001[Music] good afternoon welcome to the committee on education we are in conference room 229 we have two agendas this afternoon one is very quick the first agenda is Senate Bill 225 5 7 the purpose of this is decision making to insert substantive Provisions into the following short form Bill and a public hearing will be scheduled at a later date at which point testimony will be accepted and members this is Senate Bill 2257 with a proposed sd1 and recommendation is to adopt the proposed sd1 questions members for the vote Senate Bill 2257 to amend to an sd1 the chair V Senator f i Senator Richard Senator Hashimoto both excuse recommendations adopted thank you moving on to the second agenda okay again this is the committee on education we are on our second agenda here in room
00229 and it is Wednesday February 7 3:00 pm. agenda starting with Senate Bill 2061 relating to the school bus driver certification subsidy pilot program okay 2061 um we have to test ify superintendent [Applause] [Music] Hayashi good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee kurle toguro Deputy superintendent uh testifying on behalf of the Department of Education uh you have our testimony we stand on our on the written testimony which provides comments on this measure I'd like to add that we truly appreciate the legislators legislations uh attempt to to help us with the bus driver shortage and we appreciate um uh the generosities that you've provided so far we are down at one point as many as 208 drivers from from pre pandemic and so this is a challenge for all of us so we appreciate
003uh the efforts in front of us happy to answer any questions thank you thank you members questions oh okay let's hear all the test testimony first um thank you okay yeah thank thank you um so I appreciate where trying to get the school bus you know Big Island we've had a lot of trouble getting kids to school um and the school drivers are contracted out how is that going to fit and how does this all work currently we have uh in the current contract which which expires on 6:30 of this year we have eight bus contractors that Dy up throughout the state um and so uh by Island by route the bus providers bid for and are awarded those routes uh effective July 1st of this year we will enter into a a new contract
004term which would be good for up to seven years and in in that contract we will be down to three bus providers okay and so we we work with the bus providers to establish those routes that they contract for okay just I big island is big and so we have trouble getting our kids to school so thank you chair thank you question so Kurt right now you have eight BS contracts that's correct and you're saying July 1 2024 you already went out to bid and you only have three bus providers three providers so there only three that applied or only three or you negotiated with three that applied and those three did so what what happened is just a shortage of uh shortage um there's a some that will be Consolidated and some just um
005didn't bid okay so how does this measure help get more if you can't get them we have worked with uh the three providers uh two of them are are the largest ones in the state and we've met with the principles of each company to be assured that they have sufficient drivers to do that even the third company which is smaller uh they've assured us that um through through some kind of merger they will get more drivers uh focusing on Kawai yeah but this what does exactly so when you negotiated these contracts you didn't have this measure we didn't have this measure right so so how would this measure help yeah I mean so yeah yeah we this measure uh and that's is why we provided comments it's it's a little more complex than that a
006certification process for drivers uh we don't they're not our employees first of all what has helped uh the the contractors has been additional subsidies that we've provided to them so they can compensate their drivers more so as you know the CDL license is a is a process um to drive passengers you have to have a p designation and then to get schools you have an S designation on top of a p and so that's a laborious process that takes some time um but so certifying more drivers uh or attracting more drivers is really the the issue um the industry is faced with retirements as you know um and in order of importance or preference I should say um obviously driving tour buses is is what attracts most um and then school buses and then of
007course the special extracurricular activities but we there's no magic Silver Bullet I don't think that's going to provide just uh people to encourage we're going to have to work with these bus providers to find ways to incent this may be one but it's not the Cure All as you you're alluding to it's not okay so this is a oneye PR driver certification subsidy pilot program so how much is in in that one year what do we actually be subsidizing the dollar amount I I couldn't I don't have that at number so what would be a dollar amount that's going to attract them is what I'm trying to find out I mean you just say that we're going to have a subsidy hope we hope it's going to be a Ed I mean it has to
008be built sure we can get up per hour we can base it on the classes themselves we can base on up per hour uh so we we'll come back to you with that yeah but is that enough to attract them I mean are we just spinning our Wheels here if one if not enough people even apply already or want to play because they want have be tour bus drivers because they probably get tips from the turr I don't know what it is that might attract them but if you don't have the bodies to begin with I'm not sure how adding and I don't know again how much money you're going to add that all of a sudden the guy can say hey yeah now they going to get you know $25 more I'm going to
