House Standing Committee on Finance

Hi, everybody. Good morning. This is the Committee on Finance for our hearing, Tuesday, April 7, 10 AM agenda in Conference Room 308. We have two resume agendas that we're going to be going through, the second one being our DM-only agenda, but we will start. Well, since these are resolutions, we will be taking up the House Concurrent Resolution and the House Resolution in tandem.

So first on our agenda, we have HCR 18, HR 9, requesting the Department of Health to convene a hospice working group to examine trends and regulations in the hospice industry. And first up, we have testimony from the Department of Health in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee, Lauren Kim, the Department of Health will stand on our testimony, offering comments as well.

Thank you. Members, also testimony from one or the other organization. Any questions? Okay. Seeing none, moving on to the next set of resos.

That's HCR 139, HR 131, requesting the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Department of Education to develop a coordinated plan to reduce the impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. We have the Department of Education in support.

Not present. Department of Human Services with comments on Zoom. Not present. Not present. Department of Health with comments.

Good morning, Lauren Kim, Department of Health. The department will stand on its testimony, offering comments, and we definitely appreciate the emphasis on prevention. This is something that our community can do a better job preventing, and that is the focus of public health. Thank you.

Thank you. We have the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities in support. You must end our testimony in strong support. Thank you. Thank you.

Hawaii Disability Rights Center in support on Zoom.

Yes. Thank you. Good morning. I'm Louis Erteschik. I'm the director of the center.

We are in support of this. When the legislature passed Act 192 a couple years ago, it really represented an achievement where we finally took some steps to try to obtain services for people with FASD. I mean, it's fine for the department to say that we should focus on prevention, and obviously, I'm not saying we shouldn't. The problem is that prevention doesn't go far enough. Prevention doesn't always work.

And in the meantime, kids are being born with FASD, they're growing up, and they need services. So in the wake of Act 192, the FASD Action Group has done a really good job with what they have, but we really need the Department of Health to take this seriously and step up and coordinate with the other agencies and have a statewide coordinator, so we could draw down some federal funds and obtain services.

So we see this resolution as really important in terms of expressing the legislature's interest in getting the state agencies to collaborate and actually do something to get services. Thank you.

Thank you. We have the Hawaii FASD Action Group in support.

Hello, folks. Amanda Luning, executive director with the Hawaii FASD Action Group. We stand on our written testimony, and I would also like to offer subject matter expertise, clinical support. We are the folks that are doing this work in Hawaii, and we would like to be, obviously, a part of this process because we need to have room for, but what if I did, when we talk about drinking during pregnancy.

We need to recognize that it happens and that prevention is not the only approach that's okay to take, and that there are a lot of folks being served in very expensive programs, service delivery systems, such as our mental health facilities and our prisons, that could get better care if we acknowledge that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders happen and that we did a better job with our public awareness campaigning and our language. So we would like to offer convening capacity.

We would love to offer subject matter expertise. We're the folks that are doing this work in Hawaii. We want to offer all of the state entities our support in this process. Welcome.

Thank you.

We have Darlene Chen Scoville in support.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, and the committee. My name is Darlene Chen Scoville. I am a volunteer advocate for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. These children are born in an impossible world.

Alcohol, which we all profit from. We seem to focus on legal substances, and we forget about alcohol. When a woman gets pregnant, they do not find out they're pregnant on the day they conceived. Most of them find out months, weeks after. Some of the women that do not have a regular menstrual cycle, it's common for them not to have their menstrual cycle. Therefore, a lot of women that I spoke to find out they're pregnant four months after.

So there are children going to be born with FASD. Statistically, one in seven pregnancies are alcohol exposed. One in twenty children have FASD. Eight hundred and forty infants are born every day in the state of Hawaii with FASD. A lot of them are undiagnosed.

I'm a doctoral candidate that interviewed 31 doctors, which are pediatricians and primary care providers. I asked them, how come we have no data with FASD in the state of Hawaii? Well, in the international and national arena, we have statistics. Are we that special? What's going on?

These are the children that are getting kicked out of school, getting into the juvenile prison system, and ending up either homeless or in the criminal justice system that we all need to take care of. And I sincerely believe in early intervention. Now I urge us to act in accordance to the movement and the information which we all gathered. In Act 192, we have submitted reports that are not based on unfounded theory, but it's Hawaii specific. Now what do we do?

Can you start to summarize your testimony? Oh, we do have your written comment. Please do something. We need a coordinator, because the doctors and the pediatricians said if we diagnose, where do we send them? Thank you.

Thank you. Members, has everyone indicated they'd be joining us today? Additional testimony in support from three organizations and four individuals. Is there anybody using their own machine to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Okay. Seeing none, moving on to the last of resos on this agenda. This is HCR 173, HR 163, urging Maui Health to collaborate with stakeholders to establish a full-time medical residency program on the island of Maui. First up, we have State Health Planning and Development Agency, SHPDA, in support.

Not present. Also, testimony in support from the University of Hawaii. That's all the written testimony we received. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Okay. Seeing none, we will go right into decision making. Decision making for the 10 AM agenda starting with HCR 18, HR 9, requesting the Department of Health to convene a hospice working group to examine trends and regulations in the hospice industry. Our recommendation is to move as is.

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, Chair, could you take the vote, please?

[Roll Call]

Recommendation adopted.

Thank you. Okay. Next slide. Resos HCR 139, HR 131, requesting the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Department of Education to develop a coordinated plan to reduce the impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Recommendation is to move as is.

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, for the vote, please.

Thank you. Recommendation is to move as is. Noting the excused absences of Reps. Morikawa and Raya Sotto, are there any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Thank you. Last of the resos on the 10 AM agenda, HCR 173, HR 163, urging Maui Health to collaborate with stakeholders to establish a full-time medical residency program on the island of Maui. Recommendation is to move as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns? For the vote, please.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Noting the excused absences of Reps. Morikawa and Raya Sotto, are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none. Recommendation adopted.

Okay. We're going to roll right into the decision making 10:05 agenda. Now, a number of resos. Yeah. Mostly these are, oh, mostly these are going to move as is, members.

There are two resos that we were asked to make amendments to, and when we get to those, I'll announce what we're going to do with them. But starting at the top of the agenda, HCR 66 and HR 60, requesting the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to conduct a study on the effect of state and county tax structures and programs on the long-term economic growth of the state of Hawaii. Recommendation is to move as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Okay.

Seeing none.

Okay. Recommendation to move as is. Noting the excused absences of Reps. Are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Thank you, members. Next up, HCR 189, HR 179, requesting the Department of Taxation to conduct a comprehensive analysis of corporate income reporting structures, including the treatment of foreign subsidiary income to inform long-term fiscal planning. Recommendation is to move as is. Any questions, comments, or concerns?

