Senate Standing Committee on Health and Human Services

Good afternoon. For today, we are here, HHS, governor's message hearing. We're gonna do the governor's message hearing first, and thereafter the bill hearing. It's for the March 18 1 p.M.

Calendar, Wednesday. I have present with me is my vice chair, Senator McKelvey. This meeting is being streamed live on YouTube. In the unlikely event that we must abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties, the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business later at 01:01PM, Friday, March 18 in Room 225, and a public notice will be posted on the legislator's website. To facilitate this hearing in timely manner, we will be enforcing a one minute limit limit on testimony except for the nominees.

I will be reading a list of individuals who submitted written testimony for each measure. We apologize if the closed caption does not accurately transcribe the names. If you're interested in reviewing the written testimony, please go to legislator's website. You'll find a link on the status page for the measure. We appreciate your understanding and remind you that the committee does have your testimony, that we reviewed them.

So I encourage you to use your time to either add additional comments or you can stand on your written testimony. So first up, we have GM555, State Council Mental Health Nominee, Margaret Jackson. Margaret Jackson, are you present? Aloha, Margaret. So let's

let's let's let's let's let's let's

let's let's

let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let's let

Yes. That's correct.

Okay. Please proceed.

I continue to wanna be a part of effecting change in Hawaii, helping those with mental health challenges. I'm currently taking care of my 15 year old sister whose biological mother, has schizophrenia. So, you know, we're always on the lookout, you know, for any, mental health challenges that could pop up. So just being having this ability to be on the council and be aware of the things that are happening in the mental health field are very pertinent to me as well as I on my testimony, I have a brother who's houseless and has substance abuse issues. So everything that has to do with mental health is very near and dear to my heart, and I'm excited to work along with the group that I work with on the council.

It's just a very cohesive group that is really serious about getting things done in the state of Hawaii, and I'm excited to work amongst them.

Thank you very much. And just to make sure, could you identify yourself, Jacqueline?

I am Mark Margaret Jackson.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay. On, on behalf of GM 555 we have department of health in support. Is department of health, present? I see them.

They are present, chair.

Okay. Not for this nominee. Okay. Anybody else wishing to testify on GM 555? Members, any questions? No. Okay. Thank you so much for being willing to serve. We're gonna do our decision making at the end of our GM calendar. And yeah, we really appreciate the fact that you have lived experience in helping us shape policy.

Okay, next up, we have GM 705561, Andrew Sabinal for Juvenile Justice State Advisory Council. GM561, are you present? Andrew, you're there. Come on. Why is it Please identify yourself and let's let the committee know why you're willing to serve in the juvenile justice state advisory council.

Hi. Thank you, chair. My name is Andrew Sabinov. I go by Andy. I currently serve on JJ SAC with as a voting member and as chair as our youth subcommittee.

One of the big reasons that I wanna continue to serve within this capacity is to uplift youth voice and lived experience within the committee. Our young people are the closest to the problem and are often the ones with the best solutions for it. And I wanna continue to uplift their voices within those spaces as we continue to make policies and shape, you know, the system to better care for them and help bring them rehabilitate them to be entered back into society. Thank

you so much, Andrew. On behalf of and speaking on GM 561 we have excuse me. Okay. Okay. No one else other than the governor's message nominating Andrew Sabana. Okay. Members, any questions for Andrew? Okay. Moving on. Next, we have GM75, Tao Yan, for operating board of certification of Operating Personnel in wastewater treatment plants. Tao Yan, are you present? Oh, please proceed. Identify yourself and let us know why you're willing to serve in the Board of Certification of Operating Personnel in wastewater treatment plants.

Thank you, chair. My name is Tao Yan. I'm a professor in civil environmental and construction engineering at Manoa. I'm also the current director of the Water Resource Research Center at I work on wastewater. I know how wastewater how important it is, especially if we don't treat them.

And it can damage our ecosystems. Human health can cause problems to our environment, you know, disrupt the tourist economy. So I wanna make sure that I be part of this team that supports our wastewater operators and make sure they receive adequate training and certified to run this critical infrastructure of the state.

Okay. Thank you very much. Your position in shaping policy is certifying the personnel who are in the wastewater treatment plant, as you know, is important. Anybody else wishing to testify on GM 705? We have State of Hawaii Department of Health in strong support. Anybody else wishing to testify? I I see Department of Health there. Please proceed.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Sean Sakoda with Department of Health Wastewater Branch. The department stands on its written testimony in support. I'll I'll be available to answer any questions. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify on GM 705? Members, any questions? Are we prepared to proceed with advice and consent

Okay. Thank you very much. So first up, for GM 555 chair's recommendation is to advise and consent and nomination of Margaret Jackson to the State Council on Mental Health. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote.

bill? Way.

Okay. Recommendation on 555 is to advise and consent noting the excuse of senator Fevella. Are there any members voting no's or WR? Seeing none, your recommendation is adopted.

K. For GM 561 chair's recommendation is to advise and consent to nomination of Andrew Sabinal for the juvenile justice state advisory council. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote.

Recommendation 561 is to advise and consent no excuse, Senator Bell. Any of the others know, seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. The last one for today is GM735. Chair's recommendation is to advise and consent to Taoyan for the board of certification of operating personnel and wastewater treatment plants. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, vice chair for the vote.

Okay. Seven 35 recommendations, advising consent, no excuse. Senator Fevella, no seeing none recommendation adopted.

Okay. And with that, we're gonna go directly to the bill calendar. First up, HB 1853 relating to dementia. First up, we have Carolyn Katirao, Executive Office of Aging. Don't look like Caroline.

Aloha, my cocoa. Aloha, vice chair San Buenaventura, chair McKelvey, and members of the committee. My name is Tani Salazar here on behalf of our director, Caroline Cutty Raul. In addition to our written comments on h 1853 we are in alignment with the recommended language from the Alzheimer's Association. I'm I'm available for any other questions.

Okay. Next, we have doctor Lewin. I thought I saw him here. State Health Planning and Development Agency in support.

Thank you, chair, vice chair, and member. Yes. Please stand our testimony in support.

K. Thank you. Next, we have DTA, Visibility and Communications Access Board in support. Andusudanakagawa, AARP in support. I see Colby Chalk just walked in for Alzheimer's Association of Hawaii in support. Come on up.

First, I'm

going to Ventura. Mister Chairman Galvey, thank you for the opportunity to testify and thank you for, of course, scheduling the bill and, introducing the Senate companion of this. This is obviously critically important to expand memory care, navigation and access to the neighbor islands especially, but also in rural areas. I just actually got off a call with a colleague, at Hawaii Island who shared that he had a constituent come to him, to ask for help in navigating the system. Even with his help who, you know, this person knows the system very well, it took two years just to get a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and then from there, there's even further barriers.

