in our community, we'll pass this on to our children. Thank you.

Thank you. Please come forward.

My name is Chris Benjamin. I had intended to testify, but in the interest of time, testimony in strong support.

Okay, thank you. Anybody else in the room? Please just state your name and position for the record.

Aloha. I'm Randy Wong. I'm President and CEO of Hawaii Youth Symphony. I'm also a musician in Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Born and raised, grew up here. Just wanted to say that, on behalf of young people who are seeking a place in this world, who understand that they just, they love music, they love the arts.

And the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra provides an opportunity for them to dream courageously. It provides a way for them to be inspired, for them to grow within themselves and together in the community. And as you know, when I started my job in 2012, the orchestra had been bankrupt.

And so we had a whole crop of elementary, middle and high school students who had never had access to the symphony orchestra. And it's taken a long time to develop, to develop them in light of not having access to the orchestra. And now that the symphony is back, now that they have incredible leadership, both at the staff level and with their board, this is an organization that HYS is proud to be a strategic partner with, to have an alliance with.

When you look at my written testimony, you'll see that I talked about side by sides and different ways that the orchestra provides mentorship. And all of these connections are so important to our young people. And whether or not they go into music, that's not the point.

We've got folks who are architects, like Tim Leong, who just spoke to you, an architect. We've got people who are bankers, developers. They have access, because they had access to the arts, because they had an orchestra that is, you know, specific to Hawaii, it makes our place a better place. So I'm fully in support and just wanted to say thank you for hearing the bill.

Thank you. Please come forward. Just state your name and position for the record.

Aloha, Committee, Vice Chair, Chairman. My name is Maile Reeves. I've been a member of this orchestra for 30 years, and thank you for allowing me to testify today. My colleagues have been pretty thorough in what I thought I was going to say, so I'm going to say something else.

I would like you to know, Randy had mentioned a bankruptcy, and that was very unfortunate for the Honolulu Symphony. And since then, the musicians continued to... We just wouldn't let it die because we really wanted to serve the community, and we love doing that, and we've seen how it changes people, and it's been a long time coming.

But we've had board members who helped us start this from basically from scratch again. And now I want you to know that at this juncture, we have such a strong board, we have an amazing manager, and we have musicians who are fully supportive of both of those entities. We are poised for success, and we're already attaining that.

As some other folks had talked about our Beethoven 9 concert, that's just one of a few concerts. It wouldn't be possible to do what we do without them. And really, what we want to do is serve. That's what we want to do. We take great joy in that. And so I'd like to share a couple of instances where we did, where I did get to see that. Years ago, remember Hurricane Iniki? When Hurricane Iniki hit and we went to Kauai to play a concert, I thought, ugh, this is, why are we doing this?

They've got bigger fish to fry here, and there are people with no roofs on their heads. But we went there, we set up at KCC amphitheater, and we set up a tent, and we started to play it. And there were probably about 2,000 people who showed up to that concert. And at the end of that concert, everybody stood up en masse. And as we played Hawaii Aloha, everybody joined hands and sang.

It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen come together. It was amazing. Another instance where we were on a neighbor island performing, and we'd given a youth concert. And this little boy came up and he said, I loved your concert. I'm going to bring my grandma to your concert, okay? I said to him, be sure to introduce her to me. I would love to meet her.

And he came to that symphony concert later. I mean, I wouldn't have expected a small child to be that interested in a concert that was more or less meant for adults. But not only did he come, but he brought his grandmother and wanted to introduce her to me. And it was just to say thank you. Thank you for playing this music.

That was really touching to me. I cannot tell you how many people have come up to me because they recognized me and said, I love this concert. Thank you for playing this music. And they want to tell me all about what they enjoyed about the music. It's this kind of positivity and thriving, and this is the kind of thing that brings people together in spite of what's happening in this world.

It's so politically rife with so much dissent. But this is one way we can bring our community together. And it doesn't matter who we are, where we're from, what we believe. It's a beautiful thing to behold, and it needs to be cherished and it needs to be nurtured so that we can continue to grow as a community and as a culture. Thank you so much for allowing me to testify.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Anybody on Zoom wishing to testify? Sorry. Please state your name and position for the record.

Sure. My name is Lauren Yoo. The Hawaii Symphony has long been a cornerstone of our community, inspiring generations through the power of live music. I still remember in 1997 as a student at McKinley High School when the HSO invited us to attend a concert. For many of us, it was our first time experiencing a live orchestra.

And I can still recall the awe and inspiration stirred in my classmates and me. I get very emotional talking about this because it was really an inspiring moment. That moment really planted a seed. And fast forward nearly 30 years later, I now serve as a proud board member of HSO.

And I witnessed how the orchestra continues to transform lives, especially for keiki. Through its school programs, community outreach, HSO brings the arts directly to young people, nurturing imagination, discipline, and cultural appreciation. That is why I stand in strong support of this bill so that next generation can have the same life changing opportunities that I did. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Representative Lamosao.

For Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Thank you for being here today. And with complete respect and total agreement for the arts, in the event that we do not go ahead with the funding through this measure, what are your plans?

We have survived and thrived for over 10 years now since 2012 as the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra through the generosity of individuals in this community who believe in the power of music to transform communities. And we will continue to deliver on that mission regardless of whether we get state support or not.

But with state support, it will allow us to touch more people in more places, from keiki to kupuna. It will allow us to return to the neighbor islands and really live up to our name as being the orchestra for all of Hawaii. We can expand our education programs, we can reach more keiki. But the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra is a sustainable model and it's going forward no matter what happens.

Follow up, Chair. So this bill allows you folks to be exempted basically from GIA. Would you be willing to come back next year and go through the GIA process? Because I did see that you guys have an application for 250,000 already for this year. So I was wondering if this is something, the additional $1 million that you guys are, or 500 for this fiscal year and then next, is that like something that you'd be willing to basically apply for in the next GIA process?

To apply for the funding that would come as part of this SB 441 bill?

So you guys, for SB 441, you folks are asking for an exemption from the GIA process, but you have an application right now for 250,000 for operational costs. Would you be willing to come back next year and ask for the 1 million that you have?

Yeah, we're willing to do whatever it takes to take more music to more people. But the advantage of this bill, of course, is that it recognizes the integral role that the orchestra plays in the state. It mirrors such initiatives by states like New Jersey, like Utah, like South Carolina. And closer to home, the city has commendably had the vision to support the Royal Hawaiian Band to the tune of over $3 million a year. And so we really believe in our mission to bring music to people, to change lives.

