House Standing Committee on Higher Education

Now convening the House Committee on Higher Education. It is Friday, February 13, a few minutes after 2 PM. Here at the State Capitol in Conference Room 309. Members, we have a fairly short agenda today. We have one bill that we're the lead committee on hearing the first time and five bills where we received them from the first committee.

So we're in the middle hopefully passing on today to send them on to Finance. So with that, first bill of today is House Bill 2340, making an emergency appropriation to the University of Hawaii. This bill makes such appropriation from FY 25-26 to UH to expand and sustain the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and Maui Health Registry. First testifying in support, UH. On Zoom? No? Okay. Again, UH Dean of College of Social Sciences in support. Do we have Hawaii Community Health on Zoom? No. Dayna Moore not available?

Aloha. Oh, can you hear me?

Oh yes, go ahead Dayna, thank you.

Oh, aloha. My name... Can I go ahead and go?

Yes. Please proceed.

Okay. Mahalo. Aloha, Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Dayna Moore. I'm a Kānaka Maoli nurse rooted in Maui and a founder leader speaking on behalf of Hawaii Community Health. We stand in strong support of HB 2340 expanding the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study. Maui WES is more than research.

It is a trusted point of contact for our community. I pivoted from online pandemic response straight into the Maui fires. For over six years of crisis, volunteers have supported families through trauma and ongoing health uncertainty, often filling our gaps in limited rural health systems. Crisis response is reactive, Maui is proactive.

I have volunteered at the screening clinics working closely in the with the Maui WES team from the beginning, and I engage with teachers, keiki, parents, and providers still seeking answers about respiratory concerns, trauma, and long term impacts. This work involves literal blood, sweat, and tears. Funding it is an investment in sustainable solutions, not band aids on gaping wounds.

Through Hawaii Community Health, we support Maui WES by providing continuing education and hands on training for medical, nursing, mental health, and education students. This strengthens our workforce and keeps culturally informed care rooted in Hawaii. Every clinic visit is early detection. Every point of contact matters. HB 2340 ensures this work continues and expands, and I respectfully urge your strong support. Mahalo.

Okay. Thank you very much. Members, we also have several other individuals testifying via Zoom. Is Ruben Juarez on? Okay. Ruben, go ahead.

Hi, everyone. So hi, Chair and Members. My name is Ruben Juarez. I'm a professor at UHERO, and I'm also a co-director, co-director of the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study along with Dr. Alika Maunakea. I submitted written testimony, so I'll keep this brief. So Maui WES is providing real time health screenings, mental health support, and direct referrals to wildfire survivors across Maui. This is one of the most impactful community based projects that has ever been launched at the University of Hawaii after a disaster. And the funding before you allows to continue expanding this care, especially for children. So I ask for your support. Mahalo.

Thank you, Ruben. Do we have Samia Valeria Ozorio Dutra? Samia, go ahead.

Aloha. Mahalo. My my name is Samia Dutra. I'm a nurse and a faculty from the nursing school at the University of Hawaii. I would like to add that besides this hybrid model providing full support to the community, it also opens opportunity for workforce development. We have nurses students as well as medical students volunteering in this effort, providing services as well as connecting with community navigators. Mahalo, and I full support this community and also support the testimony that I previously submitted. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is Cybil Moran on? Cybil, go ahead.

Aloha. Aloha mai kākou. Ō Cybil ko’u inoa. I'm here today as a Maui WES participant. I'm a first responder who worked in the burn zone in Lahaina. I'm a community facilitator and a resident of Lahaina asking for your help in supporting Maui WES's free health checkups in my community because they are literally saving lives. From folks not knowing they had diabetes, lung obstructions, anemia, hypertension. That was me personally. The list goes on. Many have PTSD, which we were reminded of with this last storm where we had no power for two days.

And our checkups at Maui WES, we get free blood work, two different types of lung testing, your basic vitals. We test for heavy metals, and we get to talk to a doctor about your results as well as a mental health professional, like Dr. Blaidsdell or Dr. Chris. Where else can you go and in one visit, get your blood tested, get all those things I mentioned? We're getting ready to start A1C testing.