Thank you. I'll turn to the vote.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Noting the excused absences of Reps. Morikawa and Raya Sotto, are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Moving on to the next pair of resos, HCR 191, HR 181, urging the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to submit an annual Hawaii genuine progress indicator report to the legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of each regular session beginning with the regular session of 2027. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, for the vote, please.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Noting the excused absences of Reps. Raya Sotto and Morikawa. Any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Next up, we have HCR 11 HD1, HR 14 HD1, requesting the State Public Charter School Commission to conduct a study on increasing access to stable, suitable, and affordable facilities for public charter schools. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Thank you. HCR 11 and the companion measure, HR 14. Recommendation to move as is.

Reps. Raya Sotto and Morikawa are excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none. Recommendation adopted.

Okay. Next, we have HCR 118 HD1, HR 110 HD1, urging the Department of Education to strengthen menstrual health education initiatives and to adopt a comprehensive menstrual cycle curriculum. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns?

Recommendation to move as is. Noting Reps. Morikawa and reservations. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Next, we have HCR 181 HD1, HR 171 HD1, requesting the Department of Education to convene a shared decision making committee to develop an action plan to establish a K-12 high school in Kapolei. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns?

Seeing none.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Thank you. HCR 194, HR 184, establishing the joint legislative mattress stewardship program design working group to study, evaluate, and make recommendations on the structure and implementation of a statewide mattress stewardship program. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Are there any no votes? Any reservations?

Reservations. Reservations from Alcos. Anyone else? If not, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Thank you. HCR 206 HD1, HR 196 HD1, requesting the Hawaii State Energy Office to convene a working group to study the potential impacts of large data centers on Hawaii's electric utilities, ratepayers, natural resources, and climate goals. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns?

Seeing none.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Next up, we have HCR 110, HR 102, requesting the University of Hawaii Board of Regents to review and refine the operational missions of the University of Hawaii's four-year institutions to ensure that each campus fulfills a distinct and complementary role in serving students and the state. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Yep. Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

HCR 111 and HR 103, requesting the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to review and clarify the roles, responsibilities, and functions of the University of Hawaii system in relation to the responsibilities of individual campuses. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Next, we have HCR 35, requesting the Auditor to assess the social and financial effects of mandatory health insurance coverage for biomarker testing. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Next, we have HCR 105 HD1, HR 97 HD1, requesting the Hawaii State Center for Nursing to compile a comprehensive list of recommended safe patient staffing ratios for all nursing specialties and subspecialties across all health care settings and to maintain a repository for this information. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none. Okay.

Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Yeah. Thank you. HCR 83, HR 75, supporting the use of the dwelling unit revolving fund to fund predevelopment costs for any government affordable housing development project through interim loans to expedite delivery of affordable housing to Hawaii's residents. Recommendation is to move as is.

Questions, comments, or concerns? Okay.

Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. And we have HCR 182, HR 172, requesting the department to establish a working group to study accessibility barriers for multifamily housing not covered by the Federal Fair Housing Act and governed by community associations and planned community associations. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns?

Sorry.

Recommendation to move as is. Rep. Morikawa is excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. Members, this next one on the resos, HCR 93 HD1 and HR 85. We are going to, there are amendments that I was asked to make, and conferring with the chief clerk's office, I can't make amendments on a DM-only reso at this time, so I'm going to be deferring this for now, and we're going to do a waiver on the floor to reschedule ahead of our 2 PM agenda tomorrow, just for everybody's information.

So for now, we're going to defer, and we're going to move on to HCR 193 HD1, HR 183 HD1, requesting the establishment of a court security and Department of Law Enforcement capacity working group to address systemic staffing shortages, expand the statutory responsibilities, and the escalating fiscal and accountability risks associated with private security contracting at state courts.

Our recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Recommendation to move as is. Noting Rep. Morikawa's excused. Any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none, recommendation adopted.

Okay. And next, we have HCR 117, HR 109, urging the governor to assess food and security conditions and implement a statewide food security response plan. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Recommendation to move as is. Noting the excused absence of Rep. Morikawa, are there any no votes? Any reservations? Seeing none.

Recommendation adopted.

Okay. And next, we have HCR 62 HD1, HR 56 HD1, urging the Department of Transportation to engage with the community to identify and implement alternative vegetation management methods along the Hana Highway. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none.

Thank you. Recommendation to move as is. Any, Morikawa, excused. Any no votes? Any reservations?

Seeing none. Recommendation adopted.

Okay. Members, HCR 14, authorizing the issuance. This is the, sorry, HCR 14 for the land lease and the submerged land and wildlife. This is the second resolution that DLNR needs clarification on, per the attorney general.

Since we can't make amendments at this time, we will be deferring for now, and doing a waiver on the floor to reschedule for tomorrow. And last one on resos, HCR 178 HD1, HR 168 HD1, urging the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prioritize issuing a set-aside to the county of Maui through an executive order by the governor to support the management of public trust water resources in East Maui. Recommendation is to move as is. Questions, comments, or concerns?

Seeing none. Okay. Any no votes? Any reservations? Recommendation to move as is. I don't know.

One second. One second. Recommendation. Yeah. I don't know.

I kind of messed up my script. Got lost. Okay. We did it.

And that's everything. Should we adjourn this agenda? Adjourn.

Okay.

Aloha, everyone. We are convening the House Committee on Finance for the purpose of decision making on our Tuesday, April 7 agenda, to our 10:10am agenda. This is a reconvene from last week Thursday's agenda for decision making.

We're gonna open up with SB 2969, SD 1, HD 1, related to the Maui wildfires study and Maui health registry. Chair's recommendation is to move this as is. Are there any questions? Any comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2969, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. [Roll Call] Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. The next item is SB 3263, SD 2, HD 2, relating to the University of Hawaii. This is the NIL bill. Chair's recommendation is to move this forward as an HD 3. Any necessary, you know, technical amendments, but also there's a case number reference that doesn't look like it's quite accurate. So I wanna correct the case number that's referenced in the measure. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3263, SD 2, HD 2. Recommendation's to pass for the amendments. Noting the excused absence of Representative Morikawa, who will be noted as excused for the remaining of this agenda, unless otherwise announced. Are there any reservations? Reservations for Rep Reyes Oda. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. For the next measure, we have a few substantive amendments. We have SB 2602, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the general fund. The Chair's recommendation will be to move forward an HD 2. There's a few things we just conferred with our Higher Ed Chair.

We kinda wanna make sure that the intent is honored, but UH has some flexibility. So there'll be some amendments. One would remove language that would restrict the university's ability to move tuition funds between campuses, as that kind of reduces their ability to meet their strategic goals, especially in rural communities.