I don't disagree with what you're saying. But I'm just thinking out of principle with, we do have these, our HRS chapter 42F in place for a reason. And so it's basically giving you an exemption among all the other nonprofits that have applied for GIA, an exemption. Do you see what I'm saying? So that's what I want you folks to think about when we're doing things like this. But that's all I have.

Thank you. Representative Lee Loy.

Thank you, Chair. Mr. Salaveria, I know this isn't a topic for you, but if you don't mind coming forward, I have a quick Budget and Finance question around this topic. I promise it's not loaded.

Hello, Representative. Yes.

Thank you for being here. You know, I learned a lot in this committee. And one area that our Chair mentioned is when we do bonds, we provide a portion of that bond for art in public spaces. And that's how we fund art in public spaces. Is this area of music an area of consideration where we could actually use that portion of of art in public spaces?

So I know that this issue has been discussed in the past. The concern from Budget and Finance when we utilize bond proceeds, because bond proceeds by definitions are our expenses that we pay over 20 years. And the provision that allows for the 1% of all capital improvement projects in the State of Hawaii to be used for it is primarily for the acquisition of long lived assets. Yeah. This wouldn't be in that particular category. Yeah. Yes, right now.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair. I yield.

Okay, good answer. Okay, Hawaii Symphony again, please. Anybody else? Okay, so in. I know that there was troubling times where went through some challenges. But in the past, the Legislature has fronted money to the symphony to establish an endowment. And what happened to that? And maybe a little history for the committee.

To the endowment. It's still growing. The endowment sits, and it's administered by a separate nonprofit, the Honolulu Symphony Foundation. The moment the endowment sits at around $12 million, and they pay dividends from that to the Hawaii Symphony.

You're generating about how much right now?

About half a million a year.

Okay. And to sustain yourself, you need about how much?

Our operating budget is closer to 6 million a year. Yeah.

Okay. So even with this, there'd be still challenges that you need to raise what?

There are always challenges to symphony orchestras all around the world, not unique to Hawaii. Because to have 84 musicians who are at the top of their game on stage is a resource intensive endeavor. But I think we've proven for the last 12 or 13 years that we have been able to sustain our business model.

We've been able to grow from only a few weeks a year, three to five weeks a year. Now, this week is a 19 week season. And we do that with a combination of revenue we raise from our ticket sales, applications to grants, and the generosity and philanthropy of individuals and corporations.

So we have to break it down for us. How much is out of ticket sales, how much is out of philanthropy, and how much is...

Ticket sales, depending on the year, range between 25 and 30%. About 10% is from grants, and the rest is from philanthropy.

So in your business plan, this would cover what?

This would cover an expansion of our activities. We want to reach more people. Education and expansion.

Okay. Okay. So you know what, I got to think about that. Okay. Is there any other questions, Members? Okay, thank you very much. All right, we're going to move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 119, SD 1, HD 1.

Okay. We have the Hawaii State Health Planning and Development Agency, SHPDA, in support.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and honorable members. Jack Lewin, Administrator of SHPDA. As a physician, we're about 800 physicians short in the state. We require working with nurses as partners to really produce what we need in healthcare here, and we're 3,000 nurses short.

So I'm in awe of the stewardship that you all bear in terms of deciding how to allocate limited resources to what's most important in the state. I just want to say that, first of all, Maui's workforce problem is more acute than the other islands, number one. Number two, the nursing shortage is unacceptable. So this would be a fantastic investment to get a BSN nursing school on Maui. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Do we have the University of Hawaii System? In support? Yeah.

Aloha. Lui Hokoana. I'm the Chancellor at Maui College, and we stand on our testimony. And standing by for questions. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Members, we also received testimony from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, five organizations, and four individuals, everybody in support. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, members, questions? Nothing, Tyson? No? Okay. Chancellor, I'll just ask you a real quick question. So the Legislature gave some money to the college to do proof of concept on working with the hospital, and part of it was to look at things like this, right? So do you have any update?

Yeah, and actually that bill is coming back. You're talking about the CNA-to-LPN glide. We have almost 200 nurses in that pipeline, so it's tremendous, and that's why this is the next step to go to a BSN.

Okay. But whatever happened to that work that was being done? Is there any--because it was money to like have you--and you had people working on it within the campus. You remember that?

Yeah. So actually it's a CNA-to-LPN, but what they're doing is they're doing their work at the employer's place, right? So for example, at Kaiser, at Hale Makua, so we have 200 nurses, CNAs to LPNs in there. So the employers are providing the work practicum site, they're earning while they're learning, and then we're beaming distance learning. So statewide. That program is statewide, actually. I'm sorry; every place but Honolulu--mistake--Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui, and then this year we'll start a cohort on Molokai.

Very good. Okay, thank you. Further questions, members? Okay. Thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 657 SD1 HD1.

First up, we have the University of Hawaii system in support.

Thank you. Thank you. Chair Yamashita, Vice Chair Takenouchi and Members of the House Committee on Finance. My name is Chip Fletcher and I'm here to testify in strong support of Senate Bill 657 on behalf of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, where I am the interim Dean.

I'm joined today by several members of the research team who would constitute the center that we are asking to fund. Why don't you briefly stand up?

These folks are local climate scientists, researchers and graduate students at the University who study and model sea level rise, flooding, coastal erosion, heat, storminess and other climate hazards to project their impacts on Hawaii communities. We are the only team in the state conducting this applied research.

The projections are ultimately used to support climate resilient development and climate resilient infrastructure to safeguard our communities to these increasing threats. No less than eight separate laws and policies already have been passed that are dependent on our data and we hope for more to be enacted in the future. These are listed in our submitted testimony.

You have our written testimony, so I won't belabor this point. But our data modeling, projections and research are utilized in several state and local policies for planning, regulatory and policy decisions.

As it stands, our research is entirely dependent on federal grant funding and as you lawmakers well know, the New Administration is using its best efforts to stop this funding and even claw back money allocated for climate research.

Our research abides by the principles of climate resilient development, which formally means we make it a point to work with underserved lower income communities in developing adaptation solutions to climate change that are equitable to everyone.

We have a current project in Koolaupoco that is winding up and we have a new project that is starting in the Waianae Moku. In addition, we collaborate and maintain working partnerships with state and local government agencies, offices and departments.

The requested 3 million will go to support salaries for researchers, four PhD level scientists, five master's degree level researchers, six graduate student researchers and one administrator. I come at no cost to the project.

Each one of these young scientists is either from Hawaii or has made their home in Hawaii and are working for the betterment of life in Hawaii.

This is purposely a highly diverse group consisting dominantly of women, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Hawaii born scientists, and all of them are working to make their permanent lives in Hawaii as scientists for a single year.