We also test for kidney function, and then get to speak to the physician about your results and the mental health specialist all in one place, the same day, the same visit, all for free. This is really important to my community, and it is far from over, and the fires and the aftermath is far from over here. And I really would appreciate your support in helping us continue Maui WES and our mission. Mahalo nui to the committee and the Chairs. Aloha.

Aloha. Thank you, Cybil. Is Amy Jackson on to?

Aloha. Thank you so much for allowing me to testify in front of you today. The Maui Wildfire Study literally saved my life. On the day of the fire, I barely escaped Front Street with my life. A year later, I would fight for my life again. I participated in the wildfire study for the $100 cash so that I could give my daughter a birthday present. But at the appointment I found that I did have shortness of breath, and I had difficulty with the breathing studies that they were doing.

And then my hemoglobin was so low that it didn't register on the equipment at the clinic. So the staff from the wildfire sent me down to the emergency room, and I was admitted for multiple transfusions and would be, it would take months, actually, of infusions and treatment for me. So I didn't feel sick, and I really just thought that turning 50 was kicking my butt.

If I hadn't gone to the wildfire study, I really would be dead now. I am also a UH alumni and a single mother, and the study was my link to the community. I'm grateful to still be here for my children. I believe that having a connection and resources in the community is essential from healing after a disaster. Please continue this study for the recovery of Maui and for the Lāhui. Mahalo.

Thank you, Amy. Do we have Pauli Amornkul on the line? Okay. Pauli, go ahead.

Hold on. Sorry. Yes. Can you hear me okay? I can't seem to get my camera to work.

Yes. We hear you fine. Please proceed.

Okay. Hi. I'm Dr. Pauli Amornkul. I'm a medical epidemiologist trained in family medicine and preventive medicine. I started volunteering with Maui WES about a year ago, and I stand by my testimony in support of Maui WES's study and registry. I wanted to add to my testimony that we also we've trained medical students who are also from Maui and some have enrolled in the in the study.

There's nursing students, but there's also undergraduate students who are considering health care professions and they weren't sure which way to go. We give them hands on experience. We also teach them the importance and impact of public health and prevention and screening, and the importance of mental health support.

Another thing we teach them is also the relationships, the importance of relationships and trust building and community cooperation and collaboration. That relationship and trust building, I've had the privilege as I speak to participants either in person or by phone afterwards, where they feel that they have been forgotten, the world has moved on, they feel really alone and don't have the trust in relationships with others, and they trust Maui WES, at least for from our conversations.

One last highlight is that we I have had to refer people to the emergency room or urgent care on when we're detecting extremely high blood sugars and blood pressures. And now that we're doing heavy metal screenings, it's also important to screen and follow them because these the impact of heavy metal poisoning symptoms don't really show up till later, so it's important to I think we're providing a wonderful service, so I hope you continue to support us. Thank you.

Hey. Thank you, doc. I'm sorry. I missed another in person testifier. Christopher Knightsbridge in the room?

Yeah. Can you hear me, committee?

Go ahead, Chris.

Hey. It's nice to see you all. Again, I've seen some of you in on opening day when I was really trying to push hard for more attention from Maui WES. I'm not sure how much time I have, so just cut me off if I start ranting. But basically, I serve two unique roles in the study. So one, I'm a head of our mental health team lead. So that means I work directly with all the participants. Every single child that comes in, I get to talk to them one on one, making sure them and their families are okay. I also work as one of only two therapists for the state in Lahaina.

So we have one clinic in Lahaina. There's only two therapists, I'm half of them. And so my current patient load is, like, 100. If we're gonna there's so many angles I can try to sell this by as far as why do we need, why is this a worthy investment, like, 1.5 million for emergency funding. Right? So, like, fiscally, prevention is infinitely cheaper than treatment.

What we do is, like, hardcore prevention. We catch them in the early stages often of being pre-diabetic. We go out and we directly get them help. We're not funded for any of that. We're only funded for the research part of it, but we are not just research. We arguably do as much intervention as we do research. So the state is getting its money way worth it. Like, every dollar you spend probably getting 10 to 20 back in the long run. Right? As far as education, these guys are education committees, so I assume you care about education things.