009go certify and be a bus driver you're right I I will get that information for you I I don't know what the magic number is to say that from per hour to a different per hour will convince them to drive um it may attract drivers that have retired uh that want to come back um but this is this is a challenging profession this is a challenging industry across as you know across the country right so I'm just trying to put my handle on what is it that we can do constructively that's going to attract The Bu D instead of just throwing stuff that we think oh yeah this might help oh yeah this might help but how do we know I mean we don't know how much they're going to get I I don't know
010but what level they're going to get it at one year only so you give them for one year then they're going to quit after the one year yeah it it's a multi-prong approach um it's it's a challenge to drive school buses it's a live lot of liability as you know you know it's hard to to be get security guards yes I mean we're facing the same situation so yes I just hope you guys have more more of a plan as to how we're going to get more bus drivers and just saying we're going to do a pilot project and have a certification subsidy that is not even articulated I might add Senator that this is not the deal I know but whenever they come and testifying support then you got to have reasons why you're
011supporting it the senator requested it because money is involved and that money could be spent better some other way that we could attract the Str we we'll come up with numbers everything can help anything can help at this point yeah that's true for everything right we don't have money to to everything can know yes yes have to prioritize further questions thank you so anyone else here wishing to testify on this bill okay if there's no further testimony we're moving on to Senate Bill 3328 relating to education clarifies the department of education's authority to oversee public education facilities and real estate development establishes the office of facilities and real estate development and the office of school operations and services repeals the school facilities Authority reorganizes the department of education's organizational structure by four facilities and real
012estate development okay here to testify on this measure oh Warren thank you good afternoon Sher kidani Vice chair Kim Senator Richards um my name is Warren heroi chair of the Board of Education we strongly support this measure as it provides greater Clarity regarding the department of education's authority over facilities um I'm here to answer any questions that you might have on this measure questions members yeah can we wait till all you can come back okay I have question thank you next to testify superintendent please aloh chair kidani Vice chair Kim members of the committee Kei Hayashi superintendent testifying on behalf of the Department of Education the department stands on its written testimony and support of this measure while we are aware that we have improvements to make in the area of facilities the department has
013already started a comprehensive review of our facilities operations to make sure we have we serve our school tools as effectively and cost efficiently as possible this internal review began late in 2023 and our overall aim is to index and manage land facilities and funding resources available for public education and to create an integrated and efficient process for putting those resources to use I am definitely committed to this effort we are working we are fortunate to be working with the Board of Education and Industry advisers to accomplish this with a sense of urgency the department does have one request that uh that is to be allowed to use its existing processes to accomplish the needed reorganization and realignment rather than having it be in um uh uh implemented through statute thank you very much for the
014opportunity to testify thank you members questions anyone else here to testify on this measure oh thought you were okay good afternoon chair kidani Vice chair Kim members and huchi Department of the Attorney General um just to highlight one point from our testimony the department does object to new section 302a a-b uh paragraph 6 on page 11 lines 5 through 11 this would allow the new office of facilities in real estate development to retain private counsel um as we noted in our testimony we believe the department is best suited to provide legal advice to the state clients on a broad array of matters and therefore as a general matter um state agency are best served by Deputy Attorneys General um to the extent that there are certain matters that might require attorneys with specific kind of
015experience the Attorney General can already appoint special Deputy Attorneys General who can address specific issues as they arise so we believe that the provision on page 11 lines 5 through1 is unnecessary um because we already have the special Deputy process um I'll be available for questions thank you thank you members questions have questions for um both the chair of and the superintend so first um superintendent mentioned something about allowing folks to implement implement this without the statute are you able to do that wasn't the statue created the uh SFA um thank you very much for the question um Vice chair U when I was testifying I was referring to um the portion of uh bill that um uh spoke to the reorganization and um so that if uh the department would be then allowed to
016um Implement that process through our through our own efforts you don't want us to dictate what that process we we would be very appreciative of that yes I thought you were ref to um and what about what was brought up by the Attorney General as far as realization of general counsel um I believe in that section Senator um it does refer [Applause] to see I'm sorry um on page 11 uh begins on line five uh that I believe the wording is that um we would uh independent attorney general to provide Legal Services solely in cases of uh negotiation which the Attorney General um you know lacks of sufficient expertise in that area but we we do know that they have expertise in many areas um but also we would consult um the we would uh