The university has testified that this would be critical for their operations. Second, there are amendments clarifying that the lapse to the general fund is a onetime transfer on June 30, 2029 rather than an ongoing annual sweep.

Third, instead of prescribing a specific reserve level and statute of 16%, amendments would defer to the Board of Regents reserve policy to determine the appropriate balance consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities.

So I think the idea is to provide some oversight, preserve some flexibility, provide the university with an enhanced incentive to take action on some of the ongoing needs while maintaining some of their ability to meet their core mission. Are there any questions or comments? Rep Perruso.

I appreciate your amendments, but I think I'm gonna have to vote no just because I don't support the intent.

I gotcha. Okay. Anyone else? If not, Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 2602, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Noting the no vote of Representative Perruso. Any other no votes? No vote for Rep Alcos. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Hussey and Hartsfield and Gedeon. Any other reservations? Okay. Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. We have a bunch of as is measures now to make things a little bit quicker. So SB 3229, SD 1, HD 1, related to the University of Hawaii. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions? Any comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 3229, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 3199, SD 1, HD 1, relating to mental health. Recommendation to move as is. Questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 3199, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2550, SD 1, HD 1, relating to school modernization. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2550, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's... Oh, oh, sorry. No vote for Rep Perruso. Any other no votes? Okay. Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. SB 2877, SD 1, HD 1, relating to education. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2877, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. For SB 3325, SD 1, HD 2, relating to public school Medicaid reimbursements. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3325, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. SB 2024, SD 2, HD 1, relating to charter school facilities. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2024, SD 2, HD 1, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2614, HD 2, relating to education. Recommendation to move as is. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2614, HD 2, recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. One second. This next one. This next one, we have some substantive amendments. The recommendation will be to move this is SB 2613, SD 1, HD 2, relating to public school land transfer. Recommendation will be to move an HD 3.

I consulted with the Education Chair, and the plan will be to move this forward amended. We're gonna remove part three and section six. Section six is a purpose clause, and part three has specific TMKs being transferred from DOE to DLNR. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 2613, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Hartsfield. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 3063, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the Department of Education procurement. Recommendation to move as is. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 3063, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? And Rep Gedeon. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. The next item is HB 2319, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2319, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2800, SD 1, HD 1, relating to irrigation systems. Recommendation to move as is. Questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 2800, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2892, SD 1, HD 1, relating to feral chickens. Recommendation to move as is. Other questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2892, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? No vote for Rep Alcos. Any other no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2321, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the two lined spittlebug. Recommendation to move as is. Are there questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2321, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2407, SD 2, HD 1, relating to agricultural land. Recommendation to move as is. Are there questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2407, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation adopted.

SB 2805, SD 2, HD 1, relating to agriculture. Recommendation to move as is. Are there any questions? Any comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2805, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2153, SD 2, HD 1, relating to agriculture. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2153, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2781, SD 1, HD 2, relating to lei. The Chair's recommendation will be to move this forward as an... Oh, sorry. I missed one. Oh, I did miss one. I got too excited. SB 2595, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the Agribusiness Development Corporation. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments?

Okay. SB 2595, SD 1, HD 1, recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. The next item, we'd like to move forward an HD 2. It is SB 2781, SD 1, HD 1, relating to lei. So a brief clarifying amendment, just clarifying that the restrictions would apply to things that are, you know, kind of the lei is made out of, but not so much like a lei string.

Because I don't know if we wanna really, you know, go that far into making requirements that this is growing local and that sort of thing. So just some clarification around the intent. Questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2781, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos.

I made a mistake on the one before. SB 2595.

We can't go back once we vote. Sorry.

On the floor, if you wanna clarify, you can.

Any other reservations for this bill? Any no votes? No vote for Rep Gedeon. Any other no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Next, we have SB 3233, SD 1, HD 2, relating to agricultural workforce housing. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3233, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2360, SD 1, HD 2, relating to state enterprise zones. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 2360, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 1432, SD 2, HD 2, relating to changes to responsibilities of Department of Health concerning patients, the County of Kalawao and Kalaupapa settlement. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 1432, SD 2, HD 2. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2543, SD 2, HD 2, relating to state construction projects. Recommendation is continue to move this as is to conference, noting that we'll have to kinda work out some stuff around scope and how to best get this off the ground. But for the time being, as is. Questions, comments? Right? Rep Perruso.

I appreciate that we intend to continue to work on this. I just wanna express my reservations because I saw that some amendments have been included exempting the DOE, and I'm not sure they should be exempted.

That'll make some people in audience quite happy, actually. So yeah. I think it's something we gotta continue to flesh out, but I think everyone has the same idea in mind. Just gotta figure it out. Anyone else? Thank you. Okay. Go ahead.

SB 2543, SD 2, HD 2. Recommendation to pass unamended. Noting reservations for Rep Perruso. Any other reservations? Rep Hartsfield and Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Next, we have SB 2599, SD 2, HD 2, relating to development. The recommendation will be to move this forward as an HD 3. We just wanted to insert a couple of things. One is we wanna make sure that there's language clarifying that HCDA has the authority to hire the positions that are required in the bill because that's seems to be a little unclear.

And also there were some HCDA proposed amendments that are largely just clarifications that are included in the testimony, and we'd like to adopt that also. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2599, SD 2, HD 2. Recommendation to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Sorry. For Rep Alcos and sorry, who? Reyes Oda. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 3053, SD 2, HD 1, relating to natural resources. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3053, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

We're on to SB 2001, SD 1, HD 2. Or I'm sorry. HD 1, relating to the Banyan Drive Community Development District. The Chair's recommendation will be to move this forward as an HD 2, essentially inserting the HD 2 version of HB 2616, which was the House version.

The only thing we would add in there is clarification around the Senate position that we would have the Office of Hawaiian Affairs nominate three, and the governor would select that member. But otherwise, in line with HB 2616. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair?

SB 2001, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations or Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2041, SD 1, HD 2, relating to real property. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2041, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. On to SB 3247, SD 1, HD 2, relating to Hawaiian affairs. The recommendation would be to move forward an HD 3. You know, some suggestions around what the role of the Hawaiian civic clubs and those folks should be, but I think that can get worked out in conference.

I think for the time being, this is another one we wanna clarify that if someone is selected, they're not required and obligated to participate because there's a few of those in here. Any other questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3247, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations. Sorry. For Reps Gedeon, Hartsfield, Reyes Oda. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

For SB 3253, SD 2, HD 1, relating to conservation. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3253, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? And Rep Gedeon. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. On this next measure, SB 2401, SD 1, HD 1, relating to regional shoreline mitigation districts. Chair's recommendation to move this forward as an HD 2. We'd like to incorporate these suggested amendments from OPSD, who have a number of concerns about the measure. But I think this would better align their mission with the bill. Any questions or comments?