Why would it be a worthy investment? It's like, Maui WES has already become the gold standard I would argue globally in post fire disaster study. LA fires, they all come to us for advice on how to set up their study. We had a team from Australia come to the clinic. We were giving them all advice on how to reach out to participants.

We basically combined extreme empathy with extreme common sense. They come in. They get tested. We're not just gonna say, oh, yeah. Hey. Look at your, look at all these levels. They're they're pretty horrible. Okay? See you. Here's your $100. Like, no. We're like, hey. Are you interested in a follow-up? Can I call you later when you're more comfortable? And then I do.

Me or my team or our team, we call them, and we make sure they get the help that they need. So, like, any sort of angle you can, like, phrase this. It's just it's a no brainer for the state. Main thing is we're not just to study. People here, wild, you know, Maui Wild Fire Exposure Study and they get hung up on that.

But we are so much intervention. There's two bills going on right now, so it's kinda confusing. One is, we just we just had it in the Senate, and it's asking for 3 million. We need that money desperately to expand next year so we can get to the children. We only have 200 children in our study right now. We have, like, 2,000 participants, but we only have 200 children. I know. And that's a disgrace. I want 2,000. Right?

And that we and we can do it. We just we kinda run off of so many volunteers and stuff, and it's like, we're really we're really stretched thin. So any support you guys can offer us, of course, today, but helping to expedite anything else and getting bills called, etcetera, is super greatly appreciated. And non hyperbolic, it's, like, genuinely lifesaving and preventative. So yeah. Thanks, committee. That's all. Ask me any questions you want.

Alright. Thank you, Chris. Appreciate your testimony. That's all that we have scheduled to testify in person or via Zoom on House Bill 2340. Is there anyone in the room wishing to do so? Do we have anyone else via Zoom? No? Seeing none. Okay. Members, please also know we have testimony in support from Council Member Paltin of West Maui.

Hawaii Medical Association, American Cancer Society, Hawaii Public Health Association, Kaiser Permanente, the Climate Change Health Working Group, the American Lung Association in Hawaii, and a few dozen individuals, various affiliations. Members, questions? House Bill 2340. Yes, Vice Chair.

Thank you, Chair. Message for Dr. Knightsbridge. Thank you for your work in West Maui. Incredibly important. Could you briefly explain how 3 million would be utilized to expand the program as opposed to just the 1.5 million meant to sustain the program?

I believe, and Dr. Juarez is better with the money, but I believe the 1.5 just gets us operating through the end of June. We started doing, like, fiscal years and stuff. And right now, we're, like, at the good graces of our partners with, like, Kaiser and Hawaii Community Fund. I think they've saved us so far. But, like, each test, it's expensive because there's only a couple labs in the nation that could process the types of metals that we're testing for, I believe.

So we send our stuff to to Columbia. I think it's, like, just $800 alone per participant for that. I could be corrected. But then also, we give another $100. But we need more money to do the things we need to. Like, we need to hire social workers to go out to the kupuna. I have one patient. She's been locked up in her house for two years. We wouldn't even know about her if it wasn't for the study. There's gotta be hundreds of others like her.

It's very common after trauma for that to be one of the main symptoms, like super avoidance, especially that type of trauma that this fire has produced. I mean, it's literally the worst fire in modern American history. A lot of people kind of have moved on and thought, like, oh, in two years, you know, get over it, you know. But that's a theme I hear of my patients say they've been told and not cool. But yeah.

Thank you so much. Basically, it would be just for expanding the testing as I understand it to ensure that more testing is covered and paid for as well as, hopefully, to draw more people out of their homes to get them involved in the study.

That's correct. Yep.

Could you potentially bring more providers online with that money as well? I mean, two providers for and then the entire body is distressing.

That's the state. Now that's I just threw that as in, like, a fun fact. So that's just that's just the state. Right? The DOH probably pissed at me for even saying it. But that's the truth of the matter. It's in Lahaina clinic, we got two. Right? And none of us are even working technically for the state. We're being contracted.