017consult and working with in conjunction with the designated uh Deputy attorney general but they already would if they don't have the expertise they could already go out and get somebody and they probably have more knowledge as to what are some of these law firms that would have that species so we in in in any situation Senate we definitely would be working with the Department of the Attorney General so if we strike this out and say that the Attorney General's office would work with you in determining if they don't have the qualifications on an outside Council that they would then employ or contract with because that money will then come out of the AG if you leave it in here you're going to be hooked for all those all those costs you realize that I didn't
018realize that yeah you could your own outside ccil and you guys got to pay right right yes yeah and so anyway okay um so Mr rukie are you guys aware of what I know this is not your your measure and I tend to agree with this measure to to set that straight but why we went to SFA to begin with why did the Senate I mean why did the legis go there I think like many things these adjunct agencies are created because of some failure of an existing Department not doing their job so the thinking is that let's create another one and this one puts it back Humpty Dumpty back again um it it there's a lot of uh statutory overlap between what doe is responsible for and what SFA is responsible for so this
019helps to clarify that or eliminate that and if you just go back in the past year and you look at what SFA has done and was funded for the 11 prek classrooms were essentially done by the doe and as of yesterday because of the resignation of the prior executive director and the naming of a new interim the department entered into a new Mo MOA with the SFA to basically say that the next cohort of 55 would be handled by the doe so as superintendent mentioned we have our own set of issues but with respect to doing pre we have essentially done it and we know how to do this so I'm not too concerned about taking on that yeah and I and I have to agree but my whole point is that we moved from
020dags to doe and then from doe to SFA because there was a lack of comp I don't know what it is that people were not happy with right which caused the body to decide now if if SFA is not doing it so now they go back and put it back into doe which where it was to begin with and only are we going to encounter similar I understand what you're saying that's very because I was concerned at first when we did the SFA and and you know only to come full full circle to see you know yeah I think that that's a real concern we do have issues as you have heard with lapsing and other issues but um this bill also enables us to have Clarity and it also encourages the reorganization it also
021specifies that we can go ahead and hire the appropriate exemp positions so you didn't have Clarity before is that what telling me that when it came over to you guys you didn't have Clarity and you didn't have the I mean you had the total sole complete control over it you could have reorganized how everywh you wanted right yeah and I'm not saying that we this is not a situation of saying here we're all good no I know but I'm just saying that it wasn't good you had all the ability to do what we're trying to do in this bill back then we created s SAA probably you know not because folks agreed to it but because people were not happy we created SFA we're not happy with SFA now it's going to go back to
022the same entity that could have done all of this that didn't so what are we assured of because I don't want to be here three years Som now saying we got to create another entity right we have this allows us to move forward with Clarity statutory Clarity we still have our own issues to deal with we have created the superintendent has a multiphase plan to do a comprehensive relook at overall real estate and many of the phases of the plan have begun uh we have a new as that's in charge of facilities we realize that there needs to be statutory changes like this we may need to seek County Building Permit exemptions we may need to look at Board of Education policies or doe policies uh many different things the legislature can also assist because
023of how capital capital Improvement budgets come as a line item so we have a specific dollar amount and with the rampid inflation that we have experienced over the last 3 four years you know we have an inadequate amount of funds to do the projects so there's many many different aspects but we recog recognize that there is a problem and we have a comprehensive approach to doing this the reorganization is very helpful um superintendent says he wants to do it within not within statute but the statute is actually saying you go ahead and do this and actually it's a creation of a new assistant superintendent of I call it ofred um you know and a secretary that's put in here appropriated for that funded so that's a good thing so we took when we created SFA
024did we take any positions away from thee when you had SFA um I believe Senator uh seven positions I believe seven positions from facilities um went over to we designated for SFA I I I I I will double check on that for you though so with this SFA moving over back are you inheriting back those seven positions so whatever positions that have that's contained in when the back this what how many positions does SFA have on page 32 there's a for 33 that is struck the executive director and seven full-time administrative positions of the SFA okay so you don't get any of them and you're asking for what one pos two positions secretary right okay thank you um this is probably echoing a little bit of what the senator just was talking about on the
025big island we had dags taking care of maintenance for most things I I don't understand why a few things were carved out like the refrigeration and the freezer un and I superintendent talked about okay we so we put this back together how does this work on the big island will this be Statewide or this be aahu and then the the neighbor Island will be different how is this going to work currently um thank you very much for the question senator for currently as we're talking with the refrigeration um we do have a service level agreement with Department of accounting and general Services which um designates whether it's do or DS that's responsible for certain repair maintenance efforts within schools um at this point that service level agreement would still be in effect uh but we