If at any step in the whole continuum of care, a doctor doesn't know what they're doing, doesn't have the resources to send their patient to, it pretty much ends there. And unfortunately, the disease is progressive and will only continue to get worse until you're at a late stage that could have been prevented. So this creates the pathway, establishes the resources that we need on the neighbor islands, and with your support, hopefully, we can pass it today. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, we have Jane Sugimura, Hawaii Council of Community Association in support. Eric Abe, Hawaii Primary Care Association in support. Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans. Joanne Kealoha in support. Tony Baricella, Alzheimer's caregiving and caregivers in support. Cindy Fowler, Alzheimer's Association in support. Louis Erczyk, Hawaii Disability Rights Center in support. Christine Spath in support. Please proceed, Christine.

Aloha chair and members of the committee. My name is Christine Spath. I live on Kauai, and I'm testifying in support of House Bill 1853. I've worked in home health on Kauai for over six years, and I saw how dementia affects entire families. I'm currently a social work student at Manoa and a trainee in the geriatric workforce enhancement program.

At my field site, I conduct cognitive screenings like the mini cog. And while we can identify possible decline, there is often no clear pathway for follow-up care or family support on Kauai. The Hanae memory network would help create those pathways by connecting physicians, memory clinics, and community resources so families can access support early rather than only in crisis. For families and caregivers across Hawaii, especially on neighbor islands, this type of coordinated support would make an important and meaningful difference.

to support this

For these reasons, I respectfully urge you

bill. Thank you. Order. Okay. Thank you. Next up, we have Peter Weston Black in support. Peter, are you present on Zoom?

Present, chair.

Please proceed.

I'm trying to get on.

Get on. Okay. Yes. We see you. Okay. Okay. Okay.

So my name is Peter Black. I live on Nanole on the Big Island. I'm a retired professor of anthropology, 83 years old. As someone living with an Alzheimer's diagnosis, I would like to very briefly tell you why I strongly support this bill. Most of my career was at George Mason University in Virginia.

In 2005, I accepted an offer to early retirement for the university because it become more and more difficult to teach at a level I can accept. As a student, I was unfortunate enough to have taken courses for people who were clearly past their peak. And if you had experience, you know that's not a great experience. So my wife, Barbara, and I moved to Hawaii 2011. 2015, she suggested that I since I seem to be worried that I might be declining mentally, I probably shouldn't just see a neurologist.

I was 73 years old at that time. I shall never forget my shock when the neurologist told me that I had Alzheimer's.

Thank you so much, mister Black. Thank you so much, mister Black.

Oh, sorry.

It's okay. Now, well, now your wife has a chance to testify. Barbara Black, please proceed.

Hello. I'm Peter's wife, and I'm his caregiver. And we were extremely lucky to be able to go to Oahu in San Francisco and get an early diagnosis, but most people can't do that. And his early diagnosis was a strong, important gift to us because it allowed us to plan how we would manage. And I've had the opportunity to learn online and in person more about Alzheimer's and caregiving.

Early detection also provides treatments, access to treatments to slow progression of the disease. Access to early detection, treatment, and coordinated support should be easily available and accessible to all those dealing with this disease. Throughout the state, the Hawaii is facing a growing dementia crisis and the memory network, offers a statewide solution to this problem by

Thank you very much, missus. Alright.

You're welcome. Thank you.

Next, we have Johnny Mae Perry in support, Steven Pam in support, Rosalie Char in support, Glen Cadenada in support, Leanne Briggs in support, Gina Fukui Fujikami in support, Leila Moore in support, Jerry Pero in support, Penny Salazar in support, and Rick Tabor in support. Anybody else wishing to testify, come on up. Eight 1853. Identify yourself.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair. My name is Hayden Cobb. And as I've I've stated in my previous testimonies, I'm an orphan because of this disease, and I lost everything to it. And I'm not the only one. And that's why I I strongly believe in this bill because it has the power to make a positive impact on a lot of people's lives.

And I believe if my parents had the proper access to dementia care resources, they might still be here right now. They really might. And I ask you to ask yourselves, what does a human life worth to you? And better yet, what is the life of a loved one worth to you? Because to me, my parents, you couldn't put a price tag on the love I have for them.

And I know there's a lot of people in these islands that are hurting because of dementia, and this bill could really influence them and really make a positive impact. So thank you for allowing me to testify.

K. Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1853? Members, any questions? That's all I do. Come on up, Kobe. How much does a dementia specialist cost?

So the dementia specialist, EOA is working on getting the specific number. We're budgeting this bill for dementia specialists. That'd be one per county, and then one program manager. So total five staff positions. Each one would be we're estimating about a 140 ish thousand, so about 700,000 total for the dementia care specialist. And then each memory clinic would be about $700,000.

We don't wanna start off small. Well This is a you know, this is a very challenging year.

It is.

And we like your position, but with federal cutbacks. And if you look at the rest of the bills, there's a number of nonprofits who just wanna be able to keep their doors open. And they're asking the state for money. And this is a whole new program. Yes. So I've looked at your amendments and it became from one to four. You actually became more ambitious.

So, no. The the program allocation of 3,000,000 does cover that. It was just it was always four, but one is, like, I've put in. But the 3,000,000 does cover those

Okay.

Already.

So okay. Yeah. Doesn't sound like you're willing to change, so we'll see how far it goes.

First up, Department of Taxation providing comments. Department of Taxation, you're Okay. Come on up. You do not look like Gary Soudanoma, so.

Thank you, Senator.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, moving on. HB 1591 relating to excuse me. Relating to health care.

I am not, unfortunately. But, good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee. Robert Avio on behalf of GoTax. We stand on our written testimony providing comments, and I'm here to answer any questions you have.

Okay. Thank you very much. Laura Reichardt, I see you're on Zoom. Please proceed. Aloha. Hawaii State Center for Nursing in support. Go ahead.

Yes. Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. My name is Laura Reichardt. I am the Director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing.

I am also one of the chief administrators of this program along with the area health education center, housed at JABSOM. I'm in strong support of this, program and am happy to answer any technical questions. Mahalo.

Thank you very much. Next, we have Adrienne Stinaldo, DCCA Board of Nursing in support. Adrienne.

Hi. I'm Amy Chin. I'm here with the Board of Nursing as well, and we stand in support for written testimony.

K. Thank you very much. Next, we have Lassie Ching, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women in support. Thank you very much. Next, Department of Health in support. State Council Mental Health in support. Kelly Whitley, University of Hawaii in support.

Kelly, please proceed. Okay. Thank you very much. Chris Caulfield in support, Hawaii Public Health Institute.

Hello, Chair, Vice Chair, and committee member. I'm Chris Caulfield from Hawaii Public Health Institute. We're in support of this bill. As you all know, the doctor shortage is growing. It's almost a thousand a thousand physicians at this point.

Hawaii Hawaii County would have to grow its physicians by its physician supply by 43% to meet demand. That's highest of any county.