You guys can call DOH and ask, hey. What's your specific plan in April? Because in April, we're all getting fired, and then we'll have nothing. Right? That's a side note. We partner with everybody we can. Right? We partner with everybody we can. And so one of those partnerships is with the Lahaina clinic. And so I get to work for both. And so it's I get to kinda coordinate care and it's very useful.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Yeah. Thank you, Vice Chair. Members, any other questions? Seeing none. We'll move on to the next bill. Is there someone else via Zoom? Okay. If you could identify yourself, please, on Zoom.

Aloha. I'm so sorry. I have a numb face from the dentist, and I forgot the main part I wanted to mention in my testimony. Thank you so much. I'll make this brief for hearing me for the second time is that, you know, we're so medically underserved here on Maui. We only have one hospital.

And as someone who's worked in the emergency room there for years, as well as the pharmacy, I see that ways that we're preventing and we are taking off the heavy burden on that by doing this type of work. I also want to say that we've really made some great relationships with students over at nursing school on Oahu, as well as University of Hawaii Maui college nursing students. We make great relationships with them. So they're able to come in and volunteer their time with their own community and their own kupuna.

The more we can get them comfortable in staying here, we want our folks to stay here. Yeah. We wanna see higher education. I would love to see a bachelor's degree in nursing at Maui. I think we really need it. So I think that these type of relationships that we've been building are the way that we get the higher education that we need on the outer islands like Maui. So, mahalo nui loa.

Okay. Thank you very much. Members, moving on to the next bill, health, House Bill 1605 HD1 relating to human and community resilience, appropriates funds to UH CTAHR for the development of its human and community resilience institute, Effective Date 07/01/3000. Up first, we have CTAHR, Dean Prewinder Grewall, providing comments.

Aloha chair, vice chair, I thank you for the opportunity for providing this testimony. We did provide the written comments, but I want to elaborate few things. Even after the pandemic, food insecurity in Hawaii is over 30%. Many states, it's around 10%. And because of our cost of living and everything, it gets worse and it's really hard not going to attack.

But, unfortunately, we lost 13 positions as SNAP Ed program got eliminated internationally. But what we have been taught really hard and brought our faculty from different centers and different areas together to develop this institute that will take a more data driven approach and a community based approach to sustainably attack this particular problem and to uproot food and also nutritional security.

Sometimes we only focus on food, but the quality of that food also affects the children's health, children development, youth development, and then performance of children and students in the school, and also worker productivity. And all these factors affect 30% of our population, which is really not good at all.

So, with that, we are going to be bringing our center on the family, children's health caregiving center, Hawaii nutrition center, and 4H youth development program together so that we can all work together to really, approach this problem.

We will also use our care center throughout Hawaii where we will engage the community in creating a more sustainable approach. If we need to use or create a community garden on our stations, we will do that as well. So we are here to answer any questions. Appreciate for scheduling this bill for hearing. Thank you.

Of course. Thank you, Dean. Up next, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Thank you. The Hawaii Farm Bureau was done on a strictly testimony in support.

Testimony in support. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify on House Bill 1605? Seeing none, members, please don't go we still have testimony in support from the Outdoor Circle, Hawaii Earth Recycling, Hawaii Food Policy, Hawaii Farmers Union, and several individuals. Members, any questions? House Bill 1605 HD1.

Aloha chair, vice chair, members of the committee,

Seeing none, we move on to the next bill, House Bill 1751 HD1 relating to the Hawaii National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program. This bill authorizes the, Adjutant General to expand the Hawaii National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program to include graduate degrees at UH for qualified personnel in the Hawaii National Guard, effective date 01/01/3000. Up first we have the Department of Defense testifying in support.

Brigadier General retired Neil Mitsuyoshi. The department stands on its written testimony in support, but I'd just like to highlight that competition between services for recruits has never been greater than it is today. And this bill and the flexibility it provides will go a long way ensuring the Hawaii National Guard retains the best and brightest. Here, thanks for allowing me to testify and here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, BG. Hawaii Army National Guard. Also testifying in support.

"Glad to be here" Chair, committee members. My name is, Colonel Damon Hogsten. I'm the Hawaii Army National Guard Chief of Staff, and I stand firm on our written testimony of House Bill 1751. Additionally, I'd just like to add comment and emphasize the importance of the state tuition assistance bill to our Hawaii National Guard members in order to achieve our education goals. This bill will allow our guard members to be able to pursue our graduate degrees and continue to professionalize our force.