026definitely we be open to to discussions in relation to um overall so this would be primarily for a walk EV then uh primarily however initially I I do believe though that um we would need to continue to explore additional options uh what is really has been wonderful is that um comol Oran has uh we've been working together with between dags in the doe we've gone and visited Hawaii Island um and actually we're able to um take care of one project and assess others DS has been a very valued partner in that effort um and we look forward to expanding on uh uh that relationship not only on Hawaii island and the build on the successes on Kawai and um but also address the issues on Moi okay so specifically the Y Maya elementary school has
027a refrigeration freezer problem that's responsibility of doe not dags yes that's a 2017 distinction so where are we going to be with this is this going to be delayed cuz that's really need to get going great um I I can speak with you offline on that Senator um I do believe that we are moving on that project it is essential and we did talk about it um it has been a long time um I'll I'll be the first to admit that it is unacceptable for what has happened at way and we are working as quickly as we can to remedy that situation make it right okay well it's not just for one minute we're talking about the school Statewide yes and making sure that because we had this we we don't need to bring up
028the CIP lapsing but this is stuff we got to get going because this is for the the the kids so all right thank you chair I one more question yes um just a follow up on that so this measure only applies to SFA which only applies to O AFU correct because all the neighbor Islands fall under dag still for so or no this will take the whole state um so I believe for repair maintenance um efforts it is between DS and Department of Education uh when we looking at this overall overall um support uh with should this bill pass or hopefully this bill does pass then um that support would be extended not only on aahu but also to the neighbor Islands in relation to CIP and um ENT maintenance is still fall under D
029under D yes at this point I believe so yes okay so this bill does not check my my understanding of the bill is that the fun functions that SFA has goes over to the doe so that's primarily prek and there's some teacher housing that has really not yet got off the ground change the dag situation yes so I just want to the second thing I have is that educational facility and real estate Development Special fund so this is a new fund but I believe Senator we're asking for that fund to uh move over move over so currently do you know what that fund has how much that fund has uh I I don't know the exact amount Senator but we can get that information from I have no idea but it's you know School impact
030fees are all in there and so so this just moves in so the school impact fees you've never touched the school impact fees correct that's yeah that's SF yeah but it used to be you guys yes you're right s it was it was with us and I believe at that time uh de had had not um leveraged those funds it went over to SFA um you know and we we're hoping that that fund does come back to the department and we would uh definitely utilize that special fund to implement uh educational educational priorities that would include as chair chair mentioned um teacher employee housing uh prek uh you know and really to support that efforts uh such like as as ready K ready Ki yes well can you guys get back as to what are
031the criteria for using that fund because I know that's been raised by councilman and the concern about school impact fees really relate to building of more schools and you know I'm not sure that you can use it for anything regarding regarding School needs it has to be related uh to that more facilities I think than than anything else but uh usually when you do a special fund it's got to be self- sustaining in a sense so is there going to be enough money coming in into this fund um because I know there's a move to to limit the um School impact fees from residential unit think if you look at the budget and finances comments on the special fund you know I don't think we disagree with them um there's no way that this fund
032is going to ever be self- sustaining given the the magnitude of what is in front of us for C so then why we why do we I think what the intent of this Bill is saying trying to say is they want us to create sub accounts in such a manner that we can account for yes you know that stuff but it does not necessarily have to be a special fund if the doe yeah if the doe were to you know be required to create as it says sub accounts Etc to so then should we change we amend this to say development of of funds within the doe instead of saying a special fund because special fund has that connotation and we have so many special funds place so I can see you know keep being
033accountable for these funds but if you're not going to be able to raise money and sustain it then it doesn't qualify as a special fund I I I agree with that and um I think the other thing about the special funds as it's now written it's it allows the governor to have access to those funds so you know we we may be we will put it in but we don't have full control over its use as I as I read this but budget and finance did weigh in on with comments so okay thank you so does the doe have a place to put these ones currently we can create a sub which I think is what we want to put in the B there's one one procedural thing that I just want to point out