Maui follows, close behind at 35%. And the this credit, when it was originally evaluated over several years, the program was massively successful. It it was associated with a 77% increase in active preceptors, which is just wonderful for our state.

The reason that we're very interested in this proposal is because, it includes social workers, which is a population that we work with professionally, very often.

There's a report that came out from the from UH's Thompson School of Social Worker, Social Work and Public Health that showed the demand for, health care social workers in Hawaii will increase by 18% and the need for mental health and substance abuse social workers,

specifically would increase by roughly 22% over the next decade. Really important to us and the populations that we serve, so we hope that you'll move this measure forward. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chris. Tom Yamachika, Tax Foundation of Hawaii. Are you present on Zoom, Tom?

Not present, Chair.

Okay. Hawaii Associates Academy of PA is in support. Leo Candina Kono.

Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. We stand on our support, for the HB 1591 for the Hawaii Academy of Physician Assistants. This will add PA students and PAs to the preceptor tax credit.

They have not previously been included because we didn't have a Hawaii PA program. Now that we do, I do think it's important to understand who these students are.

From the admissions data we have from Hawaii Pacific University, The majority of the PA students who are out there and who have had doors shut on them for not being able to, be a preceptor because they didn't qualify for the preceptor tax credit.

These are local students. The majority of the students at HPU come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The majority of them are also women.

So by having training opportunities for them there, here helps them to increase their opportunities for building a career here. It will elevate them, their families, and future generations. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, health care of Hawaii, Association of Hawaii in support.

Outstanding in support of this measure. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Kaiser Permanente, Jonathan Ching in support. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair. Jonathan Ching for Kaiser Permanente. We'll stand on our written testimony in support of this measure. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Hawaii American Nurses Association, Linda Bichinor in support. Linda. Okay. Next, we have Hawaii Academy American College of Nurse Midwives providing comments. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members. Mahalo for this opportunity. My name is Margaret Reagan, Legislative contact for the Hawaii affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives. We stand by our written testimony and offer additional comment.

The benefit of utilizing provider neutral language has been a big topic this legislative session. We understand that this was not possible for HB 1591. Rather, efforts were made to add provider types.

We are asking to add the advanced practice midwives who do not just catch babies, but they provide services of the named providers such as nutritional counseling, social services, and primary care. We only refer when needed.

In our written testimony, HOP provided an opportunity to review our find a midwife page, which lists advanced practice midwives serving in every district, often rural, often quietly filling gaps.

We are here caring for families. We precept and have a constant flow of Hawaii based midwifery students. Please consider adding our provider type, advanced practice midwives. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Alan Johnson, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition in support. Doctor Elizabeth Ann Ignacio, Hawaii Medical Association in support. Hina Maka in support. Hawaii Primary Care Association in support.

Hawaii Psychological Association in support. Queen's Health System in support. Hawaii Pacific Health in support. Corey Sanders, Hawaii Pharmacist Association. Are you present on Zoom?

Not present, chair.

Okay. Then we have these 45678910. Ian Ross of Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center in support. Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii in support. Terry Wheeling and 11 other individuals all in support.

Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1591? Members, any questions?

Quick question.

Okay.

Is tax around?

Yes. Right there.

What's the accurate cost of the credits? I know you normally price these things out, but I didn't see it in your testimony.

I don't have it with me on hand, but I can send that to you. I think.

I just wanna echo something I said earlier in other committee and also what Chair is. We're facing huge cascading impacts across the board. And so, I mean, there may be a need to be

a discussion about the credit moving forward and so far as being able to share pencils with everything else. So Understood. That information would be helpful. Thank you.

I know our taxes.

There's so many bills like this I'm a big fan of, but we keep running into this reality. So that's why I asked the question. Thank you, Chair

Understood, Vice Chair.

Stay. My question is, and and the people who have been pushing for increasing the preceptor tax credit position was that we have not fully utilized the budgeted tax credit and that's the reason why we are expanding it. Is that your understanding too?

Is that the budgeted tax credit has not been fully utilized for the preceptor tax?

I'm not 100% sure on whether or not it's used completely or not, and the only reason is because the aggregate cap for this tax credit is reviewed by another department, not DOTAX.

I believe DOH tells us when the aggregate cap is hit, and then we can stop certifying additional credits.

K. That's my understanding. The part of health, is that okay? Our director is hiding there. So I guess it's not clear to testimony. So that that's my understanding. But I understand, Vice Chair's concern, which I had echoed previously.

And that's the reason why we're not expanding more than to to accommodate all potential occupations, health care occupations. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thanks for that, Chair.

Okay. Anybody else wishing test prior? Any other questions on HB 1961? Is that 1961? 1590. 1591. 1591. Okay. Moving on. Next up, HB 1961 relating to health care. First up, we have Hawaii Women's Coalition in support. Jasmine Ching. Jasmine Ching.

Alright.

K. Next, we have doctor Lubin in support. Chip Dunn.

Chair, vice chair, honorable members, You bet this bill is necessary, but we stand in support of our

Okay. Next, we have Hawaii State LGBTQ Commission in support. Are you oh, I see Michael Galio. Please proceed.

Oh, I'm here and on behalf of Pride at Work, but thank you.

Okay. I gotta testify since I called on you.

Sure. I will.

Okay. That I can just I can't really wanna knock you off. Go ahead.

Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Michael Goloje Junior. He, him pronouns. I'm president of Private Work Hawaii. We stand in strong support of this legislation. We thank you for hearing the bill. As you noticed, I am also a commissioner. We know this bill is needed, because we have seen the protesters, that they have to deal with outside of planned parenthood come to our commission meetings. And we're so violent that we actually had to call the sheriffs.

We've had to stop meetings for this because of them. And this is inside a office building with order and decorum and everything else that comes with the strappings of a state office thing. Imagine what happens on the streets. So we so on behalf of CreditWork, we stand in strong support of this bill. Some once civil rights ends, the minute they impact someone else's right to be able to access health care, and that is what this bill is about, making sure people are able to access health care without being threatened, harmed, or harassed by these so called protesters.

So we encourage you to pass this bill. Mahalo.

Thank you. Okay. Calling the Hawaii State LGBTQ plus Commission in support. Anybody here for them?

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Healthcare Association Hawaii in support.

Health Care Association standing in support.

Thank you very much. Hoku PAC in support. Hoku? Okay. Eric Abe, Hawaii Primary Care Association in support. Ricardo Molero Bravo, ACOG, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in support. Ricardo, are you present? Please proceed.

I'm here. Thank you so much. I'm doctor Molero Bravo. I'm on behalf I'm here on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Hawaii section. As physicians who provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including contraception, miscarriage management, prenatal care, and abortion care, we know that access to care depends on patients being able to enter and receive the services without interference or disruptions.