Okay. Thank you, Colonel.

So we ask for your support. Mahalo and I'll stand back with any questions you may have.

Up next via Zoom, University of Hawaii.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. Farrah-Marie Gomes, associate vice president for student affairs with the University of Hawaii system. I'm here on behalf of our vice president, Debbie Halbert. We have provided written testimony in support of House bill 1751, House draft one, and we are here to answer any questions if there are any from the committee. Thank you for hearing this bill, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony in support of this measure. Mahalo.

Okay thank you Farrah. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify House Bill 1751 HD1? Seeing none, members please note we also have testimony in support of this from several individuals. Members any questions?

I have one question.

Yes. Representative Muraoka.

Alright. Thank you, sir. Does this does this tuition assistance, is it added to the GI Bill or is it separate from?

So, Sir, the GI Bill is a federal program. This is strictly a state tuition assistance program. So two separate programs in some cases, depending on circumstance, they could be combined, but it just depends on individual and what benefits they earned.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Members, any other questions? Seeing none, we'll go on to the next bill, House bill 1967 HD1 relating to permitting. Members of this bill, implements certain recommendations of the speed task force, requires DBEDT to develop a permitting workforce pipeline in partnership with and its community colleges and to coordinate with state and county permitting agencies. Certain tasks related to classification levels, salary benefits, hiring and responsibilities of employees, appropriates funds, defective date of 07/01/3000.

Up first, we have, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development testifying in support.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and committee. Diana Setness with the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. OPSD stands on its written testimony in support, and we are available for any questions. Thank you.

Okay, thank you Diana. Up, next via Zoom, University of Hawaii. Or is she present in the room? Apologies. Testifying in support.

Good afternoon chair, vice chair, members of the committee. My name is Christine Beaule, UH System Director of Workforce Development. We stand on our written testimony and are happy to answer any questions.

Mahalo. Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in House Bill 1967 HD1? Seeing none, members please note we also have testimony in support from Housing Voyage Future, HGEA, Maui Chamber of Commerce, and one individual.

Members, any questions? House Bill 1967 HD 1? Seeing none, we move on to the next bill, House Bill 2139 HD one relating to invasive species. This bill appropriates funds to UH to conduct a study on effective treatment methods to reduce the population of the Queensland longhorned beetle, defective date of 07/01/3000. Up first, we have DLNR, testifying in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the House Education Committee. The Queensland Longhorn Beetle, if you don't know, is a beetle that came in and unfortunately has spread along the East Coast of Hawaii Island and affects many, many trees of various types. 20 odd species of note, as of yet, including our own native species the Alahe'e.

And some culturally specific or important ones such as Kukui and ulu, as well as some very economically important ones like Cacao. Many Cacao farmers who attempted to continue have given up because the Queensland Longhorn Beetle has overrun their growing. The thing is, unfortunately, that there there is no real good traditional pesticides in order to address this.

There's one methodology that they've been working on using some nematodes in order to go after the larva, but there isn't enough treatments out there in order to address the Queensland Longhorn Beetle at adult and egg stage as well. So we really do need more tools and we believe that having more funding in order to do research on this life cycle as well as of course finding new tools in order to address this would be very important for us. If you have any questions, I'll be here.

Alright. Thank you very much. Up next, Hawaii Farm Bureau testifying in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. You have our written testimony in support. Chair, before I summarize our testimony, I just want to make note when I was here last time, breathing heavily, that was because of the ..., not because of the ... That's what I mean. Of course. Here we go again. Here's another one. QLB. You heard DLNR's testimony.

If you would look at our testimony, it says the same thing. Ulu, Cacao, avocado, citrus, hibiscus, Kukui. Just a few of the crops. Started in Puna, sitting in Honokaa. It is spreading. The reason I bring that up is I remember when we were talking about coqui, and then we talked about little fire ants. I said, oh, gosh. Feels so bad for them, they got it. Those guys on the Hawaii Island, I know they'll never go anywhere else, especially on Oahu. They're here.