034if you look at page 11 the bottom of page 10 actually there's a parenthetical four and it's talking about granting options to acquire project any project or to renew any lease and that same language is duplicated on the next page on item five exactly the same but I believe that what the intent here is in real estate you either you can grant options and you can acquire options so I think the a one is to acquire want is to purchase but that's the same thing purchase and acquir you acquire by purchase you acquire by not always somebody gives it to yeah maybe we can just put to acquire add yeah yeah purchase okay that's a good catch yeah so in the purchase situation we would not be granting we would be acquiring that option so
035if you put acquire acquire un purchase question MERS question so I think superintendent you know when we take a look at this bill I think it's specifically more for school facilities Authority but I think there was a you know might my question really is amongst building capacity right I think that's that's the question of day is if we give this to you is there enough capacity in the doe to to take on this additional role where we tried to give it away and you know there was the capacity give it back is their capacity and I know you've done a few things but maybe you can let us know what is what are the things that make you confident that you can fold this back in and will be successful right I know you're starting
036the reorg process but what what you know things should should comfort Us in knowing that you know now we bring this back it's it's going to be a different type of um you know picture that we're going to see thank you very much for that question Senator um I am confident that we would be able to um uh should we get the responsibilities back and implement this that we will be successful at it um it it it is it is a matter of um our personnel and the positions that we have and those folks that are very much committed to doing the the right work um it's part of that um moving Personnel around into the right uh seats uh so that they can implement but it's also about ensuring that we have the proper
037processes in place and um I think over the last several months as we've been evaluating where we are um some of those processes may have been misaligned in a bit um and but it is about us working together not only internally within the facilities um office but also working um very proactively with our schools and um identifying those areas of need and prioritizing that from the Department side being able to prioritize those projects and being able to share and communicate that um with with our partners in in in the legislature um as well as in BNF and with other schools we are looking at um processes such that we're enabling or we are organizing uh facilities that um uh we're better able to track by complex area and monitor those projects I think is one
038thing that's very important I we heard loud and clear uh in in uh in one of our wh in the Wham session about um some of the concerns that were raised on tracking projects and ensuring that those projects are being monitored and those are some of the changes that we're going to be putting in place um there there are a number of processes that U need to be addressed and adjusted and uh we're in the process of identifying those um I I I'll share that in the last uh two or three months I I I have learned a lot about facilities and the our successes as well as the challenges that we face and I I am very much committed to ensuring that um we do better because our schools deserve better and and our
039communities do and what has been happening uh cannot continue so I know you said previously that you know you you you want us to trust you in terms of how you are able to reor so are there parts of this bill that concern you that it's too prescriptive in in this in what we're writing out in creating that office or you think what's in the bill is is okay I I think it's um well when when we look as as the bill um speaks to the office of real estate development and the office of school operations and services uh that those offices um as we we've looked at internally within the department uh the office of uh facilities and operation is is is rather large right it deals with facilities as well as uh safety
040uh Transportation food and Etc and so so um being able to um uh being able to separate responsibilities definitely will help us do things a lot better and a lot quicker um I'm confident that as we move forward and we um continue to work with our our our folks that are currently in positions as well as um seek additional supports that's really important that we we do that and we are on that Journey also Al um it working together with our board as well as with our industry partners and getting feedback from them on how to best utilize um uh our efforts and getting feedback I think is really important CU we we know what we know but we don't know what we don't and so that's where outside supports you know can can really
041help us so so in the bill it's it's we're kind of locking you into those two branches then is what you're saying uh yes and I I think you know those those two branches are it's it's definitely important that um we're able to um maneuver right those the additional support assistant superintendent and secretary uh will definitely Aid Us in helping to uh distribute responsibilities uh in in the correct manner okay because this this would be the only area in statue that describes what you have to do right is or there other super assist in that or in Statue no this is so we yeah this is the um I believe this is the only area but is there special powers that they're getting that's why it would be important for it to be enshrined in
042statute no no so if you know if uh being given the the position is really important for us um but to uh be able to designate and maneuver is also very important within the department okay so so do you believe that we're giving you everything from SFA that was used full you know like the we gave them certain abilities that the do you know it's particularly in the housing space that we weren't doing before yes do you feel that everything's in there that you need that to to continue that CU I think that was critical new thing that we were adding in right I I believe that is important Senator um we're looking at um as we're able to develop U employee and and teacher housing uh as a recruitment and retention tool right to