So just to clarify... The language.

Oh, I think it I think there were three or four suggested amendments, and that's likely one. I'm like almost 100% sure. Yes. Oh. Yeah. Questions or comments? Vice Chair.

SB 2401, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Next on to SB 2673, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the counties. Recommendation's to move as is. Questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2673, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Next, we have SB 3067, SD 1, HD 1, related to records. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3067, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 411, SD 2, HD 1, relating to capital improvement projects at state small boat harbors and state parks. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 411, SD 2, HD 1, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2934, SD 1, HD 1, relating to ambulances. Recommendation as is. Questions, comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2934, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Onto SB 3219, HD 2, proposing amendments to article seven, section 12 and 13 of the Hawaii State Constitution. We're gonna defer this item to Wednesday. I think we have an amendment to drop in, but I wanna make sure we're in the right place on this. So defer that measure to Wednesday. Next, we have SB 2919, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the Office of the Public Defender. Recommendation to move as is. Questions? Comments?

SB 2919, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2239, SD 1, HD 1, relating to voter registration. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Oh, sorry. Rep Hartsfield.

Comments. Thank you, Chair. I'm gonna be voting no on this because I did consider all of the testimony submitted. And while I do support voting, registration is something different. And the nexus between not being able to opt out when you go to renew your driver's license.

I think the nexus isn't close enough for people to realize that they're opting in when they go to renew their driver's license and at the same time will be automatically registered to vote. And so because of that, I'm gonna be voting no. Thank you.

Okay. Anyone else? And also no vote. Alright. Go ahead.

SB 2239, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Noting no votes for Reps Hartsfield, Alcos, and Gedeon. Any other no votes? Any reservations? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2532, HD 1. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2532, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2601, SD 2, HD 1, relating to procurement. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2601, SD 2, HD 1, recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservation for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Okay. On the next item, SB 1032, SD 2, HD 1, relating to campaign finance. The Chair's recommendation is to insert a very similar bill, is SB 2982, SD 2, HD 1. If I had to do it over again, we probably would've just heard that one.

Basically, just had a little bit more time to cook, but otherwise, substantially similar. So that would make this an HD 2 while inserting that language, which is nearly identical. Questions? Comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 1032, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? And Rep Gedeon. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

Thank you. SB 2446, SD 2, HD 1, relating to the judiciary. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2446, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos, reservations. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2152, SD 2, HD 1. Proposing an amendment to article six, section three of the Hawaii State Constitution to increase the mandatory retirement age for state justices. And its recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2152, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2721, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the administration of justice. Recommendation to move past as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2721, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? And Gedeon. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 3076, SD 1, HD 1, relating to tobacco enforcement. Recommendation is to move this forward as an HD 2, just blanking the amounts of the fines. There's some concerns about them being a little excessive. It's like $500 per device, which may just bankrupt someone. So I think for the time being, let's blank it out, and we can work out some details in conference. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3076, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 3140, relating to the State Fire Council. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3140, HD 1. Recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

The next eight measures are all as is. Okay. SB 2671, SD 1, HD 2, relating to essential permitting positions. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

Okay. SB 2671, SD 1, HD 2. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2338, SD 1, HD 2, relating to housing. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2338, SD 1, HD 2, recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. And Reyes Oda and Gedeon. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2268, SD 2, HD 1, relating to equity. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2268, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 99, SD 1, HD 1, relating to government. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 99, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2930, SD 2, HD 1, relating to the Hawaii State Risk Management Revolving Fund. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2930, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 3069, SD 1, HD 1, relating to civil service exempt positions within the Department of Accounting and General Services. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3069, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos, reservations. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 3096, SD 1, HD 1, related to the employee's retirement systems employer contributions for normal cost and accurate liability. Recommendation as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3096, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos, reservations. Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 3097, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the exemption from civil service of executive personnel of the employee's retirement system. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3097, SD 1, HD 1, recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos reservations. And Gedeon. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

For SB 3090, SD 1, HD 1. The recommendation is to move an HD 2, just blanking the appropriations. This is for making emergency appropriations for public employment cost matters. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3090, SD 1, HD 1, recommendation's to pass with amendments. Any reservations? Any no votes? No vote for Rep Alcos. Any other no votes? Okay. Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2060, SD 2, HD 1, relating to the rental housing revolving fund. Recommendation to move as is. Any questions? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2060, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos reservations. Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

For SB 3028, SD 2, HD 1, relating to property conveyance. The recommendation is to move this forward as an HD 2, largely restoring the House bills, final House Draft. But what we would do is we would change the thresholds a little bit.

We would have the marginal rates increase slow, more slowly. So that would benefit new properties in that $2-3 million range. Just for perspective, this would leave the tax either the same or lower for over 90% of properties.

And the threshold for where you would start to see marginal increases, but at a slower rate than in the prior version, is at about 2.3 million if you're not claiming or if you are claiming an exemption, and 2.1 million if you are not claiming an exemption. But due to the marginal rate structure, it would be relatively not noticeable, like, in that price range until you get into higher thresholds.

Questions? Comments? Just for perspective, it generates about $20 million less per year than the higher House Draft, and most of that is in that $2-3 million range where you see much slower growth. Vice Chair? Go ahead.

Yeah. Chair, I appreciate the work and the consideration and the thoughtfulness to working on this. And I know that 9% is a strong number. But the nature of the district that I'm from, that's about 75%. About 25% of the homes are, you know, like, at 2.3 million or higher. So I'll be going WR today.

Thank you. That's not why we're doing it though. Okay. Rep Gedeon.

I'd like to echo this comment just because the demographic of my district as well, I'll be going WR.

I understand. And I think there's there's potential for this to continue to get, you know... Anyone else? If not, Vice Chair.

SB 3028, SD 2, HD 1, recommendation's to pass with amendments. I'm noting the presence of Rep Morikawa for the rest of the agenda and noting reservations for Rep Lee and Gedeon. Any other reservations? Any no votes? No vote for Rep Alcos and Rep Reyes Oda. Okay. Recommendation is adopted.

Thanks. And then if you guys have more feedback, feel free to continue to provide that as we head in the conference. Okay. SB 2544, SD 2, HD 1, relating to housing. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2544, SD 2, HD 1, recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2069, SD 2, HD 1, relating to the tolling unit revolving fund. Recommendation to move to as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2069, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Reservations for Rep Alcos. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2552, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the individual housing account program. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2552, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Rep Alcos reservations. Any other reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

This next measure, we will be pushing to Wednesday. Similarly, I think there's a small amendment. I just wanna make sure we get it right. SB 3218, SD 2, HD 1, related bonds will be pushed to Wednesday for decision making. SB 3022, SD 1, HD 1, relating to culture and arts. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 3022, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation's to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

On this next item, we'll also be pushing to Wednesday. I'm working on a minor amendment, but I wanna make sure I don't mess that up. So SB 148, SD 2, HD 2, relating to combat sports, push to Wednesday for decision making. SB 2259, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Recommendation move as is. Questions, comments? If not, Vice Chair.