This should be a cautionary tale. These things are spreading. We keep getting another one. So instead of just saying coqui and LFA and CBD and CRB, now we gotta add another one. This is a nasty pest. You heard them say there's no tools. We need to stop these things before they spread widespread, which they already are. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and thank you for all the attention the legislature has focused on invasive species. Aloha.

Thank you, Brian. Up next, someone here from CGAPS, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, testifying in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is Stephanie Easley with the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species. Echoing the sentiments of the last two testifiers, this is a bad pest. Another one for the list, QLB. It impacts agriculturally, culturally, and naturally important species.

It has a very broad host range, and there aren't any tools. And so this funding now, hopefully, we can get the tools, get it while it's still on the East Side of Hawaii Island before it becomes like these other ones spread to all the islands, spread throughout Hawaii Island. And then you have to have all the programs and the costly mitigation to try to deal with them after the fact. Thank you very much for hearing this bill, and we hope we move it forward. Mahalo.

Thank you, Stephanie. Now switching to Zoom, do we have UH available? UH Hilo?

Yes. Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee. My name is Rebecca Ostertag. I'm a professor at University of Hawaii at Hilo. In our lab, we've been working on testing the nematode biocontrol method for the last year or so, and we are having success with it. And this bill would allow this research to expand to better increase our effectiveness, understand more the life cycle, and hopefully scale up and do outreach to the community.

Some preliminary results from the 63 Kukui trees that we've been studying for the last year, with this nematode treatment injecting the trees, 76% of trees have improved and 24% have stayed the same, which is actually a positive result. They're not getting worse and proceeding with the infection. And for Ulu, 80% of the trees that we treated had reduction and 20% had no change.

So it's very promising, but there's still a lot that we need to learn and to get this to scale up. The nematodes are being given out to the public through the Big Island Invasive Species Committee, but this, we do not have optimized the best way to put these in the trees, when, how, why, and it's not a very easy process for the public to do at this point. And so asking for more funds to help with this kind of research could be very valuable for the Big Island.

Okay. Thank you, Rebecca. Up next via Zoom is Carey Yost.

Yes. I am. Aloha. Yes. I am a farmer with a very small suburban agroforestry orchard. We donate about a ton of food to Hawaii community. And in this, we are inundated. We are in Keaau, so we do get the Queensland Longhorn. We are constant because there are fallow orchards around our property.

We have constant inundations, so we are constantly treating. We have been to the wonderful presentations that UH does, has done. They actually bring in farmers to actually try do trials, which is awesome. We also have had problems with getting nematodes. When we had an outbreak in the middle of January, there were no nematodes available because of funding starts and stops and just successes and failures in growing the nematodes.

When that happens, our plants get inundated for almost a month. And the damage is extensive when there's a month of untreated. It is a lot of work to do the treating. However, it's far less work than cutting down dead trees, which we had prior to the introduction of nematodes. I am here for any questions if you have later because I am one of the farmers who is actually dealing with this.

I did also send a list of all of the species. This host species does change every year. It has grown every year, and Stacey Chun has taken samples from our property, and he's even noted that cut wood left in his office in their facilities months later will have QLB coming out. So I think all of you can see that any use of firewood or smoke meat wood could actually spread this throughout all of our state. And, actually, in some of the media releases, there is worry that it could spread to the Mainland because it has such a wide host specificity.

Okay, thank you very much, Carey. We do, we are in receipt of your list of the various host plants of the QLB, so thank you for providing them to the committee. Do we have Lilah Shapiro on the line? Or on Zoom, excuse me. Showing my age.

Aloha kākou. Thank you for letting everyone testify. My name is Lilah Shapiro and I'm from Puna, Hawaii. I work under Dr. Ostertag where my entire focus is on QLB and the use of nematodes as a biological control. As everybody has said, QLB is a generalist pest known to target and often kill nearly 20 host species, including culturally and agriculturally important plants like ulu, kukui, cacao, and citrus.

By targeting many profitable crops on which local farmers depend, QLB has the potential to cause millions of dollars in losses to Hawaii farmers. QLB larvae bore into the tree until they pupate and emerge as adults, and this is what causes the substantial damage. The naming loads we use were first collected at Bayfront in Hilo, so they are already found in our ecosystem.