Our salaries and fringe alone without University overhead, travel costs or any other supplies is 1.84 million including the 45.5% overhead that the University charges. A single year of this operation without travel or other supplies is 2.68 million. We are not asking for a one time supplement.

We are asking that this highly applied science be supported by state funds perennially. In exchange, we are a highly responsive group to requests from state and county agencies, NGOs, consultants and other groups focusing on climate adaptation.

We will happily submit an annual report to the Legislature and provide an annual climate change briefing of the latest information relevant to Hawaii Hawaii. We sincerely appreciate your House Committee on Finance considering this measure and available for any questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Do we have Keoni Dudley in support on Zoom.

Keoni Dudley on Zoom.

Yes, I'm here.

Please proceed.

Good. I'm Dr. Kioni Dudley. I created the one hour video titled the New Hurricane Threat for Hawaii and I stand in strong support this. I think that, you know, we. We've only had 310 bills concerning Hurricane that are still alive and this is one of them.

So, you know, I really think that this is a valuable program. I think that it's something that is going to be great for the University of Hawaii and soest and I strongly, strongly and hope that you will vote yes for it. Thank you very much.

Thank you. That's everybody. We have checked in.

We also received testimony and support from the Department of Health, Department of Land and Natural Resources, the State Office on Planning and Sustainable Development, the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, and the City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change Sustainability and Resiliency as well as four individuals and three.

Sorry, four organizations and three individuals all in support and one individual in opposition. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Oh, please come forward. Please. Did your name and position for the record.

Thank you. Michael Caine, on behalf of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. I might have checked the wrong box when I submitted. Anyway, we stand by our written testimony and support.

I wanted to add that we are one of the departments that rely heavily on the research that comes out of this group and we think that it's important that the center be funded and controlled locally. So we would be testifying in support regardless of the current turmoil in Washington.

We think this is an important center and we are available for questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Anybody on zoom wishing to testify?

Questions Members represent.

Hi, I have a question for Dr. Fletcher. Thank you for being here. Since we're in the finance Committee, can you share some of the statewide economic impacts that this would have beyond to the University and to the researchers you brought today?

Absolutely. Thank you for the question. Our research identifies every foot of road, every single parcel and house that is vulnerable to sea level rise. At one foot increments of sea level rise. This is roughly every 15 years.

As we move into the second half of the century, there are economic aspects at the state level with regard to transportation systems. And as you know, underneath most roads and bridges are where a lot of the buried infrastructure runs. So we provide projections of where these are threatened by sea level rise.

Our work with single family homes also will hopefully backstop a managed retreat program in this state that has yet to be formulated. But it would be a science based Program that would rely heavily on our data.

Lastly, not everybody is aware, but at the highest tides of the year, salt water comes out of our gravity based drainage systems in Kaka' Ako, Iwali and Waikiki. And if it happens to be raining at that time, there is no drainage. We had this happen in December of 2021 on Kalakaua Avenue.

The water was two and a half feet deep. That is sea level rise as it first manifests itself. Lastly, the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change two years ago, all 240 scientists voted unanimously that they had high confidence in the statement. Sea level rise will continue for centuries to millennia. This is a permanent new condition.

We need maps and scientific information to change our policies to so that we can make Hawaii safer. The most expensive version of this is waiting to do it at the last minute. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you for the question. Members, you can stay there. Real quick question for you. So. The. My assumption is that you weren't able to get this into the University's budget, Correct? Okay. Is there a reason why they don't want to do it?

We actually didn't try. We came straight to the Legislature.

Okay. Are you going to try?

Yes.

Okay.

But we also know there are a lot of competing interests at the University, Right.

Especially today at the end of the day, right. We gotta make choices. So we gotta know what is the priority of the University, Right? Yep. Okay. So we'd appreciate it if you do that. DLNR, if this is a priority from you, can it come out of your budget?

Oh, so I work for the Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands. My budget is not big enough. I'm just asking. Okay. Right.

At the end of the day, the money gotta come from someplace. So we gotta make choices. So we need, you know, how important is it?

So Dr. Fletcher mentioned that one of the.

What I'm getting at is where can we grab it from?

Oh, where can you find the money? I wish I understood the state budget.

All right. Okay. So I think at the end of the day, right, that's part of the help that this company kind of needs help with, which is fine. I mean, you know, it's good to testify and give us and let us know what the importance is and you know, we can make those decision.

But if you can also help us with, you know, the, if the University Deems this as important, then if it was in the budget, be helpful. And then also if other departments are going to support this, then to what level are they going to support it?

So A brief answer to that question, the tat.

But even BNF can answer that question too.

But anyway, TAT is one appropriate place because our work.

Yeah. And there is a bill moving for that. Right, okay, so. So I understand.

So Dr. Fletcher had mentioned that the water table is also rising and this is something they're just beginning to study. So this will directly impact state finances as we make decisions, particularly in Waikiki and how we like what projects we invest in. And it's something that we're having to re examine also.

We have to do beach nourishment regardless in Waikiki. But do we want to build big walls or are there other things we need to look at, knowing that the water is coming up from below, not just from the sea. So I understand. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, thank you.

I'm just asking for help to help justify like at the end of the week. Like I said, we've got to make choices. So just if you come before us, helping us in those areas would be helpful, especially if it is a priority for you.

Then you know, your efforts into try and get it into the University's budget would be helpful also. Understood. Okay, thank you. Any further questions, Members? Okay, we'll move on to the next bill.

Actually, I got one.

So if you don't get this funding this year, what's. Do you have enough to run out to get into the University's budget in 26 or what kind of play out the scenarios?

Okay, go ahead. Representative Kush for Mr. Fletcher.

We work very hard at writing grants to nonprofits and to federal agencies. We're expecting any day stop work order to arrive on our major grant, which is for the Office of Naval Research. We've had other colleagues receive stop work orders over the last couple of weeks.

If we get that, if we get a stop work order, we do not have enough funds to keep all these people, to keep giving them salary to keep them employed, even though we're writing multiple grants.

Copy. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Okay, further questions. Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill. Senate Bill 1146 SD1HD1.

We have the University of Hawaii system in support. Thank you. And we have the Department of Land and Natural Resources in support. Thank you. That's all. The people said that they might be here. We also have testimony and support from three organizations and two individuals. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on zoom?

Questions members? Thank you very much. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 1585 SD1HD1.

First up, we have Department of Budget and Finance with comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members, Luis Oliveira. We will stand on our. On our comments that we provided. I do want to highlight, though, that there is a problem in the existing Bill right now.

