House Standing Committee on Education

Good afternoon everyone. Now convening the joint hearing of the Committee on Higher education and the Committee on Education. It is aloha Friday, February 6th. A few minutes after 2pm we have one bill on our agenda today. House Bill 1872. Let's get right into it. 1872 is related to an early learning apprenticeship grant program.

This bill establishes an early learning apprenticeship grant program to be administered by UH to provide financial support for early learning program service providers in the state to participate in state or federally approved early learning apprenticeship programs. Requires an annual report to the Legislature and appropriates funds.

Up first, we have the University of Hawaii testifying and support Dean Murata.

Good afternoon. Chairs Garrett, Chair Wilson. Members of Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony offering comments to House Bill 1872 which establishes an early. Learning apprenticeship grant program. I am available for any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Dean. Up next, Executive office on early learning also testifying in support. Actually everyone's going to be testifying in support today, so. Okay, I won't say that from this point forward.

Hi, Chair Garrett and Chair Woodson, Vice Chair Amato. The Executive office of early learning supports HB 1872 and defers to the University of Hawaii on implementing, implementation and funding. Early learning registered apprenticeship programs provide aspiring early childhood professionals with structured hands on experience, employer paid classroom learning and comprehensive support to advance their careers.

Many people entering the early learning field are non traditional students who really benefit from the additional wraparound support and mentoring included in this model. This bill creates a grant program to address financial barriers to participation in state approved or federally approved early learning apprenticeship programs.

By investing in these programs, we can address workforce shortages through recruitment and retention, improve compensation and benefits and strengthen career pathways for early learning professionals. EOL welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with UH on the grant award criteria and appreciates the legislature's continued investment in our KT and our families.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Up next, we have the city and county of Honolulu.

Aloha, Chair Garrett, Chair Woodson, Vice Chair Maxwell. Members of the Committee, my name is Jordana Ferreira I'm submitting testimony on behalf of Director Krucky with the Department of Community Services in the city of Honolulu. We stand on a written testimony in support of this bill and happy to answer any questions.

Okay, thank you very much. Up next, Kamit Taki.

Afternoon Chair Garrett, Chair Woodson, Vice Chair Wattso. Members of the committees, Chair Ellis. On behalf of commit to KT and Early Childhood action Strategy, we stand on our testimony and support. Happy to answer Any questions you may have. Thank you very much.

Up next, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

Aloha chairs, vice chairs, Members of the Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii would like to stand in its seat. Written testimony in support.

Yes, thank you. Up next, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women. Are they here today?

Chairs and Members of these committees. Good afternoon and thank you for hearing this important bill. Yasmine Cheney for the Commission on Status Equipment. I stand in strong support of this measure establishing an early learning apprenticeship grant program. This bill is needed to expand access to quality child care.

To access, expand access and address child care shortages and to stabilize this crucial workforce that is predominantly female and historically undervalued. HB 1872 addresses ongoing barriers, elevates state standards and will lead to improvements for lifelong health outcomes for our children.

The commission is committed to economic opportunities and advancements in the workplace for women and measures that enable our children to succeed and thrive. I urge you to pass HB 1872 and ask you to stand in support of Hawaii's early learning workforce, our working families and our children. Thank you. And I'm available for any questions.

Thank you very much. All right.

Thank you very much. Up next, I'm sorry, we have a second testifier from the College of Education.

Aloha Rep Garrett and Rep Wilson. Thank you so much for having us. And the Rescuer Committee. Yes, I stand in support of House Bill 1872. And I just want to share a little bit about one of our apprentices. So this apprentice is a mother of four.

She went back to school, started taking classes at Honda Luka Community College, works for Keiki Oka Ina Family Learning Centers, and has been really thriving in this environment where she's working, working, going to school, being able to support her family, as well as really reach some of her educational goals. So that's an example.

We have a number of apprentices really growing, both here on Oahu and on Hawaii Island. And this bill really supports also other early learning programs and incentivize them to really get involved with an apprenticeship program. So thank you so much for your support. Mahalo.

Thank you. Up next, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks.

Chair Woodson, Chair Garrett, Vice Chair, Amato, respected Committee Members, my name is Mania Suchi. On behalf of Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks. We are here in support of HB 1872.

You have my testimony, but I want to add on to that, if you please, that I was an early child care provider for almost 20 years, and if this program was available, then it would have been life changing.

To be able to cover the cost, to be able to have mentorship, to be able to have on the job training, to be able to fulfill competencies while at work rather than being pulled away from work and being pulled away from family and having to cover all of those expenses myself, that would have been life changing.

The apprentices that we've talked to that are currently participating in the program have all good things to say about it. It helps us to satisfy our mandate through Act 46, Session Law 2020. And so there are so many benefits to this.

I strongly encourage and ask for the support of this Committee and humbly request that you pass HB 1872. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Up next, Parents for Public Schools of Hawaii.

Aloha. Thank you chairs and vice chairs and Members for this opportunity. I will add to our written testimony that as a group that is formed of families in Hawaii, this is a rare opportunity to help families. Three ways we can get better child care for more children.

We know their brains are developing from birth and if we fail to offer this when they're young and the parents are working two or three jobs, we have a problem with our state going forward. So it's wonderful to add to those places.

But in addition, this means we open up careers for people to contribute to our society and to be rewarded in their own families. And thirdly, this learning that we promote means that all of our families get lifted with a better understanding of what early childhood learning is and how important it is.

So I thank you for this opportunity to testify and hope you can support this bill. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Up next, Keiko Kaena, Family Learning Centers.

Miss Me Vega and as she comes up to the podium, just want to thank you for hosting the Committee a few months ago on a site visit your the Family Learning center next to Castle Medical center is really helpful to see the potential of a bill like this and how it helps the early learning workforce.

So thank you for that.

Thank you. Aloha. Thank you Chair Garrett and Woodson and other Members of the Committee. My name is Melody Vega. I am the Chief Early Education Officer for Keiki O Ka ‘Aina Family Learning Center. Currently we provide the only early early childhood educator apprenticeship program approved apprenticeship program in the state of Hawaii.

We are serving six employers on Hawaii Island, one employer currently on Oahu, and hoping to engage at least three more employers soon on Oahu. Of course we stand in support of this bill. It's going to increase the capacity of.

The workforce, provide economic stability for working families and of course provide and Improve the quality of child care for our young. So thank you very much for being in support.

Thank you. I will now transition to zoom for the registered testifiers. Is someone off in the Department of Human Services?

Not present.

Not present.

There also. They've also submitted testimony and support. Is Ms. Villanueva of the not present, also testifying? Support. Okay, that's all that we have scheduled to testify in person today. Is there anyone in the room wishing to do so? Seeing none. Members, any questions? House Bill 1872. If not, we'll move right into decision. Decision making.

Chairs, having conferred, the recommendation of the Committee on Higher Education is to pass this out with an HD one. Members, you'll recall we did have a very similar bill last year, House Bill 549, I believe that made it all the way to conference. Fortunately, we couldn't get the appropriation agreed to in the waning days.

But here we are again this year. High priority of the Higher Education Committee. So the recommendation is to pass this Bill as a HD1 with just the defective date of 713000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions? Comments, Concerns? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Thank you, Chair. Members, we are voting on HB 1872. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair, both voting aye, Representative Evslin. Is he here?

Aye.

Representative Kapela. Aye.

Aye.

Representative Kila.

Aye.

Representative La Chica. And Representative Souza.

Aye.

Representative Olds.

Aye

Representative Woodson.

Aye

Representative Muraoka.

Aye.

And Representative Souza.

Aye.

Thank you. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, Members. Questions, comments, concerns? Please.

Members, voting on House Bill 1872, Chair's recommendation is to pass an amendment. Chair and Vice Chair, vote aye. Representative Amato. Aye. Representative Evslin. Aye. Representative Garrett. Aye. Representative Capella. Aye. Representative Keela. Aye. Representative Olds. Aye. Representative Muraoka. Aye. Representative Souza. Aye.

Chair, recommendation is adopted.

Thank you Members. Okay, so with that, we will adjourn the QPM agenda. Thank you, everyone, for being here.

Good afternoon, everyone. We are now convening the Committee on Higher Education for the purposes of a public hearing.