They are an obligate insect parasite, meaning they need a larva in order to complete their life cycle. The nematodes after we inject them into the tree, the nematodes crawl and find a larva, and they kill it, reproduce within it, and then release thousands more nematodes. I strongly support HB 2139.

This bill will allow researchers at UH Hilo to continue research on the effectiveness of nematodes as a biocontrol. This biocontrol offers an opportunity to be proactive about managing QLB before it's too late and spreads to other islands. We don't want to see what happened with coconut beetle happen again. So often with invasive species, it feels like it's too little too late, but now we actually have a chance to combat this growing issue. I've seen firsthand the devastating impact QLB has had on our forests and farms.

At our Liko Nā Pilina restoration site, many canopy trees have been lost due to QLB, which reduces shade and worsens the encroachment of native or of invasive plants, and so then we are losing native plants with this. With this nematode treatment, I witnessed trees go from being covered in oozing oozing infection and losing all their leaves to completely recovering. It's really remarkable to actually have a tool that's working, but now we just need to do more work.

This treatment is very time intensive, and that's why it's essential that we invest in research on the life cycle of QLB and implementing different treatment methods that might be faster or more effective. So this bill would allow us to do that so we can scale up this treatment and help farmers who have hundreds, if not thousands, of trees.

And this would also be extremely vital information if this pest continues to spread and spreads to other islands. And it is a very low low cost and very effective solution. Taking action against QLB is essential to our environmental health, local food security, and cultural heritage. HB 2139 would make a meaningful difference in our community for generations to come. Mahalo nui for all your guys' time.

Thank you, Lilah. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify on House Bill 2139, HD 1? Is there anyone else via Zoom? Seeing none. Members, any questions? QLB. Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to the last bill of the 2PM agenda. House Bill 2383, HD 1, relating to the Workforce Pell Grant, Workforce Pell Grant program.

This bill establishes a statewide framework for the implementation of Workforce Pell to provide financial aid for certain short term workforce education and training programs, establishes a Workforce Pell Grant program approval committee within the Workforce Development Council. Has a defective date of 7-1-3000. Up first, DLIR providing comments.

Hello, chair. I'm here with DLIR. We stand on our comments. Thank you.

Thank you. DLIR is standing on their comments. Workforce Development Council?

Good afternoon, chair, mister clerk. The WDC also stands on our agreement for somebody with comments. Quite available for questions.

Okay. Thank you. WDC also with comments. University of Hawaii via Zoom. Oh, no. I'm sorry. She's here.

Christine Beaule, system director of workforce development. We also stand on our written testimony and our availability.

K. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room wishing to testify on House Bill 2382 HD 1? Seeing none, members, please note we also have, comments from OIP, the Office of Information Practices, and support from the Maui Chamber of Commerce. Members, any questions?

House bill 2383. If not, I have one for WDC. Sure if you don't mind coming up for a quick second. I know there's a lot of work happening behind the scenes to prepare for this seven one implement, implementation date. Can you just explain to the committee like what some of the lanes of responsibility are between DLIR, WDC and UH?

Our understanding is WDC provides or sets the criteria and recommends the certification certification process that ultimately the governor has the authority to certify. Programs that either administer or provide those programs such as the University of Hawaii or UH community colleges. The labor department will typically provide additional support in providing labor data verification and such. It is a little bit concerning that there are federal guidelines still under rates pending. Sure.

And but, you know, we don't wanna just sit by. So we are participating in what the National Governors Association has put together, a Workforce Pell grant, we're calling it a a policy academy, which is leading monthly, and the value that that's providing is really, going through various scenarios that could happen. We are I guess, prevailing assumption right now is it looks like the that federal rulemaking may not be finalized until close to the the July 1 deadline.

So we're just writing and it's it's, it is encouraging that not only is our executive director from the Workforce Development Council participating, but representatives from community colleges, again, the administering parties as well as the the finance office as well.

Okay. Thank you very much. Members, any other questions? House Bill 2383 HD 1.

Seeing none, let's go right into decision making. Please stick around, we do have a two ten agenda we will do rightly shortly after. Okay, so numbers first bill, House Bill 2340, make it an emergency appropriation to the University of Hawaii. Members please note we did receive a governor's message requesting that we expedite this funding.