Section E in the new statute that is being proposed does allow for what it appears to be the lapsing of federal funds into the General Fund. This would be extremely problematic if codified in statute. Would highly recommend that that section be removed from the Bill. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. We have the Department of Education with comments. Thank you. Department of the Attorney General with comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. Members, Ian Robertson, Deputy Attorney General, who. Submitted testimony expressing concerns over the lapsing provision in this Bill and suggesting an amendment to delete some of the language. Thank you.

Thank you. Department of Human Resources Development with comments. Thank you. Hawaii P20 partnerships for education with comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. Members of the Committee, Stephen Schatz, Executive Director of Hawaii P20 Partnerships for Education and also serve as the State Director for Career and Technical Education. We stand on our written testimony offering comments and happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you. We also received testimony with comments from the University of Hawaii system and DBEDT. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Please come forward.

Aloha. My name is Thomas Chock. I'm with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Chair, Vice Chair. Members of the Committee, on behalf of Director James Tokioka, we stand on our testimony with comments as submitted. Follow.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room, Anybody on zoom wishing to testify?

Okay. Questions. Members, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill. We're on. Okay. Moving on to Senate Bill 440 SD2 HD1.

We have the Department of Education with comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. Members of the Committee, Sean Bacon, Assistant Superintendent. On behalf of the Department of Education, we stand on our written testimony offering comments and available for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. And we have dbed with comments.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair. Members of Committee, Thomas Chock from the Department of Business, Economic Development Tourism, on behalf of Director James Tokioko, we stand on our testimony. Comments. Mahalo.

Thank you. We also received testimony in support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Thank you. Question. Members. Thank you. We're going to move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 1526 SD2 HD1.

First, we have the Department of Transportation in support. Thank you. And we have the Honolulu Police Department in support on Zoom. Not present. Okay, Members.

We also received testimony and support from the Department of Health, Department of Law Enforcement, Hawaii County Police Department, County of Hawaii, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Maui County, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney and ompo, all in support. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom.

Question? Members, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 934 SD2 HD1.

We have the Department of Budget and Finance with comments. Thank you. We also have comments from the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. Hart. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom questions?

Members, thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 1473 SD2HD1.

We have the Department of Budget and Finance with comments. Thank you. Department of Transportation in support. Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on zoom?

Yes. Thank you. Vice Chair Tom Yamachika from Tax foundation of Hawaii. May I. May I proceed? I'm sorry, we didn't submit written testimony at this point.

Please go ahead.

Yeah, we wanted to just let you know that you really should be careful when you do anything with the Airport Revenue Fund. The reason for that is that there is a federal law, 49 U.S.C. 40116, that basically prohibits any charges first taking effect after 1994 or 74. 74, unless they are wholly used for airport and aeronautic purposes.

We understand that the only reason that you can do a central services assessment of the Airport Fund now is because the statute was last amended in 1970, which his grandfather did. So if you. If you change that, you may lose the ability to make any central services assessment at all. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anybody else on Zoom?

Okay, Members, questions. Okay. Mr. Yamachika.

Yes, sir.

Yeah. Can you submit that in a written form to us? And what particularly are you referring to?

Certainly, it's the legislative portal. Won't accept written testimony now. So may I send in via email?

Yeah, that's fine. Okay, thank you very much. Okay, thank you. Members, further questions. Okay, we're going to move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 1120 SD1 HD1.

First, we have the Department of Transportation and support. Thank you. We have Nesty in support. Thank you. Clean Fuel Hawaii or. Yeah, Clean Fuel Hawaii Coalition in support. Thank you. Okay, that's all the people indicated they'd be here. We have another 10 organizations in support, two with comments and one individual in support.

Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom.

Members, questions? Thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 21 SD 2 HD2.

First up, we have DCCA, Division of Consumer Advocacy with comments.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee.

Thank you. Department of Transportation in support. Thank you. Department of Agriculture with comments. Thank you. Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in opposition.

Aloha. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the House Committee on Finance. My name is Andrew Okabe. I'm a utility analyst at Public Utilities Commission. I'm here on behalf of the Commission. I stand the Commission's written testimony in opposition to the current draft of SB 21 HD 2.

As you may note, the Commission is proposing to revert the language or asking the Commission to the Committee to revert the language to SD 2 and layer the Commission's amendments on top of SD 2. Thank you very much. I'm available for any questions the Committee may have.

Thank you. We have Young Brothers in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is David Veltri and I'm an Associate General Counsel at Young Brothers. And I'm appearing on behalf of my Boss, Chris Nakagawa, who's the Vice President of Legal and Government Affairs. So the measure before, I just wanted to highlight a few things.

We stand on our written testimony and support, and I wanted to highlight a few things for this Committee without going through the entirety of my testimony, but I just wanted to highlight that this bill is the result of the Hawaii Water Carrier Working Group's recommendation.

The Hawaii Water Carriers Working Group was formed pursuant to a resolution from 2020 SR 125. And this is a collective recommendation which was the consensus of the Hawaii Water Carrier Working Group.

And the purpose of the recommendation is to find a way to address a recurring pattern of financial instability due to, I guess, a symptom of the regulatory industry we're in, which is referred to as regulatory lag.

And basically, the idea of this bill, or at least the wiki mechanism and other automatic adjustment mechanisms, is to find a way to, instead of have these large lumpy rate increases that are spread out more or that are far apart from each other as the regulatory process proceeds, instead find some way to find uncontroversial aspects of costs that can be automatically adjusted so that there is an opportunity to reflect rates in between rate cases that are more reflective of reality.

So we have this bill doesn't just cover Wiki. It also provides tools that clarify the Commission's authority, the Public Utility Commission's authority to establish automatic rate making mechanisms or automatic adjustment mechanisms on an ongoing basis. And it would all be subject to their discretion and review and flexibility.

And I think largely, obviously I defer to the Public Utilities Commission, but I think largely we're substantively aligned and there may be some cleanup language that we can, I, I'm confident we can collectively address, but of course, defer to them on that. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, that's everyone who indicated that they would be here. We also received testimony in support from four organizations, two organizations providing comments, and one individual in support. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Question for the PUC, please. Yes, Representative, thank you for being here. So last week in the CPC Committee, you testify your testimony was in support and majority of your proposed amendments were adopted. So why in this Committee now it's.

Okay, questions, Members? Miyake.

In opposition, at least for that. In that case, we did request that all of our amendments be taken up and that's. That was a contingency contingent of our support that we need all of them. We did take a look at the changes made.

We, you know, we do agree with many of the changes, but we did want to narrow the scope of SB21 and make it, make it a simpler Bill, notably our request to revert it to SD1 or, sorry, our request to revert to SD2 with our amendments would indeed do that and make it very narrow so that it could in fact serve its purpose to help us implement Wiki.