043help support uh our um employee challenges within the department and uh that having that ability definitely will help us to move forward in the right direction okay very good thank you chair thank you thank you and I think uh we should also point out that it was also the department that did the ready cakey uh rooms rather than SFA that was asked to do it um thank you I wanted to call up the Attorney General with regard to your testimony uh I think question regarding uh testimony on the page 11 I mean the bill that AG feels it should be deleted because your office already has the ability to um support the doe yes and to the extent that we encounter something for which we don't have the appropriate expertise and we'd have the ability
044through the special Deputy process to go to outside Council and retain them as special Deputy Attorneys General to assist on something and we our department works with them that's something that the department already does um I think that what's in the bill is actually it's carried over from the SFA statute that certain powers that's under in um SFA statute were placed in the bill and that's something we actually testified against previously when the SFA statute was being enacted but it stayed in um so we're renewing our objection that we don't think it's appropriate to um for this new office in doe to have the ability to retain private counsil we don't think it's necessary thank you members questions and I agree thank you thank you any further questions members if not is that 328 we
045have one more item Senate Bill 2975 relating to education so this is regarding the qualified intern ship grant program Department did you have testimony good afternoon Senator Donnie Senator Kim and members of the committee Tammy Chun Deputy superintendent on behalf of the Department of Education we stand on our written testimony with comments thank you members questions I always wonder when you say comments what exactly is your comments versus yeah I don't know if I have your comments [Music] actually superintendent comments yes thank you yeah can you articulate it so the public watching knows what it is you guys are talking about yes sure uh the comments are that we support the opportunities um for students to have additional work-based learning opportunities they're whether they come in the form that's in the build by giving them
046to a nonprofit would be something the legislature could provide but we also have additional ways that students can get these internship opportunities through uh department of education programs or in partnership with other state departments such as the program that the Department of Labor and Industrial relations has for student interns so you feel that what you have is adequate uh we feel that students can always use more opportunities I think the question for us is not a matter of how much resources but the mechanism that is um proposed in this bill is to specifically uh contract with uh other organization nonprofit organizations to provide the the internships and organize the internships and you folks agree to age with that uh we would say that it could be done it but it's so we're just commenting because
047we said that if the legislature provided us the funding to do it we would carry it out because it provides more opportunities but it is it's not a part of the Department of education's board approved requests for budget for the work-based learning funds to come through this mechanism got so it would be more uniform or you would have more control over the all the programs take into consideration and having this adjunct program going on with the legislature funding to contracts nonprofits whereas it would be one one of the many programs that you would have that you would be able to integrate for your students is that kind of what you're saying yes Senator I believe that's what I'm saying we have a budget request in the board approved budget to support more work-based learning opportunities
048that would be funding to the department that we would administer in a variety of ways this bill would be specifically to um contract out to a nonprofit to organize those uh opportunities so you're saying you guys can do that you just need the money yes correct we I don't believe we need this the the statute to specifically say that we could contract out to do it thank you we don't need any new sketches thank you thank you further questions members I think that is yeah chair question for labor I guess that's you well let me if I just testify first okay Cher kadani Cher K members of Comm David Rodriguez with the Department of Labor industrial relations uh we stand by our written comments but uh note our opposition to the subminimum wage language in
049the bill and I'm here to answer any questions what was your opposition on I'm sorry on the subminimum uh below the language oh yeah yeah so it should uh cify with Fair Labor flsa which is $14 I'm sorry talking about the amount right corre from 12 it should be 14 correct thank you thank you and chair that was actually my question about 12 versus 14 was in the intent of doe to attract um potential employment opportunities by a sub um minimum wage and I can understand your um hesitation on a sub minimum wage but was that the intent I was curious why we're going to try and codify $12 instead of 14 so I don't know that's a doe question probably but chair I don't know if you want to get through testimony first go
050ahead you can answer the question since we're on the subject the yeah reasoning for the $12 versus the minimum wage we are requesting that it be raised to at least the minimum wage we did not um we don't support the subminimum wage all right thank you chair thank you is there anyone else here wishing to provide testimony EG good afternoon chair kadani Vice chair Kim members and huchi Department of the Attorney General um and I apologize if you don't have our testimony I'll be sure to send copies um after the hearing but what we noted in our testimony is that um the bill doesn't appear to have adequate standards by which the doe or the contracted thirdparty administrator is to distribute the grants so we recommend that the bill be amended to insert sufficient standards