Abortion care is an essential and evidence based component of reproductive health care. And it is often clinically indistinguishable from, like, missed carriage management and other urgent pregnancy related conditions. Any disruption to access to care, whether through obstruction, intimidation, or interference, can delay treatment and increase medical risk for our patients. It ensures that healthcare facilities can function safely, and that patients can access time sensitive, medically necessary care without barriers. This is especially important here in Hawaii, where patients may already face significant challenges due to geographic isolation and limited provider availability.

So imagine someone coming in from the outer island, and now they have to face

Thank you very much, doctor Bravo. Next, we have Hawaii State Commission on Status of Women again. You haven't changed your testimony, right?

Yes. I'm here

on my written testimony and support on behalf of the commission this time.

to send

Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you very much. Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates in support. Jen, please proceed.

Thank you. Thank you for hearing this. Bill, we will all stand on the bulk of our testimony, but just ask that the committee please pass this measure because patients and providers should not be afraid of accessing and providing legal healthcare services in Hawaii. But thank you very much for hearing this measure.

Okay. Thank you. Indivisible Hawaii health care team, Doris Matsunaga in support. Hawaii Christian Coalition, Margaret Mejia in opposition. Please proceed.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. There's a few reasons why

Please identify yourself, Margaret.

I'm sorry. Margaret Mejia, Hawaii Christian Coalition.

Thank you.

Can you hear me?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Please proceed.

Alright. So, the reasons why Hawaii Christian Coalition opposes HB 1961 HD two is the bill is unnecessary and duplicates existing law. Hawaii law already prohibits trespassing, harassment and obstruction. It's vague in using the word reckless standard. It can criminalize peaceful activity.

Three, it targets communication and organized advocacy. Number four, it lacks clear enforceable protections for free speech. Number five, it creates expanded liability without proof of harm. Number six, it establishes broad enforcement powers and penalties. Violation makes a person guilty of a petty misdemeanor with escalating fines and imprisonment while also allowing civil lawsuits and attorney general enforcement.

K. Thank you so much, Margaret. Thank you so much.

got two more. Create buffer like zones around health care facilities, including abortion clinics. And number eight can be applied to other controversial medical policies, including pandemic measures. Thank you so much for your time.

I just

Thank you. AAUW, Yoni Overly in support. Leeward Republican Women's Club in opposition. That's Mary Smart. Eva Andrade, Hawaii Family Forum in opposition. Abraham Moreno, are you present? In opposition. James Wallace, in opposition also. Are you present?

Okay. Please proceed.

Yes.

Good afternoon, chair, members of the committee. My name is James Wallace, and I fully oppose HB 1961. First of all, it's unconstitutional. Whoever wrote this bill doesn't know about the constitutional—knows about the Constitution.

So, the last fifty—this is unnecessary because the last fifty years, there was no assault at Plan Parenthood. There was no arrest at Plan Parenthood against us peaceful protesters. I'm out there. I've been out there over fifteen years. Nothing, not, none of the person—the people—that I know got arrested or anything.

And I don't know what that person was talking about because he—I have I never seen him at Planned Parenthood before. And this law is—and this bill is real reckless because it says, "Impeded by another person's intentional knowing or reckless." It's so broad. So, I have, like, 20 to 25 elderly that goes out there. Are they gonna arrest elderly women?

I have a lot. 20 to 25 of them. And it says right here, the first fine is $250 and imprisonment of 24 consecutive hours. The second arrest is $750.

Okay. Thank you.

And imprisonment. That's unnecessary. And look at this one more. A thousand dollar fine and a term of imprisonment of no more than thirty days considered. That's ridiculous. You guys know that. Right? Thank you.

Okay. Michelle Bum, in support. B. A. McClintock, in support. James Rayden—Raymond—in support. Corey Harden, in support. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,16—16 individuals in support. Nine other individuals in opposition. My goodness. And various other individuals all in support and opposition. Those who have registered to testify, we have Theresa Armbruster in opposition. Theresa, please come on up. Okay. You have—please identify yourself, and you also have one minute.

Aloha, chair and committee members. I'm Theresa Armbruster, and I oppose HB 1961 because it proposes to impose criminal and civil penalties on individuals based solely on allegations without requiring any evidence or proof that a person's access to a facility was actually blocked or that a facility's operations, any specific way that it was disrupted, or a person entering or exiting a facility was actually harmed. There needs to be proof and evidence to have such heinous and harsh criminal and civil activities imposed upon a person like that. So, I ask you, also there needs to be clear definition of intentional, knowingly, and recklessly interference. There needs to be clear definitions and not broad expansion of this.

And also, we need to, need to have specific actions that would justify such, such criminal, criminal penalties and civil penalties. And I, I ask that you—actually I ask that you would describe this and you would, you would introduce a Right to Life bill for the real victims of harm and violence which are the babies that are murdered every day

Thank you.

Because chemical and, and surgical abortions. Okay.

Thank you very much.

Please protect the rights of babies' life and liberty.

Thank you very much. Vivian Hill, Hawaii State Youth Commission, public health individual, in support. Please proceed.

Aloha chair, vice chair, members of the committee. My name is Vivian Hill. I'm a student at UH and I'm a member of the Public Health Committee of the Hawaii State Youth Commission. I stand on our written testimony but would like to highlight for young people in Hawaii, stigma free access to health care is critical. Many youth rely on clinics for education and preventative care, and intimidation, harassment, and blocking these facilities can discourage them from seeking care that they need the most—that they need and youth already face additional barriers like transportation, school schedules, and this bill would basically just make sure that healthcare facilities remain places where youth and families can focus on their health instead of hostile conditions at the door.

So, the Hawaii State Youth Commission urges the committee to pass this measure. On a personal note, individually, I was in the Planned Parenthood Teen Council Program in high school that was education-based and when we entered facilities, I believe we experienced what you would call harassment. It should not be experienced at any age. It's not, yeah. It's, it's—this is serious, and I hope you take it seriously. Mahalo.

Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1961?

Chair.

Okay. Come on up. Identify yourself. And just for the record, there are 42 other individuals in support and 32 individuals in opposition who provided testimony. Please identify yourself and also...

My name is Nelson Sua. Good afternoon, chairman, vice chair, and committee members. I stand in oppose to this bill. I've been out there during these peaceful protests and they're that peaceful. I cannot say it's like that all, all across the board.

But I do wanna kinda suggest maybe having a bill that's introduced that actually mandates, a, a woman that's pregnant to go through a two-day program that they can actually see what happens when they choose, choose to abort their baby. At the same time, hear from, from those individuals that whose mother have, have kept them and the success story. Because I have met some successful people that were—their mothers were a victim of rape, and now they've grown to have families of their own and become leaders in their community. But also, to have the support of parents that can have kids to be willing to adopt to, you know, so that there's that, that support. You know?

And at the same time, if, if they still go through it and choose to do it, then that's between them and God.

Yeah. Thank you very much. Okay. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1961? Members, any questions? Okay. Moving on.

Department of Health.

Oh, you have a question, sorry. Department of Health. They did not testify on this.