Okay, follow up. Chair, what's the specific issues in the HD 2?

We, we were worried about the time frame that the HD 2 had. Notably, it would basically force. Force the. Although I understand that you may not agree with Commission's interpretation, but we feel it would force the Commission to make a decision by a certain point to use Wiki and never be able to Institute Wiki in the future.

You know, we are committed to look at Wiki. We have noticed Wiki within our public notices. We are going to roll on it, but we did want to make sure that we could do that in the future. And that's, you know, the tactic here is to limit scope versus limit time frame.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Further questions? Members, thank you very much. We'll move on to the last bill on the agenda. Senate Bill 1117, SD 2 HD 1.

We have the Department of Transportation, in support. Thank you. We have Ulupono Initiative, in support.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Mariah Yoshizu, on behalf of Ulupono Initiative. We stand on our testimony in strong support of this measure. We really appreciate the committee looking at this bill that provides a safe and responsible program for our communities, especially if people can't afford a car and they need an alternate means of transportation, to be able to get that and be able to get to work, to school, to any--to run errands.

So it also provides a substantial cost of living--reduction in the cost of living, and we have in our testimony a couple amendments that we propose for consideration, so we really appreciate you moving this forward. Thank you so much.

Thank you. That's everybody who indicated that they'd be joining us today. We also received testimony in support from the City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, as well as five other organizations, all in support. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Questions, members? All right, thank you. Okay, we're going to recess and we're going to come back at about 4:00--yeah, 4:30, just to be safe, because every time I say half an hour and it's longer than half an hour, so we'll come back at 4:30 and then we'll make--we'll move for decision-making and we'll move into the next agenda from there. So we're going to recess till 4:30. Thank you.

Okay. Okay. We're going to reconvene the company on finance for our first agenda, 2pm agenda. First up is House Senate Bill 325 SD1. Recommendation is to pass out with amendments defecting the effective date to 7/1/3000 and technical amendments. Any discussion? Okay. Vice Chair

Voting on SB325, SD1, recommendations to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote Aye. [roll call]

Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 933, SD2 recommendation is to defect the date to 7/1/3000 and some technical amendments. Any discussion? Okay.

Vice Chair voting on SB933, SD2 recommendations to pass with amendments noting the excused absences of Representatives Hussey, Alcos and Ward who will be noted as excused for the remaining of this agenda unless otherwise noted. Are there any reservations? Any no's? recommendations adopted.

Thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 326. SD1 recommendation is to defect the date 7/1/3000 and tech. Any discussion? Vice Chair.

Voting on SB 326, SD1, recommendations to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 1464. Recommendation is to defect the date 7/1/3000 and tech. Discussion. Vice Chair

Voting on SB 1464, recommendations to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 1465, SD1. Same thing. 7/1/3000 and tech. Discussion. Vice Chair.

SB 1465, SD1, recommendations to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 1466. This is the Earned Income Tax Credit Bill. This one that we're going to. This is just a cleanup so that it doesn't cover some of the out of state people. This is upon approval Members. So passing this as is. So it's a clean Bill as is.

Discussion. Okay. Vice Chair for the vote.

Voting on SB 1466, recommendations to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 1470. Recommendation is also to move this as is. This is also a clean Bill and this is just some cleanup things also. Yeah. Any discussion? Okay. Vice Chair for the vote.

SB 1470 recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 383, SD2. Recommendation is to defect it to 7/1/3000 and Tech. Any discussion? Vice Chair for the vote.

SB 383, SD2, recommendations to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 441, SD1, HD1. This has a defective date, so we're going to move this out as is. Any discussion.

Vice Chair, SB441, SD1, HD1, recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 119, SD1, HD1 as is. Discussion? okay Vice Chair.

SB 119, SD1, HD1, recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted?

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 657, SD1, HD1. As is, discussion? Okay Vice Chair.

SB 657, SD1, HD1, recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 1146 SD1, HD1 as is discussion.

Vice Chair, SB 1146, SD1, HD1, recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 1585 SD1, HD1. Okay, Members, we're going to be deleting Section E, which is the lapsing language that technically this is, that goes into the General Fund. And I think we can do that because this is federal funds. So we're going to be taking that out.

It already has a defective date and some technical amendments. Any discussion? Okay. Vice Chair.

SB 1585, SD1, recommendations to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 440, SD 2, HD1, as is, discussion? Vice Chair.

SB 440, SD 2, HD 1, recommendations pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 1526, SD2, HD1 as is discussion. Vice Chair?

SB 1526, SD2, HD1, recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Thank you. Moving on to the next Bill, Senate Bill 934, SD2, HD1 as is discussion? Okay. Yes, Representative Reyes Oda.

Thank you. Although I understand the necessity to increase the current ceiling for the Mass Transit Special Fund for the ability to minimize the the carryover balance, I'll be voting with reservations. I have hesitations on the ability to meet the required stipulations in a timely manner, which will leave us with carryover balances again.

Okay, thank you. Okay, Members, this, this Bill is... technically we already have this language to increase the mass stranded special Fund in the budget that we passed over already to the Senate. This is just adding a section that will make them build a park and ride facility at Leeward. So it's just an addition. So any further discussion?

Okay, Vice Chair, SB 934, SD2, HD1 recommendations to pass unamended, noting the reservations of Representative Reyes Oda. Any other reservations, Any no's, Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 1473, SD2, HD1. Okay. In light of the testimony from Tax foundation, we're gonna be deferring this to end of calendar on Wednesday to wait to take a look at some of that stuff. So gonna defer this. Okay, Next Bill, Senate Bill 1120, SD1, HD1 recommendation is to pass as is discussion. Vice Chair.

SB 1120, SD1, HD1 recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 21 SD2, HD2 recommendation is to pass as is. I know there's some concern that of what PUC asked for and that they made some amendments in the previous Committee. We're going to let subject matter deal with that in conference.

So we're just going to move this out as is at this point. Any discussion? Okay, Vice Chair, for the vote.

SB21, SD2, HD2 recommendations to pass, unamended. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 1117 SD2, HD1. Let's see. Okay, we're going to be blanking out the cap and then some technical amendments and then defect it to 7/1/3000. Any discussion? Okay. Vice Chair.

Vice Chair, SB 1117, SD2, HD1 recommendation is to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no's? Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Okay, we're adjourned. We're gonna have like a two minute break and then we'll move into the next agenda.

Okay. We're going to convene the Committee on Finance. On our second agenda, our 3:30 agenda, we have several bills to--several Senate bills for your consideration. So everybody knows what we're going to be doing on this agenda is we're going to go through all the bills and then we're going to defer decision-making one calendar day.