051for the doe or the third party administrator to distribute the funds to eligible businesses and organizations who wish to participate in the program in our testimony we've attached draft standards um and we'd be happy to work with the committee on on amending the bill as that as needed I'm available for questions thank you question members yeah so if if this bill is not needed and the doe can do this we provide them with funding um does this is this still a concern of yours no I think we're just concerned that what's set what's created this program that's created doesn't give any definition as to how the the doe or the the nonprofit third the contracted third party administrator how they would distribute the the doe already has that stand in with their programs I understand
052yes they would thank you thank you loha chair Vice chair members of the committee L MO is speaking on behalf of Osa president of the Hawaii state Teachers Association he submitted a a written testimony and we support this bill and um we sent on our written testimony and I just want to mention that I have two teacher assistants in my class that volunteers at the capani medical center and I can attest that work-based learning is really really important and they're succeeding well and they want to become nurses thank you very much for the opportunity to testify thank you Aloha Cher kyani Vice chair Kim and members of the committee I'm David Sun meiro executive director of Hawaii kids can Hawai kids can stands on our written testimony and strong support of SB 2975 with a
053few notes work-based learning provides an opportunity for students to build their skills and Connections in collaboration with our D diverse community of local employers SP 2975 ensures that more of our employers and students can participate in these Partnerships by supporting employers especially small to medium-sized businesses with grants they can reinvest funding back into compensating interns and providing high quality supervision and training Hawaii has a number of work-based learning intermediaries that can help facilitate these grants we also note that existing internship programs through agencies like are only available to those with a high school diploma or equivalent um I will note that uh one of the reasons uh we support this bill is we have heard from local employers again the small to medium-sized businesses that unless they have an existing partnership with a school or
054a Career Academy uh it can be very difficult for them to offer those internship experiences so um while the doe should be praised for the work that it's already doing I do think more diverse Pathways for students to find a high quality internship that meets their interest um I think will be really valuable as we really try to get more of our kids those critical experiences by the time that they graduate uh happy to answer any questions thank you thank you David hello H chair Pani Vice chairman Kim and Senators thank you so much for having us today um Eliza talet with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii I just want to um Echo the uh test Tony of David um with Hawai kids can we completely agree with that and would also add that this
055is an important opportunity for students to be involved and in a small business um and a mediumsized business and and learn about entrepreneurship as well which we also think is very important um and in relation to the doe and the AG's um amendments we we support those and completely understand where they're coming from um and so uh we um also submit a testimony and write writing I don't know if you guys got it I hope so um there was also testimony from a student um in support of this and um he is uh someone that we're working with at the Chamber of Commerce and um he's very supportive of this as well so um here to answer any questions thank you thank you members questions thank you D did you have further testimony that you
056want to provide thank you anyone else here wishing to to give testimony is Lauren zerbel on Zoom not present on Zoom chair I didn't see her name thank you members if there's no further questions no questions for Ken so tell me the testimony um you just heard is saying that if you don't have a relationship with doe uh it's difficult to get internships you have a comment on that response I I don't have a specific response to that I do think that uh it does take some steps to set up uh internship with between students and other organizations there's always liability and safety and training to be considered so there is some paperwork involved the intermediaries nonprofit organizations sometimes like the chamber or healthc care Association of Hawaii can be helpful in coordinating that with
057um businesses especially small ones I so that's useful I do think that we are able to currently contract with organizations without needing statute um to be able to do so okay and you would with the funding you would be able to reach out to more of these nonprofits and so forth and that was raised yes some of our complex areas already do have those relationships great thank you thank you further questions members if not let's go into recess all right reconvening the committee on education the recommendation of the chair is going to be to defer Senate Bill 2061 with regard to Senate Bill 3328 we are going to pass with amendments adopting the testimony of the Attorney General to repeal HRS section 8417 C paragraph 13 and also defecting the date to July 1 um
058is that it and yes and um also deferring Senate bill to oh okay so voting on Senate Bill 3328 uh to pass with Amendment chair votes I Vice chair votes I Senator has I Senator Richard Senator fa five eyes adoped thank you and for Senate Bill 2975 recommendation is to defer can I clarify one thing on 2061 hope that the department will get back to us as far as you know what what incentives can we do to it is Aid thank you thank you members meeting's ad journ