District general? Attorney, no.

Health Care Association.

Health Care Association.

Yeah. Health Care Association, sorry.

Okay. Hilton, come on up. Okay.

So, I see that you support the bill. What I like to know is that does this bill successively protect and access, or does the patients interfering and had rights, peaceful protest? And I've been a lot to a lot of peaceful protests before. And I, I just like to know how—what is the statistic? Maybe you don't know.

I'm not gonna probably ask Planned Parenthood. But since they're subtly being their name all over the place, what is the statistics that you know that patients did not go and get the proper care, not just abortion, but proper care at these clinics because of people standing in their areas that have the right to free speech and say what they feel going in, and then, the repercussions of them not getting the correct health care because of the peaceful protest, what was the ramifications of their health and their not getting the treatment that they should, should have need or gotten? Do you guys have a statistics of that?

No. I, I thank you for the question, but I don't have any specific data on that. We—it's not just statistics we monitor or are aware of, so I'm not even sure who would actually keep those. I'm sorry.

Okay. Thank you. Is, is Planned Parenthood on, on, on the line? Planned Parenthood?

No. I, I don't think they testified. Jen Wilbur. Yeah. Jen Wilbur. Right there.

Oh, yeah. So, I don't know if you guys testified on this or not.

Yeah. They did.

They did. Oh, they guys did. Sorry. Okay. Thank you, chair.

Reason why I'm asking these questions because I keep continuing to hear, on the inability of having proper care, health care, moving forward. So, I just wanna know what is the actual statistics. So, let's just say fifteen years ago, like I said, fifteen years ago, what was the numbers decreasing with the ongoing pro, pro people protesting in front of Planned Parenthood that had a decline in health care on patients coming to your facility? What was the actual decline?

Did you hear the question?

Yes. But same as the last.

Just like, yeah, just like no. What is the statistics that you guys actually have that 10 people came today and only one was seen because the other nine was afraid to enter the facility because they was being so called harassed or they didn't like to be under the protest or whatever it is. What, what was the actual number? Because we're having hearsay.

We're talking about putting people in jail, finding them. So, I don't know what is the actual numbers because I'm all about people getting health care. But if we're just putting things out of the sky to put people in jail, then we're gonna have a problem here for everybody. Because then this is gonna take precedence for every single peaceful protest moving down the line from Mauna Kea to anything else with Poakalua, Red Hill. And all of these kinds are gonna be subject saying, hey, they don't disrupt our services from getting in, but no numbers.

So, do you have an actual number that we can let the people know how detrimental of this protesting, peaceful protesting, happen that these people never get the proper health care that they needed and they cause severe injury, bodily harm, or even death. Do you guys have that statistics?

No. Just like the last question to answer, there's not suggest that we are able to keep, but, so, the answer is no. We don't have that for you, but I'm not sure how we would keep that either.

But that's what I'm saying. So, you guys are going to call numbers saying that these people protesting that doing what they do, what they feel in their heart that they're doing is right, with any protest, not just with you guys, and I'm not just putting you guys on the line, but in general. If we set a precedence by passing this bill for these clinics that supposedly providing help, we don't know what kind of injury it caused. We don't know how much people died because they never get the services.

How much people had to travel and was, again, was, was not seen because of the in their inability to get health care. Those are the things that if we don't have numbers, we cannot go ahead and put numbers and saying that we're gonna have these guys go in jail, if they intended or intended to intend to cause bodily harm or whatever. Because then you guys can't even say that you guys know if it did cause bodily harm or preventive care because you don't have a number.

The number I can give you is that we call the police hundreds of times.

Well, no, police has been called for a lot of things for a 100 of times. Windmills in Kahuku. Windmills in Kapolei. Yeah? He was not doing nothing but standing on the sidewalk, but the people would overreact and call police. I mean, I can call police every day because they got mooses across the street because his chickens is crying every morning at three in the morning.

Okay. Let, let's talk. Let, let.

Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. But I'm just I'm just saying. I'll give you an example. They don't have a number chair, and if we have it one bill up before us that we shouldn't support, if we don't have numbers, we're talking about incarcerating peaceful people that wanna go out there and, and, and do invent, invent and they persecute on their rights? Yeah. So, that's it. Thank you. Sorry about the chickens, guys. Thank you very much.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Okay. Next up, HB 1854 relating to community behavioral health clinics. First up, attorney general providing comments.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. I'm Deputy Attorney General, Michelle Exelda. Our department submitted written comments and offered three considerations. First, board composition.

The bill calls for 10 members, but lists only nine categories. We recommend amending the total from 10 to nine or adding an additional category.

Second, civil service exemption. If the legislature intends the exemption to be permanent, we recommend amending section 76-16, subsection b to add the exempt positions. And finally, decertification process.

To ensure adequate procedure protection, we recommend clarifying decertification procedures and defining the roles of the office and the board in the decertification process. I'm available for any questions. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you so much. Next up, we have Hawaii State Department of Health in support. Okay. Dr. Matsu.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. My name is Courtenay Matsu, Deputy Director of Behavioral Health Administration. Thank you very much for introducing this bill, the companion bill.

The certifying office is an important component of this new model of the community behavioral health clinics. The certification is essential for these clinics to be able to be eligible for certain Medicaid rates.

And by having these rates, the intent is that they would be more operationally and financially sustainable. The CCBHC model itself is done nationwide, and it is the intent is really to expand access for folks.

It will accept for, patients of all ages, all types of insurances, and we're hoping to expand it into the rural areas. So thank you very much for your consideration.

Okay. Thank you very much. K. Next up, we have Leilin Brady, Aloha Independent Living Hawaii in support. Jonalyn Perry in support. State Council Mental Health in support. Are you Is anybody on Zoom for State Council on Mental Health?

None present, Chair.

Okay. Please proceed. 1854. You have one Identify yourself and you have one minute. You got turn on your mic. Unmute yourself. We still cannot hear you. We have your written testimony.

Are you willing to stand on your written testimony? Yes, yes. Okay. Thank you very much. And oh, we finally we finally heard you.

She cut out.

Did you get me finally?

Yes. Yeah. Okay. Please proceed.

Yeah. So let me this is Carolyn Wagon Hildebrand, the chief support staff for the State Council on Mental Health. State Council Chair, doctor Catherine Omer would have liked to be here, but the schedules did not work out.

But, as you can see, we'd just like to highlight two things in the testimony. First is a strong support for the goal of creating a certifying office that is a necessary condition to have sustainable clinics at the purpose of the bill.

But this I think also because the council was being asked to play a role, the council would like to strongly support that, but, also, they feel that that can be done without changing the current structure.

So they are requesting one minor and targeted amendment, and that is to keep the the counts the the composition right now and to strike out section three that adds a twenty second seat and, requiring that it be the certifying office.