We're now. It is now 220. We are taking up the 205 agenda. It is again Friday, February 6th, here in room 309. Members, we are going to take a bill out of order today. House Bill 2489, which is second from the bottom on the last. On the second page.

This is relating to the University of Hawaii to House. I'm Sorry. House Bill 2489 appropriates monies to establish a bachelor's degree program. And asl interpretation at UH with the multi year plan to include a master's degree program for interpreter training, we have a ASL interpreter, as you can see, available via Zoom.

So we're going to take that bill first because we don't have our services available for the duration of the hearing and also after we conclude the testimony and any Q and A, we're going to move directly into decision making on that one bill. Any questions? Okay, seeing none. We're going to start with House Bill 2489.

Up first we have the disability community. I'm sorry, Disability communication access board. Ms. Pagano.

Good afternoon. The interpreter can see. Can you Zoom in on her, please? The interpreter cannot see her very well. She's very far away. And she said, I'm sorry, I wanted.

Okay, we're going to try to switch the camera view. Just sit tight one second please. Our IT team is working on it right now. So just sit tight for one second, please.

That's good. That's good, that's good. And good afternoon. Good afternoon, everybody. I am [unintelligible]. Chair and Vice Chair to the Chair and Vice Chair. My name is Christine Pagano from the Disability Communication Access Board and we stand on our written testimony in support of this bill.

I want to thank you and also be here for any questions that you may have. Thank you. Mahalo.

Okay, up next we have the University of Hawaii.

Providing a good Aloha. Aloha chair. Karen Aloha, Vice chair, Aloha representatives. My name is Peter Inada. I'm the Dean of the College of Arts, Languages and Letters in which the Department of Linguistics is housed and in which the American Sign Language coursework ensued. Concentration on new bachelor's degree is located. I'm here.

I have submitted written testimony in support of this bill. I'm here to stand on that testimony. I'm here to address any questions you might have. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next, via Zoom. Do we have anyone on Zoom for this one?

Not Chris, not present.

Okay. We did have an individual submit testimony and support as well. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify at House Bill 2489. Saying none. Members, any questions? If that other question for the University of Hawaii. You mentioned in your testimony that that graduates in this field can expect annual wages of up to $127,000 nationally.

Can you just kind of give us a sense of the projection on the need of this, of this developing this workforce and what they can expect in terms of career compensation going forward in.

Terms of wages and salaries at the state level? Yes. I'm not the best to answer that question. This is based on national data. Okay. So perhaps one employee, a Member of the local community. I can address the curricular and community needs. The kind of wage labor side of it is I'm less familiar with.

Apart from these, these ranges we laid out. Okay.

No, I think your testimony speaks to like the increase in the interest in this program. Thank you. So. Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you. Okay, can I ask the miss Pagano to come up?

Hi there.

Can you just educate the Committee on the need for these interpreter services, particularly in asl, and what the career outlook is like for people who would graduate from this program?

Absolutely. So currently there is a major shortage of interpreters on the in the state. So there's about 30 to 35 for all islands. Kauai, there is not a single qualified interpreter there. Maui had I believe one or two. Actually. Wait, let me think about that.

There is one on Maui and the Big Island has a total of two. So here on Oahu we have a great need for that. There is a shortage and there are 23 interpreters that we have currently on a Roth. So with that number and our understanding, there is a waiting list for UH Manoa.

They have ASL classes with a waiting list and level 101 they've been offering up to. Maybe you can tell me more. Pono, he knows more about what they university is actually currently offering and their waiting list because Kono had done the study himself. He led that study. So I'm going to go ahead and welcome him. Hello. Hello.

Chair and vice Chair. My name is Justin. You can call me Pono. My last name is Tokioka and I'm the community communication access specialist for dcap. So currently, while we had dcap, we did a study for related to the shortage of statewide the shortage of ASL interpreters statewide.

We currently have 2,800 ASL users and that's for all islands. And there are only about 23 interpreters, up to 30 to cover them for all islands statewide. So that number doesn't add up. And the range for salary typically start. There's a starting pay. It could be $65 per hour. And it really depends on where you work.

If it's an educational level, if it's a DOE, if it's a school, if it's legal work, if you work in the courtroom, if there's community, you would also do freelance that would have interviews, hospital work. So the average salary would change depending on that.

Not to mention for emergencies, you would possibly get $85 to $100 per hour for overnight emergency services. Typically that average would be approximately $75. That's pretty much. But go ahead with your question.

Members, any other. Thank you. Pono Members, any other questions?

Yes, please. Thank you. Chair, I have a question for our linguistics professor.

Let me clarify. D. Yeah, I'm a historian, but the Department of Linguistics is in our college, a prominent part of our college.

I see. So Ms. Pagano stated that there is only one ASL interpreter on Maui available, typically. So does the infrastructure exist to potentially expand this program to UHMC to help address the critical need in Maui College?

Yes, I believe so. The anchor would be mnoa, of course, where we have. Currently, even though we have three instructors teaching multiple courses, we have 120 students on a waiting list.

So our American Sign Language program, of which this would be development from, in which we're going to be offering a concentration starting in the fall, is in great demand. And those students who are taking the ASL courses have expressed in the vast majority interest in this degree program. Should it be supported and funded?

I would assume that I don't know the curriculum at Maui College, and I don't know, but certainly if we developed a robust program, we would, you know, we could talk about articulation agreements, coursework. There's a number of ways in which we can provide support to Maui College.

I think you saw in the testimony that during the fires we had no interpreters for three days, which was really, really a challenge. But this needs are abundant both in the community and in the DOE and elsewhere.

Absolutely. Thank you. I only ask because I know there's also a critical shortage in the healthcare field with patients seeking care at the emergency rooms and not having an access to an interpreter. So I would like to work with you closely to see how we can really ensure there's a robust program on Maui as well.

We would do that. Thank you. Thank you, Jackie.

And you know, to you as well, you don't need to come up. You don't need to come up. I just kind of wanted to tag. On to what I was saying as. A, as a person with, you know. Members of my family that use sign language.

Not only is it the healthcare, it's our court systems, it's our police stations, it's our police officers, you know, that could all benefit from this program. So thank you. It's a really good program.

And as you saw from my testimony and from the other, we're one of only eight states that don't have this program. And we have culturally inflected Needs. We can't just bring in mainland interpreters because of Hawaiian differences in Hawaiian signing and because of pidgin because of olelo Hawaii.

There's a whole lot of reasons why we need the program here. Thank you.

Thank you. Members, any other questions? Okay, we still have quorum. Can you stay for one second? We're gonna vote on this one, though. Sorry. Okay, so as I stated at the outset, we're going to.

That is a little unusual, but we're going to go ahead and vote on this bill now out of order, because we have the services of the interpreter with us. So, again, Members, House Bill 2489, just noting that this bill is currently drafted, already has a blank appropriation.

So the chair's recommendation is to pass this as an HD1 with just a defective date of 713000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions? Comments, Concerns, say none. Vice Chair, for the vote, please. We do have quorum.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on House Bill HB2489. Chair's recommendation is passed with amendments. [Roll call]. Thank you. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, great. Thank you. Members, we will now go back to the top of the agenda with House Code 2441 related to campus safety. This bill requires students of UH including transfer students, to complete training on federal laws and university policies regarding sexual misconduct prior to the completion of initial registration into the UH system.

Amends the frequency that training and programming regarding sexual misconduct is provided to UH students and employees. Okay, up first, we have the university providing comments.

Good afternoon, Garrett. Vice Chair Amato. Members of the Committee. The University of Hawaii stands on its written testimony.

Okay, thank you. Up next, we have IMUA alliance.

Testifying and support. Hello, Chair, Vice Chair and Committee Members. I'm Chris Caulfield. I'm speaking to you today as the President of the Alliance, as well as a survivor of campus based violence in strong support of this measure.

Every time survivors speak about our pain, UH officials get so annoyed by our relentless pursuit of healing and of truth, they clamor to make excuses about their inaction and their indifference. And this question before you today is not whether this is good policy. Of course it is. Of course it is. This is.

This builds directly upon Act 77 of 2023, which was the most transformative campus safety policy the Legislature has ever passed. And it ensures that protection Begins before harm occurs, not after.