SB 2259, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

SB 2578, SD 1, HD 1, relating to the film industry. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2578, SD 1, HD 1, recommendations to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation's adopted.

SB 2928, SD 1, HD 1, relating to procurement. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2816, SD 1, HD 1, recommendation to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation adopted.

SB 2816, SD 1, HD 1, relating to state enterprise zones. Recommendation to move as is. Other questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2816, SD 1, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

And lastly, SB 2580, SD 2, HD 1, related to the motion picture, digital media, and film production income tax credit. Recommendation to move as is. Questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair.

SB 2580, SD 2, HD 1. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any reservations? Any no votes? Recommendation is adopted.

Thank you very much. We're adjourned, and I'll see you in the afternoon.

Hello, everyone. We're convening the House Committee on Finance. It's it's roughly 2PM on Tuesday, 04/07/2026. We're in Conference Room 308. Before we get started, if you're on Zoom, please stay muted and hold your comments until you're asked to testify.

Just in case we need a refresher, microphone's in the ceiling, green means on, and plan us to go through. We have a pretty extensive agenda today. Plan us to go through everything as quickly as possible.

If possible to stand on your testimony, please do. But, otherwise, if you gotta say your piece, do your best to summarize and keep comments to roughly two minutes or shorter so that everyone has an equal opportunity to speak. The plan for most measures today is to have decision making this afternoon. There are, I think, three or four that we would plan on having decision making on for tomorrow on Wednesday.

But as we get to those, I'll do my best to highlight them so that folks don't feel the need to stay around in anticipation for decision making on those items.

Alright. We're ready. We're gonna open up with SB 2706, SD1 HD1 relating to workforce development.

First, we have the Department of Human Resources Development with comments.

Hi, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of deputy director Brian Furuto. We stand in support of our testimony. I'm sorry. We stand in support of the measure and stand on our written testimony.

So it was the hardest to be the first one to talk.

Nobody's follow my lead.

Thank you.

Department of Land and Natural Resources in support. Not present. Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, embers of the committee. Good afternoon, Sharon Hurd. Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity stand on our written testimony in support. Thank you.

Hawaii Farm Bureau in support.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. Brian Miyamoto, here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. We'll stand on a written testimony in support.

Thank you. That is everyone indicating to be joining us today. Additional support from two organizations and one individual. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions or comments? Or, like, comments, I guess. I wanna leave that. Okay. SB 2802, SD one h two one relating to the University of Hawaii.

K. Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in support.

Again, standing in support of our regurgest.

Hawaii Farm Bureau in support.

Hawaii Farm Bureau will stand on its written testimony in support.

Thank you. Additional testimony from one organization. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members questions? No. We're gonna move on to the next page. We have SB 3238 s d one h d one relating to language access.

K. We have the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in support. Not present. University of Hawaii in support on Zoom.

Amy, sir. Oh, sorry.

Sorry. Oh, University of Hawaii. We'll circle back to them. We have the State Health Planning and Development Agency, SHPDA, in support. Hi.

Terry Vesparis for doctor Jack Lewin. SHPDA, we stand on our territory to testimony support.

Thank you. We have AlomaCare in support on Zoom.

Not pleasant.

Not pleasant. We have the legal clinic in support.

Amy Agbayani in strong support.

Thank you. And circling back to Hello? Mercy of Hawaii on Zoom. Yeah. Hi.

Thank you. We have a local care in support on Zoom.

Just FYI, the Zoom people aren't seeing the hearing and what's happening.

Oh, we'll recess briefly to try and confer that technical issue. One second.

Alright. Let's give this another shot. UH are you ready to testify?

Yes. I am. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi. My name is Alan Rosenfeld, the associate vice president for academic programs and policy.

Stands on its written test testimony, and I'm happy to answer any questions the committee Members might have. Mahalo.

Thank you. And I think we had, DLIR, Mansu, to Doctor. Bispel.

Yes, Chair and Vice Chair, Sam. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi. Hello, Vice Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi. Alan Rosenfeld, Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Policy.

The university stands on its written testimony, and I'm happy to answer any questions the committee members may have. Mahalo.

Thank you. And, again, maybe one more time. DLIR, are you here for SB 3238 ? Or is there somebody else?

Aloha, Chair

Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi, Members of the committee on finance, America Pilaton Freitas, administrator of the workforce development division, on behalf of director James Tsai, the department of labor and industrial relations stand on its written testimony in support of this measure, and I'm available to answer any questions. Thank you. K.

Thank you. That's everyone that indicated they'd be joining us today. Members' additional testimony in support from four organizations and seven individuals, one other organization, and one individual providing comments. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Yes.

I think there's billions.

My bad.

Go ahead. Please just state your name for the record and proceed.

Yes. Hello, everyone. I'm Brian Glaser. I've lived in Hawaii for the last twenty two years where I'm an oceanography professor at the University of Hawaii and cofounder and CEO of Hohonu. We launched Hohonu to commercialize technologies developed in my lab over the last dozen years, initially funded by NOAA through the Hawaii Sea Grant program, by the National Science Foundation, and by philanthropic donors like Eric and Wendy Schmidt's Family Foundation.

We transferred the credibility that we had as research academics to operationally marketplace with the launch and early growth of Hohonu. And today, we're operating at over 200 locations in 18 states where we enable real time data to provide better flood monitoring, alerting, and predictions.

Hohonu is in a strong position to grow and thrive, but as we grow here in Hawaii, we'll be constrained by the local availability for specialized talent, availability of suppliers capable of scaling with us, and logistics challenge related to fulfillment and imports and necessary components. The Office of Marine Affairs is well positioned to address these problems across the Blue Economy cluster, and we have a better chance at solving them with dedicated resources to focus on coordination across the many groups involved.

Hawaii is unique and a challenging location to start a tech company, and it requires a focused, highly collaborative effort to be successful.

We believe Senate Bill 2907 will enable that collaboration and success, and the Hohonu team strongly supports its passage.

K. Thank you. And sorry. We're actually on, 3238. If you wanna stick around for the other bill.

But okay. Anybody else on Zoom?

K. Members, questions? Yeah. Go ahead, Rep. Hartsfield.

I have a question. I'm not sure who to direct it to, but I'll DLIR. Are you there, Mary Carr?

I'm here, Rep.