Thank you very much, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Okay. Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1854? Members, any questions? Okay, I do. Doctor. Matsu, come on up here. And also AG. Do the AG Okay. So the AG has like a lot of amendments.

And I don't know whether or not this bill is ready. Like for instance, they want you to add a section 706-16 b to have these positions be exempt.

In addition, they think you should have some kind of procedure on decertifying a certified community behavioral health clinic.

I could address.

Is it in the bill?

The cert decertification?

Those portions.

Yes. So it's the amendment to correct the number of Board Members is in our

But that's the easy part.

Right? The second one on the exempt positions, we're aware of the requirement and we will be working with if one if we get this, we'd be working with folks to make sure we stay within that requirement.

And on the last one, the decertification process, I don't think it would be best suited to for it to be in statute, but rather maybe in administrative rules.

Doesn't look like it's ready to session. Do you really need it this session?

We well, we do. We are currently We have a grant right now, which is a planning grant that is the expectation with that is that we apply for to become a demonstration state.

Can you work with the Attorney General?

I'm gonna move this on to conference and hopefully folks have a fix by then because but otherwise it's dead.

Of course.

Okay.

Yeah. Get it worked out before conference because we won't reconcile differences.

We will. Yeah. Because Yeah.

Thank you.

The the Board Members tonight got some easy fix. The other stuff.

Right.

Mhmm.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Anybody else on '1854? Moving on. HB 1965 relating to primary care. State health planning, Doctor Lewin in support. Working good now from the very complex bill.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, and Member. I'm coming up to I could stand on the testimony, but I just wanna come up because we didn't author the bill. It's a brainchild of of hundreds of independent doctors and other Clinicians across the state,

many of whom are likely watching this hearing. So I just wanted to say to them that.

And a number of them had gone on in the media saying they don't like the working group, but they did not testify against.

Well, they, you know, they wanted immediate action. And, I mean, we can all just take a look at the the crisis we have in primary care, particularly on the neighbor islands where where two of you are from. So you know it's there. We know it's a problem.

We have to solve it. There's really a a lot of disagreements on how much we spend on primary care. We've gotta get those numbers right, get the denominator right.

We're committed at SHPDA to make that happen and facilitate that, and we'll be back next year for for a real solution. California did go through a year long process of determination before they mandated the 15%.

They identified how they measure it, and we'll come back with that information next year to make that go. And thank you very much for hearing it.

Thank you very much, Dr. Lewin. Department of Human Services in support. DHS, are you present on Zoom? Oh, no. You're not.

You're present on Zoom.

Well, they registered for Zoom. Okay. Doctor Gokotz, Hawaii's Healthcare Task Force in support. AARP, Audrey Suga Nakagawa. Nakagawa, sorry. It's a long day, sorry. In support. Mohala Health. Doctor Smith, I see you on Zoom. Please proceed in support.

Thank you, Senator Buenaventura, Vice Chair, and Members of the committee for hearing HB 1965. You all know who I am. I speak in support of this bill. I appreciate this bill and your focus on strengthening primary care.

The working group will help us reinforce what we already know, that strong primary care funding reduces overall costs and creates opportunities for insurers and providers to work towards common ground.

Primary care is meant to come first, yet in Hawaii that foundation is under strain. Ensuring network adequacy so patients can access care is the core function of our insurance system.

Health Care Dollars for patients, employers, and public programs are most effective when they support that access. I implore you to have one question in mind with every commercial and corporate sponsorship you see between now and the next time we see each other,

which is if we don't have enough for network adequacy for primary care, why are we paying for advertising before access commercials before care? Thank you for your consideration.

Okay. So, doctor Smith, could you identify yourself just to make sure we have you on?

I'm sorry. I'm doctor Esther Smith. I am a board certified family physician on Big Island. I am Founder of Mohala Health and Vice President of the Hawaii Healthcare Task Force. I know I have my minutes, so I was prepared to quickly.

Thank you. Thank you. Rachel Wilkinson, Hawaii Association of Health Plans in support. Thank you. Waldenau, HMSA in support. You're not Walden. Okay. Thank you.

Kapona Chong Hanson, doctor of Ahahui Ona Kaukad, Association of Native Hawaiian Physicians in support. Hawaii Primary Care Association, Eric Kaveh in support. American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter in support.

Michael Chang. Doctor Rishi Kokini Health System in support. Doctor Perez, Maui County Healthcare Partnership in support.

Doctor Ignacio, Hawaii Medical Association in support. And we have 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 other individuals and physicians all in support. Nobody testifying in opposition. Anybody else wishing to testify, come on up. HB 1965.

Good afternoon, my name is Emily Chung. I am the new CEO at Hawaii Primary Care Association, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify in front of this committee. With relation to primary care, our community health centers, which we represent across the Hawaii,

are the safety net and critical to our, health ecosystem. And we appreciate the intent of this bill and really wanna support the conversation ongoing for solutions to ensure that we have investments in a primary care,

which are the upstream solutions to reduce downstream costs. We, we really do believe that our health centers are the heart and soul of our work here.

So we appreciate any support, and, these and I think this is an important working group to convene. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Next up, come on up.

Aloha, Doctor. Kelly Withey. I do the physician workforce assessment. And as you know, our biggest shortage is primary care. Next year when we come to you for a primary care spend bill, please remember it won't cost the state anything.

And if the state is in hard times, just imagine these small private doctor offices. They may close and then we'll have huge healthcare deserts.

So this is a no cost initiative. We're going to be doing a lot of research digging into the exact costs, who is considered primary care, how much does it cost, what insurance companies do what, and we will get you a lot more information.

So hopefully next year, you will hear again with a bill for 15 percent primary care spend because that actually saves money and

lives. Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify in HB 1965? Come on up. Thank you.

I'm Robert McCray. We've done a study on The Mainland about primary care because it's an issue in rural America on the Mainland. The average primary care doctor refers 45 to 70 patients a month to specialists that admit into a hospital.

If the question is, how do you get more primary care doctors?

Mhmm.

I believe it's the responsibility of the hospital to do that, because they're the ones that generate the revenue.

Okay.

And they have the capacity to do that because it's to their benefit. Not to hire them, but to meet the need.

Thank you very much.

That's my two thoughts.

Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB1965? Members, any questions? Okay. Seeing none, moving on. Next up, HB1962 relating to family. First up, we have Jasmine Chien, status of women. I'm in support. Sorry. Hawaii status commission State Commission on the status of women.

Thank you so much. [Unintelligible] Cheney on behalf of the commission. I stand on my written testimony. Thank you very much.

Thank you. The Dan Maderas Judiciary Doc Judge Maderas in support. Hawaii Women's Coalition again.

Hi. Yes, ma'am. Jamie Coates here for the Hawaii Women's Coalition. I stand on my written testimony in strong support of this measure. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Elizabeth Kent, Commission to Promote Uniformed Laws in support. Nicole Wu, Hawaii Children's Action Network in support. Hawaii Women's Lawyers in support. Angelina Mercado, a State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Angelina Yeah. I saw it. I saw it.