So tomorrow we'll do it at the--we'll do it before we start tomorrow, so we'll do it at the beginning. Is that okay with everybody? Okay. Okay, first up is Senate Bill 1419 SD1 HD1.

Vice Chair.

For the Department of Human Services, in support.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair. Lea Dias, DVR Administrator, here on behalf of Director Ryan Yamane. We stand on our testimony in support of our administrative bill. We thank you very much for hearing this, and I'm here if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have the Disability and Communication Access Board, in support on Zoom. Not present. From the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, in support on Zoom. Not present. We also--that's everyone who indicated that they would be here to testify.

We also had testimony with comments from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, as well as support from the National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii and one individual. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Members, questions? Okay. Representative Lee Loy.

Thank you. I just had a quick question. One of the comment letters from Developmental Disabilities was the definition of special needs and access and function needs. Could you expand on that a little bit?

I just quickly glanced at that before I came over here, but I did see that there was an objection to the language of special needs and changing it to access, and that's fine with us. That's appropriate. Thank you.

Thanks, chair.

Thank you. Any further questions, members? Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to the next bill, Senate Bill 298 SD1 HD1.

Do we have the Department of Human Services with comments on Zoom?

Yes, hi. Eric Nouchi, Med-QUEST Division Finance Officer representing Ryan Yamane in the Department of Human Services. We'll stand on our written comments, appreciating the intent and offering comments.

Thank you. We have Disability and Communication Access Board, in support on Zoom. Not present. Okay. We also received testimony in support from the Executive Office on Aging, SHPDA, AARP Hawaii, and Alohacare, all in support. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Oh. Please. State your name and position for the record.

Aloha, chair and vice chair and members. I'm Betty Lou Larson from Catholic Charities Hawaii. We strongly support this bill because right now, applying and getting through the process at DHS for SNAP is very challenging.

It's a critical program for so many people, and we need to strengthen the program because we anticipate there may be cuts coming in the future. So the more efficient they can be up front, the better served our people will be in retaining their benefits. So we really support this bill and we ask that it be moved on.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, Members, questions? Thank you. We'll move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 960, SD 1 HD 1.

We have the Department of Human Services in support on zoom. Oh, in person.

Hi, I'm Jeanette. Oh, good afternoon.

There's, that is an easy 10 to 1, 20 to 1 return on investment just for one worker. Right.

Thank you. We have Hawaii Appleseed in support on Zoom. Not present. Catholic Charities, Hawaii in support.

Aloha. I'm Betty Lou Larson with Cathy Charities, Hawaii. We support this because we feel the right to be most efficient would be prevent families from falling into the child welfare system.

We really want to encourage family preservation, and these support services would help families in crisis to, you know, be able to be more resilient, more capable of managing their children or helping their children and not needing to go into the welfare system.

So we think this is a great use and a very efficient use of our state monies. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Hawaii Food Industry Association in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Alexis Chapman for HFIA. I know a lot of the testimony discussed how important this bill is to those that utilize the SNAP program. And I just want to point out that how important this measure is to our food systems in General.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and supports our entire food system. That's local food and beverage retailers, suppliers, distributors, manufacturers, local farmers. They all rely on this system as a stabilization source and for funds.

So this measure now is a critical time to make sure that everyone who has earned and who deserves access to SNAP is getting that access. And this is the last of several measures that is still alive to make that happen. So we strongly encourage you to pass this measure, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. We have testimony from Kylie Bigley in support.

Good afternoon, chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. My name is Kaylee Bigley. I am a social worker here on Oahu, and I often work with the unsheltered population here on this island.

And I strongly urge, or I'm in strong support of SB 960 because if there's any operational process that should be efficient, it's this one, it directly impacts the survival of people in our community, specifically people who are unsheltered, who rely on this for their own food security.

I've worked with lots of clients who, beyond just having barriers to food transportation and just the things that we all take for granted, the processing times and like kind of bureaucratic loopholes that they have to jump through are really, really difficult. And they see lots of delays in them being able to get their SNAP benefits.

So improving the access to agents and sufficiently staffing the SNAP program would really, really benefit our community in that way. Thank you.

Thank you and apologies.

Hawaii Public Health Institute in support LOA Chair, Vice Chair Members of the Committee Nate Hicks Hawaii Public Health Institute in support Echoing what's been said before, making sure our process is as smooth as possible is very important. SNAP benefits are fully federally funded, bringing in over $600 million every year into our state.

Demand for SNAP has gone up over 50% since before the pandemic and our staffing levels have stayed the same. So we are not able to handle the need. I want to point to the massive return on investment investing in this program can provide.

Right now there's a backlog and the people who are eligible for the program are not able to access these benefits. If we can hire one additional worker, that could bring in about $2 million in federal benefits to our families in need.

If we can get 10 workers, 100 extra workers on staff to make sure we can process these applications, that's opening the opportunity for much more money coming into our state, moving around the economy, being purchased at our retail stores and things like that.

And so the immediate need to make sure our families can eat is super important, but also the long term effects are also great. And so in addition, these SNAP positions are half funded by the Fed's already as well.

And so we invest in our positions, the Feds match it, and then all of these extra families can be eligible for SNAP benefits. So mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. We also received written testimony from the Executive Office on Aging and the County of Hawaii Department of Research and Development in support, as well as about a dozen organizations and 40 individuals all in support. Is there anybody else wishing to testify in the room? Please, please just state your name and position for the record.

Angela Melody Young, testifying on behalf of CARES in strong support of the appropriation of funds for the SNAP program from DHS. So this bill is talking about Getting more pay for staff.

I think from my understanding of it and some of the internal office procedures which I'm not privy make decisions for, but I think was very creative from the DHS office was to access funding from the Federal Government, which is a Department of Agriculture usda, to access the grant funding to then implement within SNAP because they're now working with farmers to enhance the access of quality foods and nutrition for low income marginalized communities.

So I think with this bill it can really help with the appropriation of funds to hire more staff to cover more bases within the office and also to improve the quality of food and nutrition for low income marginalized communities. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on zoom question, Members.

Okay, thank you. We'll move on to Senate Bill 952 SD2.

We have the depart--oh--the Department of Human Services, in support on Zoom. Or in person? Sorry. [Muted audio]. Thank you. We have the Department of Health, in support on Zoom.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, and members of committee. Thank you very much for hearing this bill. DOH will stand on our written testimony in support, and I will be available to answer any questions about the possible delivery of a trauma-informed mental health services as recommended in this bill.

We strongly recommend the passage of this bill as it is the last remaining bill in support of the Malama 'Ohana Work Group recommendations. I'll be available, as I mentioned, for questions if you have any. Thank you.