This measure would require students enrolling at the University of Hawaii to complete Title IX training prior to class registration, so students understand consent, recognize warning signs, and know exactly where to turn if something goes wrong. This approach is already common nationwide. The University of California system requires it.

The Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women has identified pre enrollment training as a preferred practice. And the data makes clear why this matters. 84% of UH students report that they do not remember receiving any training on sexual violence.

80% of students who experience gender based violence never report at UH often because they don't know where to go or what support exists. But this bill isn't really about data. It's about restoration.

When I was a student at the University of Hawaii, I was invited to what I believed was a late night study session by someone I trusted as an academic mentor. Instead, I was violently assaulted, beaten and verbally degraded by people who held power over me. I remember being unable to move.

I remember staring at the ceiling, trying to understand how the place I was supposed to learn and grow had become a place where my sense of safety had suddenly vanished. Afterward, I tried to report what happened. I went to a university administrator believing naively that telling the truth would be enough.

And I was told, told that the university wasn't prepared to act. When I asked why, I was told, you're a political science major. You should understand that some people have more power than others. That sentence stayed with me for years.

It followed me to depression, anxiety, and years of fear that the people who harmed me would do it again to me or to someone else. It taught me in the most painful way possible what it means when institutions put their reputations above responsibility and treat survivors as collateral damage.

This Bill creates a campus culture where students are equipped with knowledge before they are armed and where survivors are not forced to learn about Title IX only after their lives have been irrevocably changed. Violence should not be a normal part of college life in the Islands. Silence protects no one. Trauma should not be acceptable as university policy.

And when we fail to pass common sense prevention measures, more students are left voiceless, powerless and broken, sometimes for the rest of the their lives. And to the university administrators for once again trying to obstruct progress, I can only say what a privilege it must be to be annoyed instead of afraid.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you.

Up next, Yungi Overleans for.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair and Members of Committee, thank you for this opportunity. In addition to the written testimony that I submitted. I do want to make some points. I read UH's testimony with comments.

I appreciate the challenges of implementing infrastructure, but how is it that schools in mainland in the continent will able to do it and we can't? My son went to UC Berkeley so 2015, 11 years ago it was mandated for him to take it. So 11 years ago. 11 years ago.

And not just is it the state schools that's mandating student training on Title Ix, but prior private schools. Until you'll be interested, NYU requires it. So if they can do it, so can we. Tired of excuses.

Second point I do want to make is that when I was at IBM we were required to take EEOC training as employees every year and as being in a computer science field which is male dominated. When I was young employee, female employee, I heard words like broad to describe me. Guess what? The EEOC training made a difference.

I stopped hearing those terminologies. So these trainings do make a difference. So it was good to see Every Voice Coalition, a student group fighting for the survivors of sexual assault and violence and prevention, submitting testimony. And I noticed that there are many students and WIS alumni who also submitted testimony in support. So please listen to them.

Thank you. Up next we have Maddox Tsuchiya.

I think Mr. Chair, Vice Chair and representatives for the opportunity to speak on this measure. I stand in support of this measure, but would also like to provide additional comments as to University of Hawaii testimony on this measure.

Firstly, I want to address the fact that they bring up that there's no centralized tracking or digital infrastructure for something like this in order to track Title IX trainings. This is not an excuse. It's part of the problem. Universities should be accountable for making their children, their students, safe.

It's not an excuse that we don't have the infrastructure. With their $1.4 billion operating budget, they should create one. Furthermore, they bring up how life trainings are good and that this creates a mass manual checkbox for any student who wants to register for their courses. This Bill doesn't get rid of live trainings.

In fact, within their own testimony they say that these trainings are already effective. These are something that needs to be expanded and not limited. They also bring up people who have disparities in terms of their registration it being blocked. The university already requires a number of things to be submitted prior to your registration.

All the way from paying your tuition or rather submitting your health forms to even meeting with an advisor, an academic advisor. We have so many checkboxes already. This could be facilitated in the exact same way. It's as simple as an automated system or an email that gets sent out prior to registration or at the same time.

The final point that they bring up is retraumatization, saying that such a training would re traumatize individuals who are already survivors of sexual violence. The issue is that this ignores two key points. One, athletes already take these trainings.

Two, this either means that those athletes are not being re traumatized or that the university asserts that their trainings themselves are traumatizing. The whole point of these trainings is to make people understand the importance of knowledge against this type of violence, to be able to open up dialogue and to be able to avoid it in the future.

Now is the time to keep our campuses safe. Now is the time to support this measure. Thank you once again. Thank you, Members. We're going to take a short recess. Recess.

Reconvening the Committee on Higher Education.

Maddox, is there something you'd like to disclose? Yeah. Maddox Tsuchiya, once again returning to the podium regarding my testimony, I would just. Like to reaffirm that I am here. As a private citizen exercising my right to testify.

I am a student at the university, and this is something within my own personal interest outside of any other state matters or business. Thank you.

I'm sorry. Can you come back to the podium, please?

Can you also disclose your employment status here at the Capitol? Yes. My employment status currently at the Capitol is as a legislative aid to Representative Amato. I had previously discussed with Dr. Joe Ritter as to testimony. They will never, ever ask. Ask any staff to testify on any of their bills. This is all okay.

And sorry, just if you could also. We'll be taking time without leave. Yes, taking time without leave. This is, again, my own personal capacity. Okay. Thank you very much for setting that for the record. Thank you.

Okay. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? House Bill 2441.

Yes. Could I testify?

Yes. Could you identify yourself?

Angela Melody Young, testifying on behalf of CARES in a strong favor of campus safety and to enact this legislation to protect our students.

And so I'd like to ask the Committee to consider a proposed amendment to seek consultation from HPD and the Department of Law Enforcement to implement community based safety programs, and then perhaps consider an amendment to provide, by statute, a policy to empower the HPD and the nonprofits and the public safety initiatives that work together to then access grants to help fund the safety trainings on campus.

Because it seems like the barrier is that the lack of perhaps community support and funding to activate the initiatives and to get more organizations to stand together for this issue and to be passionate and to have a dedicated, organized approach to implementing this legislation.

And also perhaps consider an amendment to administer a task force for performing an analysis of comprehensive legislations to be proposed next year by working with the school and the public safety authorities. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify? One more. One more. Okay. Can identify yourself, please, and any organizational affiliation.

Aloha to Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato, and Members of the Committee. My name is Anna Ezzy and I'm testifying in support of HB2441 on behalf of AAUW of Hawaii. We're a state chapter of a national nonprofit with members in all four counties and close to 4,000 Members and supporters in Hawaii.

We request that the prevention and awareness training in this bill be required annually and enforced with our registrative code, we acknowledge the points from UH's testimony, but the levels of gender violence on campus and the rates that students aren't accessing resources require action.

In 2023, more than one in every 15 students reported experiencing sexual assault while attending UH. And of students who experienced gender based violence, more 80% did not contact UH resources due to lack of knowledge such as what are university policies or where to go for help. And this actually got significantly worse since 2017.

As an alumni of UH myself, I know that enforcing prevention awareness training is a small lift with a very high return on student quality of life and campus safety. And the written student testimonies today show that this is not a require, the registration hold is not a burden, but is actually desired by students to help everyone on.

Thank you so much for the opportunity opportunity to testify in support of this bill.

Okay, thank you. Is there anyone, anyone else wishing to testify? House Guild 2441. If not Members, please note we also have testimony and support from every voice Hawaii, the Hawaii State Democratic Women's Caucus, Fujiwar and Rosenbaum LLC, and about a dodge. Dozen individuals. Excuse me, can speak now. Okay, Members, any questions?

Questions? Aye. Yes, if I may?

Yes, Vice Chair.

Thank you. Question for UH please. So I'm curious. UH's Act 242 annual report in 2023 shows that fewer than 3% of Title IX reports move forward and over 86% did not move forward at all. Why does universities oppose the mandatory Title IX training rather than fixing this broken system?

Conversely, what has UH done to improve these statistics that are rather alarming? Thank you for the question. I'll ask Jen Rose, our Executive Director for the Office of Institutional Equity, to provide a response.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair and Members. My name is Jennifer Rose and I am the Executive Director of. Sorry, Mr.