Hold on. I share my share of the members. Standing here in excuse me. That went so fast. I need a moment. Standing on written testimony and strong support. Mahalo.

Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB 1962? Members, any questions? Moving on. Oh, you have a question. Go ahead, Vice Chair.

Yeah. Which one? Super quick. Just super quick one. I had some some concern with the first of all, I've been a strong supporter of BB with women helping women on Maui, but I guess it was the term of allegations being used in the bill.

Just simply making the allegation would take mediation off the table, and divorce is expensive with a lot of lawyers, and sometimes mediation is actually the more preferable way, especially in the sensitive areas. Do you think it's something to be a little more strong than simply an allegation being made, should be put into the bill, or is this simple because it could be a legal maneuver to create an allegation in order to take it out of me. That's my concern.

So thank you for the question, senator. So one of the reasons why we include language like allegation is because the reality is that, not everybody's gonna have actually go get a protective order. And the reality is that not everybody's gonna go actually and try to prosecute a case, which is actually the next bill that's up, which is HB 1959 addressing that. And so when we have a situation where a survivor has either not had a there has not been a successful prosecution of a domestic violence case, or they have not, actually sought a protective order, but they are in an abusive situation, this doesn't take them, It allows them to have the option to mediate. And then once they do choose to mediate, at least they have supportive people there with them.

So that could be an attorney, and that could be an advocate. And the way that this language was specifically drafted was that any party to mediation has access to those same people so that it doesn't seem there isn't a, a perception that we're maybe giving one party preference over the other in terms of having supportive people. So, unfortunately, the reality is there's not always gonna be, concrete criminal justice, evidence that somebody's actually a victim of domestic violence, but that they should be able to have mediation where the power and control dynamics are accurately and appropriately addressed. Does that answer your question?

It does. I I still don't have my concern to thank you.

I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

That's why

I wanted to have this conversation. Thanks, Chair.

Thank you very much. Anybody else wishing test I mean, any other questions on HB number 1962? Okay. Moving on. HB1959 relating to domestic violence. First up, we have crime victim compensation commission status, state of Hawaii providing comments. Pamela Ferguson Bay. Okay. Next, we have Yasmine Chaney, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women in support. And I see Annalise Wolf of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office from the County Of Hawaii in support. Please proceed. Miss Wolf, identify yourself. You have one minute. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Annaliese Wolf, deputy prosecuting attorney speaking for the County Of Hawaii, and elected prosecutor Kelvin Walton. We did submit testimony that I would like to, add some additional comments to, senator. I know we spoke last time I appeared before this committee on the same bill and certainly still strongly support it on all the same terms. I think since the last time, this bill or its counterpart had been submitted, there was a little bit more discussion from some of the other interest groups about some concerns.

So I wanna kind of call to your attention, as noted in our letter that changing the bill at this time could alter the pilot program and the data that is being sought by the legislature to truly evaluate the value of this bill. And additionally, I think there was also concerns aired about people receiving firearms back, during the course of those people cannot have firearms while on probation. Keeping the deferral period of two years for the full misdemeanor would also prevent those people from having firearms for two years as opposed to placing us in the position that if we had to give out an assault free remedy where it would just simply be one year without a firearm, that they could possess. And again, we find this an incredibly effective tool to settling domestic violence cases. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, we have Maui Prosecutor's Office in support. Darcia Foster, Office of Public Defender. Yes, we know it. This is the bill and not the other one. Please proceed.

Aloha. Thank you. I'm here in my capacity as a supervisor of our domestic violence misdemeanor division. So first of all, we want the pilot program to continue, but we strongly object to this new change where we get rid of the misdemeanors being eligible for deferral. The reason we started the pilot program was to control the amount of trials, the backlog, and all the issues that we were having, especially on Oahu, managing misdemeanor jury trials specifically for the offense of abuse of a family or household member.

And guess what? It's working. Right now, things are under control. We don't have a backlog. Rule 48 doesn't really apply. It's very rare. Things are moving smoothly. We think this is going backwards. I submitted written testimony with my details. I'm available to answer questions. I just want to make it clear we strongly object to removal of the misdemeanor to the pilot program. But we do want the pilot program to continue with the misdemeanor.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Next, we have Angelina Mercado, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Please proceed.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Committee Members. Angie Mercado, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. And we actually did recommend that the misdemeanor, the deferred acceptance of a guilty plea be removed for the misdemeanor, not for the petty misdemeanor. And so I have the question I have before our community and before this committee is, are we just trying to clear the backlog or do we really care about survivor safety? And the reason why I ask this is because if you are actually convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence crime, you are prohibited from having firearms.

And so, since 2007, we have had thirty domestic violence related deaths in this state. Nine out of thirty of those are domestic are from the from a gunshot. So, one of the our biggest concern is are we gonna put somebody who would have been committed I'm sorry, convicted of a misdemeanor crime, they're now gonna have the first acceptance of a guilty plea, so the conviction does not show up as a misdemeanor and they now have access to firearms. What is the connection between a misdemeanor and a felony and where is the community, prosecutors and public defenders, actually doing any kind of risk assessment in this, in this entire rubric that we're doing? I know that part of the data that we're looking at in this amendment is hope we're gonna we're looking to address that.

We haven't addressed the survivor, safety impact, but that's the question I have before everybody looking at this bill.

K. Thank you very much. Nobody else having registered to testify. Anybody else wishing to testify in HD1959? Members, any questions? So, I do. K. For both I don't know. The problem I have here is Angelina is new compared to the original, at the time when we had original, and so is the prosecutor. Only one who stuck around is Darcea.

So Darcea Angelina, why don't you come on in anyway? And, come on up also, Darcea. And prosecutor, anybody there who was who was here at the time of the original bill? Okay. So the problem I have here is I I kinda agree with, Darcea Foster because at the time when we created this program, that's the reason I said you were not around at the time.

I was not. I agree.

Okay. The women's legislative caucus went to every single family court. And we listened to the victims. And we listened to the family court judges, and the prosecutors, and the public defenders. And we came up with this bill. And since then, and that's the reason for the deferred acceptance because there wasn't any deferred acceptance before. The victims just wanted to make sure that the assailant went to the domestic violence course. That was their primary thing. Okay. And they noticed that the the and it is the backlog.

And the backlog caused the victims to keep continually having to go back to court, having to keep finding, looking for childcare providers, having to ask for their employers for time off. So, no, it's not just the backlog. It's also we listen to the victims. Okay? When we created this, we listened to the victims.

And that was their primary concern. And the reason I'm bringing this up is the reason it was a pilot was somebody was supposed to come up with a report. And I haven't figured out who was supposed to come up with a report. Prosecutor.

I mean it too. So

Oh, public defender.

It's in the it's in act 19. It's the judiciary.