Hi. Thank you. Thank you for being present. So I had some individuals reach out expressing concerns that if this bill were passed, that it's unnecessary because there's already people who do not go through a program to become interpreters or translators. So is that a valid concern?

Does does your department believe that's a valid concern that having a a program is not necessarily it is not necessary to become a an translator or an interpreter?

So Rep, if your question is re relating to our services, so the workforce development in the Department of Labor, we operate services in the AJC, and at times, we do use interpreter services. So that's on one hand of the legislation. On the other hand, we also operate the program, which really encourages recent soon to be college graduates to open the doors for them. And and many times, even when disaster hits, it's it's really crucial to have services available to target population.

So the department stands in support of this measure, if that answers your question.

I guess it's it sort of does. I guess the concern is for people who are unable to attend and attend the program, would that decrease their opportunities to become translators or interpreters?

I would have to defer on the agency responsible for certifying the interpreters for official hearings that the department conduct or or the courts have interpret interpretation that requires interpretation services. I don't I can't speak on what the requirements to those things. But for services for the department, we do we do contact that agency that provide the inter interpretation services. So how those agency gets those interpreters or how they certify them, I will have to rely on that agency to respond to your question.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. That was helpful information. Chair, if I could ask one Another question to the legal clinic, doctor Antonacci.

So I know that your agency uses a lot of interpreters and translators. So, again, I have to ask because there were there were its current interpreters and translators who expressed some concern that if this bill passes, that people who don't have that education or that opportunity to go to a university

to get that type of education that they're gonna be at a disadvantage to become translators and interpreters. And so.

And you could see it that way. The other way is that you could see that providing this opportunity will actually increase the numbers and the opportunities for people to become translators. So we see it as a group recruitment activity as well as meeting immediate needs that are maybe informal translations and community services. But it is correct that people will have to get certified by different agencies. So this would actually provide more training and more opportunities and an experience that would probably provide them additional, opportunities to meet those, certification requirements.

Clearly, we need something to, reach out to and also utilize current bilingual competent students.

Alright. Thank you. That's very helpful. I agree that this is a much needed service. So thank you.

No problem. Anyone else? If not, we're gonna move on to SB 3286, SD1 HD1 relating to the University of Hawaii.

Chair.

K. Testimony from the University of Hawaii in support, but, they did not indicate that they would be present. And that's all the testimony we've received.

Members, any questions? Nope. Yeah. Okay. We have SB 2125 relating to teacher licensing.

K. Department of Education in support.

Yep. Carrie Tom with the Department of Education. We send our written testimony and support, and, you know, these individuals offering valuable professional experience. And extending the permit to five years, we give emergency hires a realistic path to licensure. Thank you.

Thank you. Executive Office on Early Learning in support.

Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi, Members of the committee, I'm Yuto, I have a cross director of the Executive Office on Early Learning. We stand on our written testimony in support.

K. Thank you. Hawaii Teachers Standards Board in opposition.

Thank you. Mitsuhiga speaking for the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board in opposition. Just briefly, I'll say to point out on our testimony, it's all written there. It's quite long. But just saying this bill is unnecessary, the emergency hire permit was created with three years on purpose.

It was created so that people would expedite the process of becoming a licensed teacher. If to get an emergency hire permit, they have to have a bachelor's already, so then they just need a post bacc or a master's. So that is why it was created.

And doing so, they still can do this and there's a lot of research saying another state, Texas has made a huge mistake of allowing something similar to this, and they are now saying there's a lot of student learning loss and that is a problem. We understand about teacher retention being the factor that is we're not keeping our teachers past five years in Hawaii, and that is a problem.

But we're working on other methods to solve this crisis, and this is not the way to go. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We have the Legal Clinic in support.

I just wanted to say, that we are in strong support. I would like to point out that this, measure covers emergency cars, both foreign born as well as Hawaii, other, persons, and we think it's very important.

I think if you're gonna elaborate it, if you can come up. I think the cone doesn't catch the audience all the time.

This measure actually covers emergency hires, and that also includes j one visa holders. And so it would be very helpful for the to address teacher shortage. I did it was point it was pointed out that it's important to have this upon approval, the bill be approved, that it could be implemented upon approval because a number of the j one visa holders, maybe may not be maybe, have to be terminated as soon as possible after that date. K. Thank you.

We have testimony in support from the teacher lounge on Zoom.

Hello, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. My name is Jimmy Brazelton. I'm the Executive Director of Teacher Lounge. We are the visa sponsor from the through the Department of State for the j one teachers at the Department of Education positions in Hawaii. We stand in stand in strong support, stand on testimony.

I just wanna reiterate that j one teachers are fully licensed in their home countries, are very successful in their classrooms, are making strong progress toward licensure, in in all cases, and I'm here to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Thank you. That's everyone who indicated they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony in support from two organizations and 15 individuals. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

K. Members, questions? No. Yes. Go ahead.

For DOE, please. I guess just maybe really quickly. So, you know, the teacher's standard board, testimony kinda brings up just understanding that this process is kind of longer, like, you referenced, and then the comments that the teacher's standard board made about, you know, them kinda getting to the process and being study and just pass the exam. Is the department doing anything to provide additional support to get them the certification?

So we are looking at creating we've created a work group and interviewed a lot of these teachers. And so to provide additional support, let's say, mentor support is something that is within our control and which we have strong intention to provide to these teachers. Yeah. So I think we have action plans in place that we, you know, we can't touch from here.

Is that but that's just starting?

It would be more starting because they probably need additional support, but it's something that we can definitely ramp up to.

So how long until it start? Because, right, it's been, like, three years for some of these people, which is why I think we're running into this problem.

Right. And I think, currently, it's actually in motion now, talked about being today.

And did you anticipate so everybody kind of stuck in this problem. If you guys get the additional two years, they'll get the certification within the two years with this additional support?

Well, not just j one teachers, but all other emergency hires. You know, we ran a survey. And basically, what we're finding is from the survey for the emergency hire teachers, a majority of them actually found that if they had more time, to go through the program, you know, it's not about

that they don't wanna stay in work with kids. Actually, just a little bit more time would probably help them. A lot of times these teachers have different life circumstances happening to them. I mean, g ones is just a subset of that. But a lot of times, life happens to the teachers, and this length of time might really help them out.

Thank you.

Additional questions? Nope. We're on to SB 2615 HD1 relating to school cafeteria meal classes.

K. We have the office of the governor in support.

Vice Chair, Members of the committee, and Angie Chapman with the governor's office here on behalf of The Office of the Governor stands on its written testimony in support.

Thank you. Department of Education in support on Zoom. Oh, in person.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. Analisa Tanner on behalf of the Department of Education. The department stands in in support of its written testimony.