Chair, speak a little bit louder, please.

Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Equity. I'm also the interim Title 9 coordinator for the University of Hawaii at Manoa. So for our flagship campus, I think maybe your question may be twofold, Vice Chair.

But first, if I can say that based on the testimony so far, to get some clarity around our comments is not about mandatory training. I think by. Sure, you already know, training has been mandatory since 2016.

Some version of training which also requires that the training include information about Title IX, the Violence Against Women's act, our policies, other relevant state laws. So the online training that I think is getting referenced often is quite extensive.

And so we are actually in the process of hopefully refining that training with our vendor to make it shorter so that students are able to complete it. Because having to go through all of those requirements does take some time. Although I think all training is important.

As the Title IX grader for Manoa, my staff and I do live training, which I know I heard a student talk about, and that it is actually really important. So when we're talking about our comments, we're not talking about conducting the training.

We're talking about the operational aspects of a registration hold that would happen, that would be an impact and I think particularly to our community college students. So that I just wanted to make a clarification for that. Your question, I think was. What are. We doing to make those numbers higher?

As far as our Act 242 data, that data reflects both training and cases. So those are for folks that are coming forward. I think you might have cited who is coming to the Title IX office to seek assistance.

So in thanks to the state Legislature three years ago, that bill that I mentioned that mandated trading to begin with, our faculty Members are all mandatory reporters. So this is a good thing because we get lots of reports. I mean, you saw probably our Act 242 data for Manoa. We received 200 reports.

And that's good because third party reporters, anybody that a student is going to a faculty member who they trust, it's all coming forward to us.

The data points, I don't necessarily think reflect where students maybe go to a confidential resource instead and choose to act outside of the system, maybe get a restraining order through the civil process or the family law process, or whether they come to us, but then don't want to move forward.

So I think that there's a lot more nuance.

One of the things we did discuss with the Women's Legislative Caucus during the interim of the session was for us to actually include more data points than what's required in the report and also provide a narrative so that you could see more of the qualitative data of what is happening when students are coming forward with, without giving away any identifying information.

Because we want to be very protective of those confidential resources where they go, whether they go to a confidential counselor or a confidential advocate, which each of our campuses is also required to identify. State law. And I think that they are utilized. They are utilized a lot more than people are aware.

People do use confidential resources at all of our campuses. So I think those are a few things that could go more in detail about our efforts regarding training, perhaps offline on that.

But just to clarify, the training is mandatory for faculty and athletes. But it's not mandatory for students. Is that correct?

It is now mandatory for students because of, I think, another law that was just referenced past two years ago that I think was co authored by Representative Capella. So, so training, training is. And we don't have any issue. There's no issue with that. We want that.

So it's trying to assess how to move forward without the registration hold on students before they start school is what our comments are surrounding, not the training itself.

I just wanted to clarify that because I wasn't sure based on the testimony, whether or not that is was a point of confusion and I haven't had a chance to read everyone else's testimony. So I apologize.

That's most certainly something I think we can work on going forward. I think there are other creative and innovative ways to implement this policy without disrupting enrollment. Appreciate that. Thank you. Vice Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Member Morocco, on your comments just now. Help me understand this. The UEGA stance. Your stance is it'll put a hold on registration.

No, that's the bill. What the bill is, is one of the provisions of the bill is to have a registration hold until the student completes the training.

And so one of the things we are doing per, you know, and we spoke with Rep. Amato on this, is trying to find ways, creative ways, so that the training could be shorter but still meet the requirements and all have all the necessary components. Because I agree how important it is during the Red Zone period.

I agree that what's very important is for students to know what their resources are. And that's one of the things that I think our climate survey has shown over the five cycles that we've made much more improvements.

And if you actually look at national comparisons where national AAU schools have a 30% awareness of the Title IX crater, and we have close to 60, and on some campuses, almost 80%, but also a 70 to 80% awareness of resources in General, whether they be confidential or offices of notice.

This is actually really significant and where we're putting a lot of our efforts.

The other thing that I really think was so helpful to meet with Rep. Amato earlier is that we started talking more amongst the Title IX coordinators about counting the times when we're doing tabling and also new student orientation where it's not getting credit for the actual completion of the training because we didn't do the six components.

But you came over there and went into the gym and said, I'm the Title nine coordinator. You know, here's how you can access me or if you don't want to see me, here's a confidential advocate. This person's also standing there. This is the difference between our offices. This is how we can help you.

And I think we have made a lot of improvements over the last even three cycles. And in comparison to the national, I think we're doing pretty well. Could we be doing better? Yes, I always think that we should be doing much better. And should we be doing better in terms of training completion? Absolutely.

The second part is. Can you explain to me what you meant when you said it'll affect community college students differently?

Well, I think there's a lot of studies that have shown that for community college students, if they don't have laptops, for example, and they're not able to complete the training, they, it might be more difficult. Also it's open enrollment between all the seven community college campuses. So I think that that impacts your ability to.

If you're held, you're held for the entire system. It may be a little bit easier for four year college students. And particularly at Manoa we have graduate students who are more sophisticated who actually have that kind of equipment to get the training done completed. Because for example, at Manoa you also have graduate students.

That's as GAS for Manoa. We actually have mandatory training already. So all GAs graduate assistants TAs are required to do before they even start work. So there are different components where I think there could be more vulnerabilities for community college students. If it's a registration hold prior to when school starts.

I mean this in the most respectful way. That does nothing for me because I cannot imagine one individual going to even a community college that doesn't have a laptop. It's either a requirement or not. I mean it just has to be.

A hard line and it is a requirement. It's the same requirement system wide for all of our students.

Do they have false reports? I don't want to prolong this, but there's something that you said disparaging between MANOA and the community college is the community college students may not have laptops. I mean it's been a long time since I registered for a class at UH but everything was online even back then.

So wouldn't that in itself be a barrier for kids to register for school at community college if they don't have a laptop?

I think that's. Can I say a little bit more about that? Also for the community college students being commuter students, there may be more challenges we do to doing the live training.

For example, if you are at a Four year and you're at Hilo or Manoa, you would get the training through either access from the dorms or through nso. So it might be a little bit more challenging.

I don't want to focus on the laptop situation, but I do think that there are certain vulnerabilities for our students who may not have as much access. And I don't want to say that it is about the laptop. Laptop. So I apologize for going in the wrong direction there.

I think our biggest concern is, is around holding registration prior to being able to, I mean, to finish that training. If there was some other creative solution that we can come up with. I mean, we're happy to work with, you know, chair and vice chair on that. If you all have suggestions. I welcome to that conversation.

Yes. Ropa.

Hi. Sorry. If you can reintroduce yourself. I stepped out just briefly and then. Yes, please.

So, Jen Rose. I'm the Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Equity, which is system wide office, but also I'm part of a hybrid office and also the Title nine coordinator for manoa.

Okay, thank you so much. You're, I think, just repeating what you shared. You're asking us to give you ideas on how to implement this.

No. And just in terms of. There are other ideas as an alternative to having to hold registration prior to.

I think that's what the Committee is asking you. Right. That's why this had been taken up last year. Since then, what has your office done to move this issue forward? Because as you know, it is an important issue for the Committee. And so I think that was what that bill had intended and unfortunately didn't pass. But.

Or you know, a version of it. So what would. What has your office done over the last year?

And I'm sorry that if I'm unclear, I'm not aware that the registration full bill was a carryover from last year.

There was a Title 9 requirement bill, but I'm not sure if. Did the registration hold just a new. I think it was a different. It might. Might have been different.

So I can just talk more generally about what we've done in the last year, but not in relation to a holdover issue where registration was considered. I haven't seen. I'm sorry if I missed it from last session. Am. I don't know. I don't think there was this discussion. Has not. I don't think.

Is there anyone in the audience who is tracking kind of a lot of information. Young Hee, can you please come? Thank you. Thank you so much. I guess Rephrase So I know there's maybe not this Bill specifically, but we have taken up similar issues last session.

So what to your knowledge, what can you share with the Committee and what has either ongoing discussions and if they were either led or convened by the. University to kind of move this issue forward.