Thank you. We have the Office of Wellness and Resilience, in support.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. My name is Trina Orimoto. I'm Deputy Director from the Office of Wellness and Resilience. We stand in strong support of this measure and we're thrilled to partner with DHS on this effort.

SB 952 is one of the few measures that is still alive in this legislative session that follows a recommendation from the Malama 'Ohana Working Group and the only bill alive this session from that group that provides direct support to families that are at risk of CWS involvement. So thank you so much for hearing this bill.

The Malama 'Ohana Working Group was established in Act 86 and housed in OWR to bring community partners, state departments, and parents and youth with lived experience together to improve and transform the Child Welfare System. The Malama 'Ohana Working Group submitted in its report to the Legislature the need for resources dedicated to prevention, and SB 952 is just that. We're available for questions and thank you again.

Thank you. Catholic Charities Hawaii, in support. Thank you. We have testimony from Sara Riggs, in support.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and members of the Finance Committee. My name is Sara Riggs, and I'm in strong support of SB 592. I'm a Master of Social Work student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I also work as a youth therapist in a community mental health setting and also have experience working with houseless use in the Hawaii DOE, experiences that have fueled my passion for advocating for the well-being of Hawaii's youth and families.

This bill aims to reduce families' involvement with the Child Welfare System by implementing a pilot program that offers a range of preventative interventions rooted in trauma-informed principles, notably includes a peer mentorship component where those with lived experience in the Child Welfare System can assist families.

This is crucial not only for helping families build trust, but also allowing them to navigate various supports and resources more effectively. The bill also acknowledges the importance of fulfilling essential human needs such as food, clothing, housing, and childcare.

This can, in turn, stabilize families and allow them to focus on strengthening their relationships with their children, therefore minimizing the need for Child Welfare intervention. Passing SB 952 is a crucial step forward towards creating a comprehensive trauma-informed approach to Child Welfare Services, one that is centered on building the resilience of children, families, and communities rather than relying solely on protective interventions.

The pilot program will yield valuable insight into how to reform the system in a way that prioritizes holistic healing and stabilization and the long-term well-being of families and vulnerable youth. Mahalo to you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. We've also received written testimony in support from eight other organizations, five individuals. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, questions, Members? All right, thank you. We're going to move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 304SD1HD1.

Okay. We have the Judiciary in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and the Members of the Committee. My name is Sonny Ganaden. I'm the Probation Administrator for Adult Client Services with the Judiciary. We stand on our written testimony and respectfully support the intent of this bill to help adult probation move towards alignment with the national standards that are recommended by the APPA.

I am available for any questions and of course, this does not supply any other requests made by the Judiciary's budget. Mahalo.

Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom? Please state your name and position for the record. Okay. Anybody else on Zoom? Nobody on Zoom.

Okay, questions, Members? Thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 264sd1.

First up, we have the Judiciary in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, my name is Jennifer Awong and I'm the Staff Attorney for the Criminal Divisions of the First Circuit Court here on Oahu. I apologize for the lateness of our testimony and I hope that you all have had an opportunity to review it.

This is one of our judiciary bills, so we appreciate the Senate or the Committee hearing it and we stand in strong support for the most part. I am going to stand on our written testimony. It gives pretty clear examples of what we're dealing with.

This bill will increase the rate paid by the judiciary to $2,000 and make clear that by statutory amendment that the fee is going to be paid by the judiciary and shall include the examination, the written report and any testimony that may be required.

Over the last 15 years, the amount of doctors that we've had to conduct these examinations has greatly decreased. Meanwhile, we have more than doubled the amount of three panel examinations that we have had to order in felony cases statewide.

So unless more doctors are enlisted to conduct these examinations, the courts will be unable to meet our obligations under the Hawaii realized statute as well as the state and federal constitutions. I will be available for any questions.

Thank you. We have the Hawaii Psychological Association in support on Zoom.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members, My name is Alex Lichten. I'm the Legislative Chair for the Hawaii Psychological Association. We're in very strong support of SB264 in order to address the very serious shortage of examiners available to do Fitness to Proceed Sanity and Dangerousness evaluations on Oahu.

Right now there's about six examiners available to do about 900 exams per year. And most of these examiners are in their 60s and 70s and are about to retire.

This is resulting in delayed examinations which should Normally take about 6 weeks or taking 14 weeks, even as long as 24 weeks, thus exacerbating the overcrowding in the jails and the state hospital. The fee has not been increased in 18 years.

It is less than what psychologists in Hawaii make for doing assessments of child custody, workers compensation, and also for civil torture litigation. It is also the fee is substantially below the national average. On the mainland, forensic psychologists typically make more money than traditional psychologists who do psychotherapy.

However, in Hawaii, psychologists doing psychotherapy make more than twice what the forensic examiners are making for doing the three panel examination. So this legislation badly needed, long overdue. I urge you to pass SB 264 and thank you very much for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. We also received testimony and support from the Office of the Public Defender, the Department of Health, Councilmember Bullason of the Kauai County Council, and the Hawaii Disability Rights Center. Everybody in support. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Hey. Questions? Members, thank you. Moving on to the next bill, Senate Bill 428.

Nobody signed in, but we did receive testimony with comments from the Department of Budget and Finance and testimony in support from the Office of the Public Defender. Is there anybody in the room who would like to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Thank you. No one to question. Moving on to Senate Bill 1316 ST1HD1.

First, we have the Department of the Attorney General in support.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Deputy Attorney General Mark Tom for the Department. Department is in strong support of Senate Bill 1316 SD1HD1. Department does not oppose the amendments that would basically limit the proof of compliance hearings in this bill to district court. And when it involves only restitution.

Just two amendments for clarity and consistency in our testimony. Deleting the lines for a defendant in district court, which is on page three, line 14 to 15. Currently 706644 subsection one of the Hawaii Revised Statutes already only applies to defendants in district court. So that's just unnecessary language that might be confusing. Page five, line three.

Changing fines or fees to fines and fees. The intent is to. When it only involves restitution, we want to avoid an interpretation that it's only fines or the fees that can be referred and that it's both fines and the fees that are referred. But we'd be here for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. We have the office of the Public Defender in opposition. Okay. And on zoom, we have Dennis Dunn in support.

Good afternoon. Chair Yamashita, Vice Chair Takanouchi, and Members of the Finance Committee. I'm the retired Director of the Victim Witness Co Co services in the prosecutor's office, and I'm strongly supporting of this measure. In particular, the restoration of proof of compliance hearings for district court.

In particular, I'm concerned that proof of compliance hearings are required to ensure that individuals who have been convicted are paying their restitution. Restitution is the foundation for restoration of our crime victims. It's a critical part of holding offenders accountable.