Thank you. Hawaii Children Children's Action Network Speaks in support. On Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. Nicole Woo from Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks. So we support this bill. Currently, there's a law that says that the school district has to charge at least half the cost of producing a school meal, and there is no federal mandate to have that level of a price. So it's basically a state law that's sort of making it hard for our state to keep meals affordable, for families.

So this bill would lower that requirement down to one quarter of the cost of preparing a school meal, And our city could also just get rid of that requirement entirely since it is not a federal requirement. So we definitely support this. We don't wanna see school meal prices go up unnecessarily. Thank you.

Thank you. That's everyone who indicated they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony and support from three organizations and one individual providing comments. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members questions?

No? Yeah. I have a question. Go ahead. For Department of Education, please. So with this change, with the current cost of school meals, then you'll be compliant if we just do this change.

That's correct. Right? Yes. Correct.

So what is the plan, though? Because right. Because I think we've been talking a lot about the cost of meals in general just going up. So as soon as that goes up, then are you guys making plans to do these raises incrementally?

If this measure doesn't pass, if the question is No.

I mean, even if it even if it does pass this and you're compliant, right, with the price of the school meals is going up. So are once you reach this place where you're compliant, are you gonna be is there a plan to raise the cost that we're charging along with the rising cost of the school meals?

At this time, there is not a plan to increase the cost to families for for schools.

So that way, we just have to lower the statute again then?

No. So 25% is less than the current cost.

How I guess, how much could it raise with the current cost of meals? If if there's no plan in place to even try and increase cost at all.

Then you need I think our the the direction that we're working in right now is to reduce the total cost of the meals. So then we wouldn't be hitting the threshold again in in just a year or so.

So we think we're gonna be able to reduce the cost of overall meals given that there we know and not just in this committee event, all the committees that we're hearing a lot of increased cost in general of all our departments just buying everything. But you guys think you can right size it so that the cost of the overall meals is gonna go down. So no increases to the students' payment portion is going to need to go up.

Right now, we don't have a plan to increase the cost of meals, and our focus is on, becoming more efficient, sourcing locally, going into the regional kitchen where we will be able to take advantage of economies of scale. And so we're we're working to bring the cost down of total meals so that we can keep the price stagnant for families. Okay. Thank you. Anything else?

Now we're gonna move on to SB 2095, SD1 HD1 relating to environmental protection.

Okay.

We have the Department of Health with comments on Zoom.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. Grace Simmons on behalf of the Department of Health. We provided testimony commenting on the measure, and we are, we have no objections to the measure, but are requesting administrative support, to stand up the committee, the working group, as well as to collect data, contact our subject matter experts, and draft reports to the legislature. Thank you for the opportunity to to testify.

Thank you. Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. I'm Esther Riechert on behalf of Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. We stand in support. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. Board of Water Supply, in support.

Kathy Mitchell with the Board of Water Supply. We stand on our written testimony in strong support. Thank you. Thank you.

That's everybody indicating they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony and support from three organizations and five individuals. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Seeing none., moving on to SB 3138 SD1 HD1 relating to independent audits of deposit.

K. Department of Health and Support. Thank you. Hawaii Food Industry Association in support on Zoom.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the committee. I'm Alexis Chapman for HFIA. We stand on our support. Just one request to I think the, thresholds are blank right now, and we believe that the higher thresholds were the better option to make sure that this covers the businesses that it's supposed to cover and not the ones that it's not supposed to cover. And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Maui Maui Brewing Company with comments on Zoom.

Hello, Chair, Vice Chair. Great to see you again. Thanks for the opportunity to testify here. Largely stand on the written testimony. The reason I'm not in support is is much like Alexis said.

The thresholds were removed during the last hearing at EEP and reaching out to that committee we haven't really learned why. But those thresholds were agreed upon between Department of Health, legislators previously as well as the small business community. And I think we've spoken about this before that these audit programs are going to run somewhere in the order of $20,000 to $25,000 per audit.

And just as one example, us with four locations, sorry, five locations, our Kailua location would spend about $20,000 to audit $80 worth of fees. So clearly, we understand the intent of the program, but it's not set up correctly.

So those thresholds would need to be restored to save the small business community. Thank you. I'll be available for questions as well.

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

Good afternoon. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee, Tom Yamachika from Tax Foundation. We understood and the impact of compliance costs for small distributors, but we

do wanna see tangible steps to deal with the broad risk that the state auditor has pointed out in the past. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you. That's everyone who indicated they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony and support from two organizations and one individual. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? No? SB 3203 h d one relating to air medical services.

We have the Department of Health in support on Zoom.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, committee members. Garrett Hall, EMS chief for the Department of Health. We stand on our, written testimony in support, and I'm here to answer any questions you may have. Mahalo.

Thank you. We have SHPDA in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, committee Members. Terry Vesperis to Doctor. Jack Lewin. SHPDA , I strongly, stand in our written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. HMSA in support. Not present. Queens Health System in support. Not present.

AlohaCare in support on Zoom. Members, additional testimony and support from two other organizations. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? SB 2261 SD1 HD1 relating to health. K.

AlohaCare and support on Zoom. Still not present. They were the only one indicating they'd be joining us. Additional testimony and support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. One other organization, and one individual.

Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? We're on to the next page. We're on s v three zero four five s v one h d two relating to health insurance.

K. Department of Human Services and support on Zoom.

I'm here.

Oh, in person.

Chair, Vice Chair, moving to the committee, maybe my share what we're sending in DHS. We stand on our

Thank you. We have DCCA with comments.

Morning, Chair, Vice Chair, and the committee. Justin Chu for the insurance division. We stand on our written testimony. Now.

Thank you. And SHPDA in support. Yes.

Again, Terry Vesperis for SHPDA. I'll be able to talk to the student sponsor.

Thank you. HMSA providing comments. Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, members of the committee, Mulanire, but also the HMSA will not have over to this point.

Thank you. Healow Benioff Medical Center Foundation in support on Zoom.

Yes. Hello. Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. My name is Lisa Rance, and I respectfully stand on my written testimony in strong support of this bill. I'd also like to briefly add what we're seeing on the ground, Access, across our diabetes care community gatherings, which I did send the report, spent Hawaii Island and the other neighbor islands.

And what we heard over and over again is not confusion about diabetes, it's confusion about access. Patients and providers are navigating a system where coverage decisions don't follow clinical logic, they follow plan variability. In fact, we've seen situations where a husband with advanced diabetes was denied coverage for continuous glucose monitor while his wife newly diagnosed was able to receive one. Same condition, same community, same insurance coverage, completely different outcomes. This is not a clinical issue.

This is a system inconsistency issue. And as I highlighted in our statewide analysis, Hawaii currently operates without a uniform published Medicaid coverage policy for CGMs resulting in significant variation across plan and access criteria and administrative burden. I also want to address one concern raised in prior testimony that expanding access will create a shortage. Other states have already moved CGMs to a pharmacy benefit without prior authorization and have not experienced system collapse. They've experienced improved access and better diabetes management.