Sure. So history of Title IX here is in 2018 we passed a law to include LGBT students under Title IX protection. And then in 2023 we passed before 2018 we had a campus safety bill which required reporting. And then in 2023, Rep. Kapela's bill required training, but it did not require registration with training. So.

If you say that I'm required to take it and what I have to say is I took it, but there was nothing that binds me to take it, guess what I will do in correct? What you will do, especially young busy freshmen. So that is what is going on.

So officially it is mandatory, but so few have taken it. And the few who have taken it, and this is based on UH climate survey, they appreciated that. They appreciated the knowledge they gained. So that's the history. So this is the first time we are asking for registration to be tied to it.

And again, some schools, like UC schools, mandate tying it to registration. Thank you.

I'm sorry. The campus safety report has been an. Annual requirement since I think 2016. Right?

Two different ones. The reposing is from the 242. That's more recent. The one from. So the, the one that Young he is referring to. It goes all the way back to I think Act 208, which I think we started annual reporting, Clery data and gender violence data in 2017-2018.

And then the Act 242 is a requirement to. For us DOE and charter schools to report back on training numbers and cases that are coming forward or where some wants, you know, to get assistance or a formal investigation. And that is about four years old, I think something like that.

So we have like three or four years of data from what the more recent, I think training data that's being cited.

Okay, thank you.

If you can share that with our Committee and for the data that you have. Yeah, I would be so happy to. I can share that with you. And also I think the Women's Legislative Caucus did a compilation of all of that data for the last three years. Thank you.

Young, you can be seated.

You can take.

Yes, I have a quick follow up please for Ms. Rose. Rather than holding registration, would holding credits be a sufficient way to ensure that students are taking the training? I. I wouldn't Know as much about that. Is there anybody you from UH here that question for UH could we hold the credits?

Thank you.

I'm sorry? Debbie Hubbard, Vice President, Academic Strategy. Could you clarify what you mean?

Rather than holding students registration status upon completion of training, could we instead alternatively potentially hold their credits, meaning not release their transcripts?

Potentially. Potentially we would need to investigate that in the context of federal regulations that have come down about the reasons and options for withholding transcripts because there are concerns that have been raised about using that as a method. So I would have to look into whether this would fit within. Okay, I would appreciate that.

Thank you. Thank you. Chair.

Thank you. We have a non voting Member of the committee's assistant here. Okay, I just have a couple of questions for you. Hm. Members. I know we've, we still have 10 other bills on this agenda so if you could just come up please. Just more just for my education edification.

So how are new or transferring students to university notified of this requirement and the resources there of training?

So the campus Title IX coordinators are all responsible for their campuses in terms of training competition. So I'm responsible for mynoma, but from a system wide standpoint and I think in part thanks to reminders from folks like Rep. Capella, we have reminders every semester about the training, you know, how to access it, et cetera.

So that comes as a university wide messaging. On the campus level we always offer the option of students to be able to do for us for MANOA live training or complete the online training. So reminders are placed also with faculty Members, et cetera, if they want to put that in their syllabi or mention it.

But there is system wide messaging so that all 10 campuses would receive the information and we can definitely push out more often, you know, at the campus level to make sure that there are pings and reminders of training or even some students who start the training but don't complete it.

Maybe they think that it's too long so that they would get a message like zero, we see that you only finished 10 minutes of this. Could you please complete it? So those are the things that technically the program that is called Vector is capable of doing.

So it's basically like an email that goes out to the student body beginning of the session and that's kind of it.

Well, at the system level, but at the campus level we have a lot of different initiatives that are going on, you know, tabling at different events. We at MANOA do spend a lot of time with the different academic units to offer training. Obviously we have, you know, targeted groups within housing, graduate students and student athletes.

But the reminders are done at the campus level through the Title IX coordinator. So I don't know the extent of what the other nine campuses, how they're doing their reminders, but I know that it comes through various opportunities where there's student engagement.

But I could follow up with the other nine Title IX creators and get that report back for you folks and have that before our next Act 242 reporting is done.

Okay, thank you. Do you dispute in AAUW's testimony, they assert that only 80. I'm sorry, 84% of UA students are not trained. Do you dispute that number?

I don't if that's in reference to 2023. We're compiling the 2025 data now. It's not. It's not been put out in the public yet, but I'll have to look at the 2025 numbers. I think that they're better. Those numbers are better, but I can get those to you. And I'm sorry, I haven't read the other testimonies yet.

No, no, it's fine. But your understanding is the 2023 numbers, 16% compliance is correct.

I have to look. I don't have 2023. Okay.

That's not necessary. One of the challenges that you put in your testimony is that you don't have the centralized tracking in place to monitor compliance. Has your office considered acquiring such a system? And if so, how much would that cost?

I will have to.

Yes, we are looking at trying to find a centralized tracking system for all of the student related training. We have something that's in place for employees. It's just the 50,000 plus students that are university wide that we don't have infrastructure for right now. So we've got to figure that out.

How many employees does UH have system wide?

I'd say about Maybe right around 10,000, maybe. Yeah, it's all part of the onboarding and it's all.

So you are looking into ways to.

Figure out the students that are Amongst all the 10 campuses? Yeah.

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

Ms. Durazo. Thank you. Thank you all for your testimony, for being here. Quick question about the amnesty policy, has that been implemented?

Yes, that was implemented by President last year, two years ago or so that's in place still.

It's correct, yes. Okay. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

Okay, thank you Members for the very robust discussion on House Bill 2441. We're going to move on to our next Bill, House Bill 2159. Thank you. For those of you who are patiently waiting for your turn.

This Bill is relating to the healthcare workforce development, Establishes positions and appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii to support healthcare workforce development in the state. Up first we have University of Hawaii, Dean Shoemaker.

Thank you. And good afternoon. Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato and Members. Of the Committee, Stan Shoemaker, Dean of. The John A. Burns School of Medicine, stand on our written testimony and strong support of House Bill 2159. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Okay, great. Thank you, Dean. Up next, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Are they still here? Yep.

The Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii stands on its testimony. Written testimony in support.

Okay, thank you. Chamber in support. Up next, Nabian Oy. Also in support.

Hey, Chair. Vice Chair Richmond Lazar testifying on behalf of NAVI and Hawaii. We stand on our written testimony in support. I would just add that, you know, as many of you guys know, Hawaii's demographics are changing significantly over the next 2530 years.

I mean, the percentage population of our Korona is going to be much, much larger than it is right now. I know there's a appropriation tied to this, but. But I just wanted to point out that, you know, investments in workforce development now can save us money 2030 years from now. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Members, please note, we also have testimony and support from the Hawaii Medical association and the Hawaii Primary Care association and one individual. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify. Anyone via zoom on this Bill saying none. Thank you. Members, any questions? House code 2159, seeing none. Moving on to the next Bill.

House Bill 2161 related to pharmacy. This Bill establishes the Daniel K. Noe College of Pharmacy Special Fund to support pharmacists workforce assessment and planning efforts. Establishes a pharmacist workforce assessment fee, appropriates funds. Up first we have Dean Matsumoto with the University of Waihilo College of Pharmacy.

Good afternoon, Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amato and Members of the Committee. I'm Raymond Smoto, Dean of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. We stand on our written testimony in support of this Bill and also support the amendments that were proposed by the office of the Attorney General as the Hawaiian Pharmacists Association.

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Okay, thank you, Dean. Up next, the Hawaii Pharmacists Association.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Sorry I couldn't be there in person today. We also stand in support of this initiative and the comments provided by the Attorney General. And I will remain on standby for any additional questions.

Okay, thank you. And thank you for pulling over and not driving while you're testifying. Thank you. No problem. Next. Attorney General. I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier. I have a feeling I know what you're going to say.

Yes, Comments?

Good name.

Chair. Vice Chair.

Members of the Committee, just want to remind you to add the language that the law is a matter of statewide concern.

Thank you. D. Noted. Thank you very much. Members, please also note we have a few dozen testimony and support from various individuals. Okay. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify? House Bill 2161. Anyone use Zoom. Nope. Okay. Members, questions saying none. Moving on to the next Bill.