Judiciary. Where's the report? Well, apparently, the the judiciary who is here is not here. Okay. But

And they have they have been producing data.

But the question then is we need to have a report to determine whether or not for it to continue. Right.

Because the early reports we got, at least it was all anecdotal from the family courts, was that it was working. That's the reason why the original bill was to just extend it. Was we were not getting the massive complaints from the victims. Because we listened to the victims. They were out the door, Angelina.

They came to us crying, saying, We understand the need to put the assailants in, but we cannot, we cannot find babysitters. We cannot keep coming back day after day, every time one gets there, and there's a continuance. And the reason for the continuance is because the defendant knowing that there's a misdemeanor a misdemeanor, they know. The defendants know and the prosecutor knows it's an automatic right to a jury trial, right? Which means that's what they're going to ask for, which means more backlogs.

So I'm going to until I get a report saying otherwise, my knee jerk reaction is for it to continue. Because I was one of those people, not they weren't there, who went island to island to go listen to these people. So, I would like to have a report, though, because I'm more than willing. I'm more than willing, Angelina. I mean, Nancy Friedman knows I am a super strong advocate against domestic violence.

I'm more than willing to go change my mind in the whole misdemeanor thing. Okay? But that's the reason. Okay. You guys heard my piece. Unless you guys have a report telling me otherwise, that's my that's what I'm looking at. K?

Can I make a request for consideration that prosecutors and public defenders are doing some sort of risk assessment with their clients to understand the lethality of the situation?

They should. I think we should.

We they should be using tools.

And that that's the whole idea behind the report. That's the whole idea behind the report. We did not want to make we did not want the domestic violence to continue. I want to make sure you understood that, Angelina. Okay?

Because when we went to court by court to listen, and island for island to listen to the victims, there were no defendants that we were listening to. They were not asking for the deferred acceptance. The courts wanted the ability to do that. Okay. To be able to There was no defendants in the room. So we were listening to the victims. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Okay. Moving on. Yes. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Moving on.

HB 2505 testifying for the Relating to Assisted Community Treatment. Judiciary providing comments. And who do I ask about the report I asked about?

Good afternoon Chair, Vice Chair.

All the way to the resolution. Okay?

I am Andrew Park and I'm the lead judge of the division that handles these hospital cases.

Okay. Hospital cases. Okay.

And I'm testifying on behalf of the judiciary. Our testimony is in two parts. Part one offers our appreciation for the amendments in house draft one to this bill. Part two, you might be able to disregard because it's related to prior testimony from the Department of Health on a on the other side before it crossed over. I'm not sure if they're gonna be making those same requests.

Within part two, I did wanna, apologize for and point out a typographical error. On the second to the last paragraph of page two and the third line, it says internal return hearing. That should read initial return hearing, but possibly you might be able to disregard section two anyway. I will stick around for any questions you might have.

Thank you very much. Next up, Leland Bailey, Aloha, Independent Living Hawaii, providing comments. Alex Litton, Hawaii Psychological Association in support. Johnny Mae Perry in support. James Ireland, City and County of Honolulu Emergency Services Department in support. IHS in support. Angie Knight, are you present? Or did she resign by now? Nope? Okay. Anybody else wishing to testify HB2505? Members Okay. Doctor Matsu, come on up.

I apologize. For some reason, our testimony did not get submitted. I have a copy here.

Okay.

So our the testimony is different from our last testimony. Since that time, we've met with the judiciary and the AGs, and we've recognized that there there are some limitations with putting a firm date, in terms of the ten day, timeline that we had initially asked in our prior testimony. We've since taken that out. We feel that we can work together with judiciary and the AGs to continue to look into the different reasons for the delays and try to improve

it. Okay. Sounds good.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions?

Is this a state hawk?

That's her.

Yes. You. Mhmm. So I've only been for the state hospital.

Well, she's AMHD who is part of this. Got it. Maybe not the head. No.

No. Okay. There's a lot of questions I have for this. So maybe I can follow-up from the area.

Her boss is retiring. So oh, interesting. Oh.

Well, only because of all of the issues surrounding this Mhmm.

On, you know, and it it brings a lot of questions as to the efficacy and also what's needed done in other state hospitals and how the efficacy and costs are being met there. So I guess this is a question probably for the meeting. Yeah. Okay. I'll follow-up with written questions. I know there's time to leave. Thank you, Sherry.

Thank you.

Yeah. We're gonna it's a I guess I'm gonna keep the defective date. Defective date. Okay. Thank you for that. K. Anybody else wishing to testify on HB2505?

Do you have the Department of Health?

Okay. Come on back up, Doctor Matsu.

So does the Department of Health has the necessary funding for for the reimbursement obtaining of the programs for additional legal and administrative costs associated with these.

With the petitions? Yeah. So the

It's preparing now. I guess, are these would be what the court petitioner?

It will it it falls to our AGs to help with with the filing the petitions. So you're you're asking about the the act the ACT petitions that are coming out of the h No. State hospital in specific? No. Okay.

So we're trying to look at our entire patient population to increase, to determine whether or not folks who are, we anticipate might be ready for discharge would qualify for an act order. To try to really keep them maintain them in treatment. So the the the thought is that when somebody's inpatient, you know, you're in a locked environment, you have doctors there, nurses there, folks telling you, okay, here's time for your medication. But when they're discharged, there's nobody really, to to kinda make sure that that happens or to, for folks who feel that they don't need the treatment, there's nothing that really compels them to con to continue to come in on the outpatient side. So part of this is really trying to look at the patients, determine which ones who could benefit from this, and submit these orders.

I do think it's gonna be it's increased on the physician side because they're gonna do more assessments. There's time that's gonna take for them to complete those orders. But I I think it's doable. I'm not sure on the AG side with our AG because we only have one for the state hospital if that's gonna be an influential factor or not. But I think we can try it.

So just to make sure you folks know, this is also part of the informational briefing we had before, where the state hospital was already overcrowded. So the question is, this is somebody's solution to the potential revolving door, which was instead of releasing them directly, that there will be an ACT petition for continued treatment. Mhmm.

And so their position is they want the judiciary to act within ten days of that ACT petition. Judiciary doesn't wanna act within the ten days. So that's where we are.

Well, I think there's some challenges Yes. That had been explained to us.

And it's and it's in testimony.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Just real quickly. I just am concerned. It seems like there's issues with psychologists in hiring them and then the pay for the psychologists.

How do you address that?

Yes.

So right now, we currently have a proposal that has been sent to DeHert, I believe, which looks at the salary scale for the psychologist and tries to move it up a little bit so that it is more in line with the community standards.

When do you make the request of New York?

Okay. So we're getting away from the bill, and we have five more bills, and we got ten minutes.

We'll follow-up later.

Okay? Otherwise, it's it looks like I I got too ambitious with this agenda. And I normally am done in half an hour as as most of the people here know. But anyway, keep going. Can we keep going? Thank you.

Go for it.