And the hearings that were struck down by the Hawaii Supreme Court and State vs Faye were the only way to be able to concretely measure whether or not individual defendants are keeping up with their restitution payments.

So I strongly urge you to support this measure and please restore the ability to make sure that victims of crime get the restitution to which they're entitled. Thank you.

Thank you. We also received testimony with comments from the judiciary and testimony in support from the State of Hawaii Crime Victim Compensation Commission. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on zoom?

Okay, questions? Members, thank you. We're going to move on to the next Bill. Senate Bill 662SD1HD2.

No written testimony or anyone signed up at this time. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Nobody. The question. Move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 414, SD2 HD2.

First, we have the Department of Human Services, in support on Zoom. Okay, not present. To the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, in support. No? And we also received testimony in support from the Maui Chamber of Commerce. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Please state your name and position for the record.

Angela Melody Young, testifying on behalf of CARES, in strong support of the bill and the appropriation of funds. So this bill is trying to restore access to Lahaina, Maui and to support the development of housing by HHFDC and as well as to integrate plans with Department of Transportation to institute proceedings to condemn portions of parcels pursuant to Chapter 101 Hawaii Revised Statutes to build new access roads to dedicate to roads to Maui.

And I'm in strong support of it, and the appropriation of funds to expedite the development in Maui because roads are important infrastructure necessary to help with rebuilding in Maui, and yet, because of some of the things that were in discussion about Maui, how there were 1,500 permits pending, I think to be more inclusive and to expedite the process, this bill should actually consist of a work group to expedite housing development, the transfer of lands, acquisition of properties, and to collaborate and to keep in sync the people working together in a working group to get to common goals of public infrastructure and housing and development.

So what the proposed amendment I have is that the bill should consider there is established within the Hawaii DOT Office and public infrastructure and Housing Development Working Group to examine how to maximize state and counties' resources and include relevant nonprofits and stakeholders while utilizing housing industry expertise to enhance expedited development in Lahaina because this has to do with eminent domain.

So eminent domain is a federally enacted mandate to activate the power of the government to take private property for public use while providing just compensation to the owner. So this is per the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states that private property can't be taken for public use without just compensation or justification of blight, that the properties to be seized are blighted or has to be condemned.

So within the discussion of the wildfire recovery and the results of Lahaina, Maui, it is justifiable that the properties are blighted to a reasonable person, and so, this expertise of knowledge is within the real estate development industry, and hence the proposed amendment to include housing industry and development industry experts to provide comments to the work group, and so, yeah. I think that's it. Yeah. So, in strong support. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room?

Chair, vice chairs, members, Dean Minakami, HHFDC. Apologies, apologies for not providing written testimony. We have been coordinating with DOT on acquisition of the access road and funding for the road. At this point, it appears that DOT will be proceeding with acquisition or condemnation of the road and they will be building a road from Calvary Street to Leilei Parkway. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Anybody on Zoom wishing to testify?

Okay, thank you. Questions, members? Yeah, that's our understanding too, that DOT has been working on it. So, okay. We'll move on to the next bill, Senate Bill 65 SD2 HD1.

First, we have the Hawaii Public Housing Authority in support. Thank you. Catholic Charities Hawaii in support.

Chair, Vice Chair and Members, I'm Betty Lou Larson with Catholic Charities Hawaii. We strongly support this bill because this would enable units that are the most affordable ones in Hawaii, where people pay only 30% of their income for rent, to open up and it would take much less time than trying to build new units.

Obviously these are existing units that have health and safety issues and so they do need to be repaired. We really would appreciate the $10 million to fix up as many of these units as possible because we have so many units, so many seniors facing homelessness.

Of course we have homeless people who could move into these units as well as low income families. So it's a real quick fix that would help so many people who are really on the edge. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Kinia Village Title Holding Corporation in support.

Good afternoon, Chair and Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Stephanie Whalen, the President of the Kunia Village Title Holding Company, which is the recipient of the Del Monte Pineapple Plantation infrastructure.

We received that in about 2009 and we've been able to by 2017, fix up 82 units, some of which were historic units that we put back as historic units and then that's new construction. So of those of the total units on the property, which is 135.

Currently 82% of the units are rented to low 35 of those units or extremely low 67 of those units tenants who we are trying to provide housing for the very low income folks.

Now the project that we did that I reported in my testimony was funded through tax credits and energy credits, et cetera and we do have loans on that yet. However, there's 53 units that are in the 80 to 100 years old which we are slowly trying to renovate and self finance through a line of credit.

Those units never pay back the investment. That's not the point. The point is to get more housing for the low income people. So this particular Bill would be very helpful.

We are ready, shovel ready on 10 units which we already have the plans for and the estimated cost based on the fact that we thought we were going to get an EPA grant which would have covered that. So we got all that ready. We didn't get that grant.

So this bill would help very much if funds were put aside to rehabilitate older homes. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Members. We also received a resolution and support from neighborhood board number 34 and one individual. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, questions Members? Okay, we're going to move on to the next bill. Senate Bill 576, SD 1, HD 1.

Okay, we have the Hawaii Public Housing Authority in support. Thank you. That's all the written testimony we received. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, questions Members? Okay, thank you. Moving on to the next bill. Senate Bill 1229 SD2HD1.

We have the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation HHFDC in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members, HJFTC in strong support of this Member of this measure. There are many forestale housing projects have been installed because of high interest rates and this bill provides a mechanism for the state to step in by providing equity to allow those projects to proceed and provide homeownership opportunities for residents.

We do have a request that the Committee consider making this a permanent program. The pilot program has been very well received by home buyers and developers. So we think it merits consideration to be made permanent. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Holomua Collaborative in support. Thank you. That's all the Members indicated they would be here. We also received testimony and support from Council Member Alice Lee of the Maui County Council, CCH Department of Human Resources, Hawaii Community Foundation, Maui Chamber of Commerce and the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice.

Is there anybody else in the Room wishing to testify. Anybody on Zoom?

Okay, questions, Members? Okay, moving on to the next bill. Senate Bill 572, SD 1, HD 1.

HHFDC in support. Thank you. That's all the written testimony we've received. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Questions, Members? Thank you. Moving on to Senate Bill 26, SD 2, HD 2.

First, HHFDC in support. Thank you. Hawaii Public Housing Authority in support. Thank you. Office of Planning and Sustainable Development in support. Thank you. That's everyone who indicated they were here. We also received testimony in support from HCDA.

Mayor Alameda of Hawaii County, the County of Hawaii Office of Housing and Community Development, and the Land Use in support, and the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii with comments. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?