House Bill 2171 relating to university of Hawaii authorizes the University of Hawaii to engage in enterprise related activities for educational purposes. University of Hawaii. I have. The interim VP of Community College has signed up to testify. I don't see. Can you come up to the podium, please? Even if it's a stand on your testimony.

This is America.

No, this is the enterprise. This is the.

Zero, that's you.

Explain Chancellor Louis, since he's not here. No longer. Chancellor interview. Excuse me.

Hi. Chair. Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, my name is Denise Yoshimori Yamamoto. I'm the Associate Vice President for Administrative affairs and the community colleges and universities stand in support of this measure. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Okay, thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify. House Bill 2171 seeing none Members, any questions? Yes, Rebel Chica.

I think it's pretty interesting, Bill, but what maybe for the university, what would be a good example of current activities that. Yeah, that could arise as a benefit from this.

So basically what happens at the community colleges, you know, we have some programs that we have almost like they're learning labs. Our hospitality academy, sometimes it can be nursing, early childhood, where we're actually going out or providing those services in our facilities.

An example of the Hospitality Academy is that through CIP we did build a small but a facility that then we got sponsors from industry to sponsor each of the rooms. And then our students in our hospitality program then service those rooms.

And so we wanted to be able to with educational component, not open it up for revenue generation for any type of profit or anything like that. But it's just to provide our students with this hands on type of training and real life experiences.

So this provides a separation between what is truly known as commercial enterprise that's revenue generating versus something that's related to our educational purpose.

Got it. And because right now you're subject to the county regulations.

So that's where it gets. It's hard because now it's looked at as a. With the same lens and it's really not the same thing. We want to be able to move quickly without going through all these permitting processes. And again, it's really just to support our program and give them this lab environment.

Got it. Because it's not meant to be a commercially generating revenue. Okay. Any other questions?

Okay, thank you.

Okay. Members, any other questions? Okay. Seeing none. Moving on to the next Dough House Bill 2416. Now this is a maritime Bill.

Maritime youth apprenticeship pathway program directs Honolulu Community College in partnership with state agencies and maritime employers to conduct a study and develop a plan for a statewide maritime youth apprenticeship program for individuals age 16 to 24. Requires a report to the Legislature with recommendations on program structure, resource needs, proposed legislation and implementation options applied.

Appropriate monies up first. We have university of Hawaii testifying. This court, I believe.

Associate vice President for academic affairs for the university colleges testifying to support the intent of the Bill. We do have some comments and suggestions for improvement.

Okay, thank you very much and I apologize for mischaracterizing your support supporting the intent as it's replicated in your testimony. Okay, up next, Attorney General, you can just say same. Okay. We will note the statewide concern, Hawaii Transportation association not present or via zoom providing testimony and support as well. Chamber of Commerce you switch seats every time.

Aloha. Chair, Vice chair, Members of the Committee, the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii stands on his written testimony in support. Mahalo.

Okay, thank you very much. That's all that we have scheduled to testify. Members, please know we have testimony and support from the Maritime group, Hawaii Harbors Users group and two individuals. Anyone else ever wishing to testify? Seeing none. Members, questions? Seeing none. Moving on to the next Bill.

House Bill 2518, University of Hawaii requires, uh, development facilities and student housing master plan required reports to the Legislature up first. Uh.

We stand in our written testimony, uh, in support with comments.

Thank you. Let's see.

Yes, can I.

Yes. Please identify yourself again for the record.

Angela Melody Young Cares and also I passed my class test for properties management, so perhaps I would be getting into development soon like my mother.

So I just wanted to say for this legislation that you could consider as a Committee to implement the section that the university shall seek the county's Department of Planning and permitting documents to help provide guidance to plan the student housing.

And also perhaps an amendment to request funding from the county's office to effectuate the purposes planned in this section. And because the county's DPP plans for the University of Hawaii with the Oahu General Plan and if you read the documents, you will read all the plans that it has for University of Hawaii and the affordable housing projects.

And I think student housing would fit into this plan. And also within these planning documents it talks about the Transit Oriented Development and integrating regional plans along the Hart corridor.

And the Hart corridor originally was planned to connect the schools from Leeward Community College, Honolulu Community College all the way to University of Hawaii manoa and the Ku Whili station 0.8 miles away from Honolulu Community College. I think it's near Chinatown, has 2 to 3,000 homes Affordable housing projects that are going to be coming up.

And so to navigate the procedures as you're planning for the university with these plans, it would be very helpful to get two goals together and key strategies being implemented by the Oahu General Plan provides policy guidance already. So it provides a framework for building student housing.

And also I'm just going to close with mentioning so involving county and state and major development plans, particularly Transit Oriented Development Plan is crucial for university student housing to ensure sustainable, safe and affordable connected living environments.

And it helps students to have safer living areas right where they're not going to be, you know, going to nightclubs or going to gambling houses. And that's a worry for parents. I get it. You want them to be safe and they should be planned for.

So, yeah, I think this will really help the students to have a safe housing with lots of amenities. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. zero, let me see. I'm sorry, two lost track here. 2518. Anyone else in a wish to testify saying none? Members questions saying none. We'll move on to the next Bill. House Bill 2617 related to the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Among other things, this Bill establishes the Institute of Indigenous Education, Science and Outreach within the University of Hawaii at Hilo. We have. Is there anyone up via Zoom? Okay.

Hi. Aloha Kapo.

Yes. Please proceed.

Yes. Kaiuki Mura, the Director of Kahakaulu Okelihulanin College of Hawaiian Language and Igni Law. I stand on the university's testimony, and I'm here if you have any questions. Mahalo nui.

Okay, thank you very much. That's all that we have scheduled to testify on this Bill. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify saying none? Members questions saying none? We'll move on to the next Bill. House Bill 2338, relating to the Hawaii Community College Promise Program. Mother.

Among other things, this Bill amends the Promise program to exclude grants, scholarships, and other funding sources from the calculation of Hawaii Promise Awards. Also addresses a change in federal law regarding Pell Grants and changes Hawaii Promise from being a last dollar award. Up first, we have the University of Hawaii testifying this support.

Yes, we stand on our written testimony, but emphasize strong support.

Okay, duly noted. Strong support. Thank you very much. Hawaii kids can. Are they still here? Yes. Also in support.

Aloha. Chair Garrett, Vice Chair Amano, Members of the Committee, I'm David Sunmiichiro, Executive Director of Hawaii Kitzikan. Hawaii Kitzikan stands on our written testimony in strong support of HB2338. With a few notes, our organization has spent the last four years working on a grant to better understand ways to make higher education more accessible.

What's clear to us from our hundreds of conversations with students and families is that affordability is at the core of this issue. While a great program, the Hawai' I Promise Scholarship, is only scratching the surface of its potential, the changes in HB 2338 will make community college more accessible and affordable for local students and families.

Given the workforce development contributions of our community colleges, this will be a clear win for the broader economy of the state. Mahalo.

Thank you. Via Zoom College Promise. Hello.

Yes, my name is. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Amado, or thank you, Chair Garrett. Vice Chair Amato. My name is John Barnshaw. I am a senior leader at College Promise, which is nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works with all 450 Promise programs in the United States, including the Hawaii Promise.

In looking at the statute and looking at the Bill and speaking with many people throughout the Hawaiian Islands, we believe that the changes in HB2338 will address some of the issues that have previously been identified, particularly the last dollar calculation. I stand on my written testimony previously and I'm happy to answer any questions for the Committee.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Members, that is all. We have individual scheduled to testify. House Bill 2338. Please know we have testimony and support from Hawaii P20 partnerships for education, comments from the Herald K. Castle foundation and support from one individual Members. Any questions? House Bill 2338 saying. None. zero, I'm sorry. We do have one question.

Reverend Lucica, our university poll, please. Thank you. Thank you Chair for introducing this legislation. I think it's so important for right now. What is do we know if there are other states that have this approach of building last dollar, kind of the gap, covering the gap approach when it comes to Promise programs?

Are we the only state that does that?

Hi.

Hi. Judy Olivera with the University of Hawaii Community College System. If we can get John. Okay.

Hi John, are you able to answer the question?

Yes, Representative Lachica, there are programs that have last dollar. However, there's about six out of the 450 I mentioned, there's about 61% that are last dollar.