What we're experiencing in Hawaii is not a supply problem. It is a policy alignment problem. Right now, access to life saving technology depends more on which insurance plan you have than on your medical need, and that is exactly what this bill is, has the power to fix. So I thank you for the opportunity to provide that additional testimony and happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you. We have, the Hawaii Association of Health Plans with comments.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Rachel Wilkinson on behalf of the Hawaii Association of Health

Plans, and we stand on our testimony to provide written comments.

Thank you. That's everyone entertaining to be joining us today. Additional testimony in support from the Disability and Communication Access Board, two organizations and one individual, one other organization providing comments. Anybody else have the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Okay. Members, anything? Nope. SB 2866, SB1 HD1 relating to Kupuna Housing.

Okay. Hawaii Public Housing Authority in support.

HP adjacent.

Thank you. AARP Hawaii in support. Not present. Catholic Charities Hawaii in support on Zoom.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the committee. I'm Betty Lou Larsen. We strongly support this bill because we see an increasing number of our seniors facing homelessness mainly due to the economic impact of rising rats. We give a couple examples of our testimony. There was one gentleman who was only safe from homelessness because he couldn't work for a year with multiple surgeries, but with his rent supplement and his Social Security, he was okay.

We have other people who were living in situations like a container filled bathroom, finally getting into the housing but paying 80% of their income for rent. And, again, when our housing assistance program helped them to apply for rent supplement, finally, they could have a very affordable rent and were secure and could live a life of dignity and, hope at that time. So we thank you for, listening to this bill, and we hope that you strongly support it.

Thank you. We have testimony in support from Gregory Mesakian on Zoom. Not present. That's everybody who indicated they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony and support from the executive office on aging, three organizations, and six individuals.

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

Thanks. Members, questions? Nope. We have SB3324SD 1 H d one relating to Medicaid.

Hey. Department of Human Services and support on Sue. Hello.

I'm here. Hi. Good afternoon. Chair, vice chair, and member of

the committee.

I didn't know you showed, but I said

Hawaii State Council on on developmental disabilities in support.

Hi. Dean Chiu Bartoldis, executive director for Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities. We stand on our testimony and and strong support and respectfully ask if you're unable to accept the EHS recommendations to amend this bill that we placed in your committee report for consideration when it goes to conference. Thank you so much for this opportunity to provide testimony.

Thank you. AARP Hawaii in support. Not present. AlohaCare in support on Zoom. Not present.

That's everyone who indicated they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony in support from the Executive Office on Aging, Disability, and Communication Access for four organizations and four individuals. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

K. Any questions? Moving on to SB 3025 s D two H D two for leading to medical debt.

K. Office of Wellness and Resilience and support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. Tia Hartstock, director, Office of Wellness and Resilience. I'll stand in support of this measure and submitted comments and amendments for your consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. Queen's Health System in support. Not present. AlohaCare in support on Zoom. Not present.

Still not present. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Apologies, vice chair. AlohaCare is in support of this measure, and we also just recommend that we reviewed the testimony of Holomua Collaborative, and we were strong support those two amendments.

Thank you. And, Holomua Collaborative in support.

Aloha chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Matt Prellberg on behalf of Holomua Collaborative. Primarily, we're strong on stand stand in strong support of Senate Bill 3025, which would forgive medical debt for certain members of our community. A lot of the data is laid out in our testimony, but there are two things I would like to touch on. First being that medical debt is not a debt that anyone chooses.

Credit card debt, car loan debt, that's a common debt that they're, you know, you make the choice to get into. But my niece was born at Kapiolani Medical Center and with a birth defect that left her in the NICU for about ten months. And then for until she was about two and a half or three years old, she essentially had 24-7 care, not to make sure she could just stay alive. While in the NICU, there were two code blues that almost left her dead.

There were multiple heart surgeries, there were lung surgeries, and a variety of things.

Luckily, my brother and his family are in a situation in which health insurance was able to cover their debt because I believe it was after about the first three months that they would have had over $1,000,000 worth of debt. No one in the NICU came to them and said, here's a menu of your choices of what can happen to you, and here's what the cost is going to be. It was, we're going

to do whatever procedure it takes to keep you alive. And, again, luckily, they have the health insurance they needed to make sure that their bills were paid for. Their experience is not shared by many of the folks in this state, and too many folks are scared of getting, health, procedures that they may need because of falling into medical debt. And this bill can help alleviate some of those concerns. Again, my testimony has a lot of information about the data and what the bill exactly does.

I would also like to draw you to page attention to page three of the bill in which Holomua does request a variety of amendments in order to make sure that this, program can most efficiently and quickly run.

Including those amendments are adding, a section and some language to the purpose section, clarifying to the program, created by the bill can acquire in medical forgive medical debt that is identified as available for acquisition and residence of the state, specifying that the Office of Wellness and Resilience may partner with other relevant state agencies and programs to develop, implement, and administer the program, making the program exempt from procurement requirements, removing the requirement that the acquisition and forgiveness of medical debt under the program be deemed fully forgiven upon payment, and replaced with negotiated to ensure that the possible value for the state, providing, lastly, the providing that the unencumbered, appropriation money is authorized by the bill shall not lapse until 06/30/2027.

I am available for any questions you may have. Mahalo for your time.

Thank you. Thanks, everyone, who would occasionally be joining us today. Additional testimony additional testimony and or comments from the State Procurement Office, as well as eight organizations and eight individuals in support. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?

Members, questions? Nope. SB 3029 SD one HD one relating to community development.

First, we have the Department of Health in support.

Hold on. Justin, sorry, chair, vice chair members of the committee, Justin Lam, Department of Health. We stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. HCDA in support.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. Craig Nakamoto, executive director of HCA. We submit testimony in support. I also wanna suggest a couple of technical changes to the build just just to allow more reasonable time to review these proposals and consider them from that one county. So on page four, line 21 of the bill, we suggest changing that date to 03/31/2027.

The reason is it's at 12/31/2026. Sometimes we're still trying to get funds released from budgeted finance, so it's a little bit unrealistic. And then on page five, line five of the bill, maybe change the report back date to the legislature to before the regular session of 2028. If those changes are made, I think they would make the implementation of this pilot program for Summit Streets a little bit more realistic. Thank you, chair and vice chair and members of the committee.

Thank

Thank you. Hawaii Public Health Institute in support on Zoom.

Not present.

Not present. As everyone indicating, they'd be joining us today. Additional testimony and support from four organizations and four individuals. Anybody else in the room wishing to testify? Anybody on Zoom?