I know, the money committees are gathering all those various emergency appropriation requests from the 5th Floor. That being said, we're still gonna stick with past practice and blank out the appropriation amount and put in an effective date for the purposes of facilitating further discussion, noting that this bill will next go to the finance committee. Members, any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote, please. HD 1.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 2340. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and vice chair both voting aye.

[Roll Call]

Thank you, Chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you, members. Next bill, House Bill 1605 HD1. This is the one that would give funding to UH CCAR to develop a human community resilience institute. This was sent to us from the AGR committee, Agriculture and Food Systems Committee with strong support.

That support continues here. Members, please note that it already has a blank appropriation amount as well as a defective date, so the chair's recommendation is to pass this as is. Any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote, please.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 1605 HD one, noting the presence of almost all members and the excused absence of Representative Kila for the duration of this hearing. Chair and vice chair vote voting aye. Are there any members with reservations? Any members choosing to vote no?

Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you, members. Next bill, House Bill 1751 HD 1, relating to the Hawaii National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program. Members, we received this from the public safety committee. Again, strong support.

Excited to see the potential, further professionalizing the workforce or the educational, needs of our National Guard members. This also does not actually does not need an appropriation because this is just granting them the authority to issue the stipend for a graduate education and it already has a defective date. So the chair's recommendation for this bill as well is to pass it out as is. Any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote, please.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 1751 HD one. Chair's recommendation is to pass as is. 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 1967 HD one. This is relating to permitting. This was one of the recommendations from the speed task force that was convened in the interim to try to set up a permanent workforce pipeline in partnership with we do know Uh's concerns about, needing a little more clarity as of the terms of the tuition assistance and whatnot, but being that this is a triple referral, we're gonna just keep this bill moving along and send it to finance.

So the chair's recommendation here is also to pass it as is. Yes. Any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair will vote, please.

Thank you, chair. Voting on HB 1967 HD 1. Chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Are there any members with reservations? Any members choosing to vote no?

Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you, members. Next bill, House bill 2139 HD 1. This is the funding bill for QLB of related invasive species. So we received this from the agriculture and ecosystems committee, the money has already been, deleted, it already has a defective date, it will go next to FIN and we again heard very strong support to try to get ahead of this one so we're not, so very being proactive and tackling this before it spreads further.

So chair's recommendation accordingly is to pass this also as is. Any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote please.

Members running at HB 2139 HD1, chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Are there any members with reservations? Any members choosing to vote no? Thank you chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you members. Last bill on the 2:00 PM agenda, House bill 2383 HD1, relating to the workforce program.

We heard from the chair of WDC there's still some federal rules that need to be, promulgated to effectuate, this program, but just to have the state, ready if and when that happens anytime soon, I'd like to also pass this out as is, noting the current defective date of 07/01/3000. Members, any discussion? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote please. As is.

Voting on HB 2383 HD 1, chair's recommendation is to pass as is. Are there any members with reservations? Any members choosing to vote no? Thank you, chair. Your recommendation is adopted.

Okay. Thank you, members. I will adjourn the 2PM agenda.

Now convening the Joint House Committees on higher education and education. For purposes of decision making, today is Friday, February 13. We are looking at the two 10PM agenda members.

We have one bill on this DM agenda, hospital sixteen seventy six. This is related to artificial intelligence members. You'll recall we had this hearing

on Tuesday, February 10 and

had some discussion regarding the DOE and the level of activities they've done to implement AI as part of the curriculum. The chairs having conferred, we did circulate an HD1 earlier today for members review prior to this vote. So just to recap, we are just gonna suggest reconfiguring the task force. The initial bill as introduced had the Department of Education leading it. The chairs again having conferred, we're gonna suggest that the executive director of the p twenty Partnerships for Education serve as the chair.

As you folks know p twenty is was designed to seek alignment along the continuum of education so this seems like an appropriate, convener for this task force. Based on the testimony, we are gonna, add the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Also, we're adding the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools. This is essentially the, umbrella organization for private schools. We know they've implemented AI and might have some best practices to share.

Again, because this task force is looking at the continuum of public education.