What's somewhat unique about the Hawaii Promise is the provision that is currently statute, which is Section 304501 and that is quote, grants, scholarships and other funding sources that do not require payment must be factored into the last document dollar calculation. Other programs on the mainland, they do not have that second part.

It's my understanding that HB 2338 would rescind that part, which would actually be comport with all other last dollar programs that I'm aware of in the US.

So just to reiterate my understanding right now, the way that our statute is written is if you receive other sources of funding through grants or other dollars, is it instead of supplementing what's already received, it factors that into the toll roll so they don't get the full.

So it could reduce what they could receive under the funds, it replaces it. It replaces it rather than suffering limits it.

So will this Bill correct that? Yes, correct. It'll allow them to stack philanthropic aid on top of federal and state.

Thank you. Is there anything else on this? Never mind. I think that's it. Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you. Just for the record, this is an admin Bill I would love to take credit for introducing.

zero, it was? Okay. Well, thank you for hearing it, Chair Gary.

Okay, Members, any other questions? House Bill 2338 saying none. Moving on to House Bill 2339, another admin Bill relating to the University of Hawai' I Revenue bonds. Authorizes the Board of Regents of, uh, to issue revenue bonds for purpose of financing. Qualifying priority. CIP up first. Uh, UH.

Okay, thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify saying none. Members, questions?

Good afternoon chair vice Chair Michael Ing for Luis Salivario, uh, stands on his testimony support.

Yes, please.

Share. Excuse me.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here. So, Article 3, Section 1 of the Hawaii State Constitution gives power of the purse to the state Legislature, not the Executive branch. Can you ask, can you explain what other state agencies have this level of control to issue their own revenue bonds at will?

I would have to check, but are.

There any other state agencies that you're aware of that can just issue their own bonds like that? I mean, because I think that's generally a power reserve.

You know what? I bet Transportation can do it. Duty probably has that accountability. You know, I would say that it's in the budget. It's the letter E as a means of financing. So it's not something that's unique to universal Hawaii.

Okay, thank you.

I could be wrong, but I believe they need our approval. Yes. To issue those bonds. That's what this Bill reports. This Bill gives, uh, the authority to issue those bonds. We can't do it on our own. Okay, thank you, Members. Any other questions? House Bill 2339 saying none. We'll move on to the next Bill.

Just as a reminder, Members, we previously heard House Bill 2489 at the top of the agenda and passed out as an HD one.

The next Bill, House Bill 2517, relating to higher education, establishes a statewide framework for the assessment and award of academic credit for prior learning required for military service, workforce training, apprenticeships, and a few other modes. Up first, uh.

As I saw. Good afternoon, Chair. Vice Chair. Bad timing there. Debbie Halbert, Vice President, Academic Strategy. We stand on our testimony, happy to answer any questions you might have after I recover from my conflict.

All right. Give you a few minutes, Attorney General.

Thank you. We offer the same testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. Noting again the statewide concern to deal with, uh, autonomy. Article 10. Up next, Hawaii National Guard. thank you, BG, for your patience. Yes, sir.Testifying in support.

sir. Good afternoon, Chair. Vice Chair. I'm Brigadier General Walt Ross, Director of Joint Staff of Hawaii National Guard. Stand in support of this measure and available for any questions you might have. All right, thank you very much.

Okay. Anyone else in the room wishing to testify? House Bill 2517 Members questions, if not, I have a few for, uh. And hopefully Debbie has gotten over her coughing thing. I think so. Okay. So you note in your testimony that you already have some work underway. Yes. In this regard.

Can you just update the Committee on exactly what that stands?

Yes. So one of the items that we've been working. Working on, and this is part of our larger workforce development initiatives as well, is to create a. We have it in draft right now, a policy on credit for prior learning. It is being consulted with the faculty Senate as we speak.

The plan will be to have that as an Executive policy by the end of the semester. And really what that will do is set a framework and a grounding for how we can bring some of this in.

Obviously there are complexities because some of the credits that we're talking about and we mentioned in our testimony, it's not like a one to one. It's not like, here's English 100, and here is the experience you had in your field for 20 years. So we've got to think through some of the technicalities of it. Sure.

What is your anticipated timeline?

Well, hopefully the policy will be implemented this semester. We also have some very excited pilot opportunities between Leeward Community College and University of Y West Oahu. So their chancellor, the one that he is excited about, helping to bridge that gap between LCC and uh, West Oahu over different kinds of cle.

Okay. And since we have the Brigadier General here, part of that will include military training as well. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, that's the plan. And we, we know that it's. It's oftentimes difficult with the military to translate those experiences into academic credit. So hopefully we can start with the top 10 biggest types of things that we can translate in and then work from there.

Okay, thank you very much, Members. Any other questions? House Bill 2517, seeing none. Have we reached the end of the agenda? Yes, we have. House Bill 2158. University of Hawaii Requires, uh, system to collect, maintaining, publish standardized program level data for each academic program offered. Requires making an online dashboard with program level data. Requires an annual report.

The one testifier on this is UH providing comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. I'm Carol Palmen Wagner, Director of Institutional Research for the University of Hawaii system. I work under the President of Academic Strategy, and we stand on our testimony today. And I'm here to answer any questions.

Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to Testify? House Bill 2158. Seeing none. Members, any questions? Seeing none.

Okay, we will take a short recess. Recess.

Okay, I'm reconvening the House Committee on Higher Education. We will go into decision making on the 2:05pm agenda. Up first we have House Bill 2441 relating to campus safety. Members, we obviously had a lot of discussion on this bill.

It became very apparent to all of us, I believe, that the University of Hawaii has a long way to go on this. There's a lot of room for improvement. And I appreciate the leadership of the Vice Chair bringing this to our attention and just the extent of the questions that were raised by Committee Members.

But my recommendation ultimately is going to be to defer this measure. I believe that registration holds are a little too onerous of a tool to compel this kind of behavior. It became very apparent the university does need to build out their infrastructure so they can better track completion compliance.

All these things we heard from the university that they're currently looking into that for carrying such a system, they have it in place for their employees. It shouldn't be that heavy of a lift to expand it out to all the students. And again, I want to thank the Vice Chair for bringing this to our attention.

What I'd like to see done is a resolution introduced this session strongly encouraging the university to move expedition stage with regard to that system and to figure out ways to raise awareness of the current offerings and to increase student participation in the modules. So with that, Members, the recommendation is to defer.

Not an easy decision on my part by any. By any means. Members, any discussion.

Thank you. Chair, if I may briefly.

Yes, please.

I appreciate the Committee taking the time to hear the testimony. It was very passionate today. There clearly is a need for some sort of training on campus that is mandatory and trackable. So I'm committed to working with, uh, to ensure the system is in place. I mean, it's not rocket science.

I'm sure we can, we can figure this out and it does not have to be an onerous hammer, as you say. There are simple ways that we can do this. So thank you, Chair. I appreciate the conversation.

Okay, thank you, Members. Any other discussion?

Just briefly, thank you so much for hearing this measure and considering it and. Also pushing the university to take steps to try and protect survivors on campus. Of course, absolutely.

Yes.

Robin, Chica, same sentiment. We would really like to see the university prioritize this. And the last thing we want, because we're in the Education Committee, we're seeing similar responses where we had, you know, unfortunately, something had to happen and for it to be prioritized and escalated in the manner.

And that was that's the last thing we would want is we want to be on the side of prevention rather than reacting to something. And I know that there's data being collected. So we have that information. We have what could inform future policy and rules, administrative rules.

So thank you again Chair for hearing all the testimony and being willing to take this up by resolution.

Okay, thank you, Rebecca. Members, any other discussion? Okay, thank you. Saying none. Moving on to the next Bill. House Bill 2159 relating to the health care work relating to healthcare workforce development.

Members for the Chair's recommendation for this Bill is to pass it out with an HD1, blanking the appropriation, blanking the FTE counts of 18.5 and adding an effective date of 7/1/3000 for facilitate further discussion. Any discussion on this bill? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote please.

Thank you Chair. Committee Members, we are voting on HB 2159. Chair's recommendations passed with amendments. [Roll call] Thank you Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you Members. Next bill. House Bill 2161 relating to pharmacy. This is to establish the Daniel K. Noe College of Pharmacy Special Fund to support pharmacists workforce assessment and planning efforts. Members, this is similar to what currently exists for the nursing profession through the Hawaii State center for Nursing.

The Chair's recommendation is to pass this also up with an HD one noting the Attorney General's suggestion to add a provision regarding this being a statewide concern to deal with uh, autonomy. We will adopt most of the pharmacists associated with association amendments are reflected in their testimony.

We're going to add in the identification, evaluation of best practices, coordinating distribution of state federal grants, collaborating with already established centers to develop and deploy team based care models and also adding annual reports.

We are going to strike out per their suggestion having this Fund provide loan repayment as well as providing scholarships for pharmacy students via this Fund. And lastly we will include a defective date of 713000 to facilitate further discussion. Members, any questions? Comments, Concerns? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote please.

Thank you chair voting on HB 2161 noting the presence of all Members. Are there any Members voting with reservations? Any Members voting no. Seeing none. Thank you Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, Members. Next bill, House Bill 2171, relating to University of Hawaii. This is the enterprise related activities for educational purposes. Recommendation is to pass this out as an HD 1. We did receive a suggestion from the University to remove the phrase, quote, program operating the activity from Section 2E, which the committee will adopt. And we will also add a defective date of 7-1-3000. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on HB 2171. Are there any Members voting with reservations? Any Members voting no? Thank you. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, Members. Next bill, House Bill 2416, relating to the Maritime Youth Apprenticeship Pathway Program. This is the one that directs HCC to, in partnership with various state agencies and employers, to conduct the study and develop a plan for a statewide maritime youth apprenticeship program.

Okay, so the Chair's recommendation here is to pass this also off with an HD 1. Again noting the Attorney General's concern or the suggestion regarding statement of statewide concern. Yes, sorry. Article 10. We will accept UH's suggested amendments as follows.

I'm adding an additional appropriation, which will be blank to cover the cost of a temporary project coordinator, data consultants, and statewide industry workshops. We will have the UHCC system lead the study as with participation from Honolulu Community College and Windward Community College.

We will clarify Section 2 and 3 that it will be the, again, UHCC system requesting participation and reporting to the Legislature. And amending section 2B, 2 subsection B to state that a successful study required the DOE, DBEDT, DLIR to provide workforce enrollment data to support the findings.

Also wanted to duly acknowledge the existing Youth Career Center pre-apprenticeship program via Kailua High School and Windward Community College. And lastly, a defective date of 7-1-3000. Members, any discussion? Rep. Kila, is this a good bill?

Chair, I appreciate you moving it and allowing the pathway forward as we ensure that diversify opportunities for our folks. Right now a large maritime school requires a lot of our students to leave Hawaii. So I appreciate the conversation.

Okay, thank you for sitting. That is our Transportation Chair. Members, any discussion? Okay, Vice Chair for the vote please.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on HB 2416. Chair's recommendation is pass with amendments. Noting the presence of everyone for the rest of the hearing. Are there any Members with reservations? Any Members voting no? Thank you. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you members. House Bill 2518 relating to the University of Hawaii. This one requires uh to develop a facility student housing master plan and requires it proportion of the Legislature. So this one again Chair's recommendation is to pass with an HD1.

The bill as currently drafted does not specify when the first report should be, let's just say, introducer error, me. So we're going to have that first report due 20 days before the 2028 session. We're also going to amend the frequency of this. Right now the bill reads five years.

We're going to make it six to dovetail with a typical CIP planning process or the cycle heating. UH's suggestion noting the need for outside consultants to assist. We will add a new section with a blank appropriation for that purpose. And then lastly, an effective date of 7/1/3000. Members,

any discussion? And this bill- noting this bill will next go to Housing Chair, Representance Committee, where I know he will pass it out and keep the bill alive.

Enthusiastic.

Heard it here first. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Voting on HB 2518. Recommendation passed with amendments. Any members voting with reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you, Chair. Recommendations adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Next Bill. House Bill 2617 relating to the University of Hawaii, Hilo. This is the one that establishes the Institute of Indigenous Education, Science and Outreach within UH Hilo. You know, I failed to ask a question of UH Hilo previously as to the reason for the reference to $499,999. Just to keep this bill moving along, we're going to blank that out.

And I will follow up with UH Hilo. And this bill does go to the Judiciary Committee next. And we will also add a defective date of 7-1-3000. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Voting on HB 2617. Recommendation is passed with amendments. Any members with reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you, Chair. Recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, members. Next bill, House Bill 2338. This is relating to the Hawaii Community College Promise Program. So we do have some technical, non substantive changes to suggest as well as a defective date of 7-1-3000. So Chair's recommendation is an HD1. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote please.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on HB 2338 recommendation passed with amendments. Are there any members with reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you, Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Next Bill. House Bill 2339 related to university of Hawaii revenue bonds. This is the one that authorizes the Board of Regents of UH to issue revenue bonds for purpose of financing qualifying priority CIP projects.

So members knowing this already has a blank bond revenue cap, we will just suggest a- or suggest an HD one with an effective date of 7-1-3000. Any discussion? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Voting on HB 2339 recommendation to pass with amendments. Any members voting with reservations. Me.

Noted.

Thank you Chair. Any other- Any members voting? No. Thank you Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you. Members again noting House Bill 2489. We took out of order and voted that out at the top of this agenda as an HD one. Moving on to the next Bill, House Bill 2517 relating to higher education.

This is the one for a statewide framework for the assessment and award of academic credit for prior earning required via multitude of modes. Members, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this initiative is already underway at the UH via Executive policy. And we heard that things are on track.

So in light of that we will give UH time to let that process play out. So the Chair's recommendation is to defer. Members, any discussion? Seeing none. Moving on to the last bill of this agenda, House Bill 2158, relating to the University of Hawaii. This is the one regarding publishing standardized program level data for each program offered.

You know, I do recognize that UH does quite a bit of work in this space and that they may need additional resources to operationalize what's requested in this bill. But for the time being I just like to put in a defective date of 7-1-3000 to keep this bill moving. Members, any discussion? Seeing none.

Vice Chair for the vote please.

Thank you Chair. Members, on our final bill, HB 2158, are there any members with reservations? Any members voting no? Thank you Chair. Recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you. We're going to roll right into our 2:10 agenda. Nearly two hours later. So this is a bill that we deferred from Wednesday's February 4th hearing, House Bill 1790. Again, this was noticed for today at 2:10. Members, earlier today our staff circulated as HD1.

So in terms of what was included, we included us again, the statement of statewide concern. Attorney General. We amended various languages. I'm sorry, various terms at the suggestion of the Attorney General. Terms like we're going to use law enforcement rather than police. They were used interchangeably, mending the definition of physical force and force.

So it's consistent and to me the use of physical effort or the application of a physical tool or technique. Clarifying that the law enforcement oversight agency means any agency, board or commission created by a political subdivision to accept and review complaints against law enforcement officers employed by the public.

Political subdivision, but does not include any office, division or other entity within a law enforcement agency. We are defining serious bodily injury. It's having the same meaning as Section 707-700.

Defining the use of physical force to be the use of physical force against a person that results in death, serious spinal injury or any other injury that results in medical treatment or evaluation. We have also taken up the Alzheimer's Association's suggestion to add a dementia related encounters as part of the data set.

So we did add a new subsection saying, quote, whether the person against whom force was directed suffers from cognitive impairment, including dementia. And lastly, some technical amendments.

I did it already. I did it.

I'm sorry. Give me one second. I think we need a defective date. Yes. Okay. I'm sorry. I was also inflating a defective date. My apologies. Okay, Members, any discussion? Please don't ask me to repeat all that.

I just want to thank you, Chair for circulating the HD one in advance, so we all have time to read it. Thank you.

Yes, of course. You're very welcome. Okay. Seeing, no further discussion. Vice Chair for the vote please, House Bill 1790 HD1.

Thank you, Chair. Voting on HB 1790. Chair's recommendation is pass with amendments. Are there any members with reservations? Any member- Any.

[inaudible].

I'll explain after, but I just gotta make sure. Any members voting no? Thank you, Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay, thank you, members. Two hours later, we're going to adjourn. This is like a housing hearing.