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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
127 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
urging adequate financial impact assistance for providing services to citizens of the freely associated states who reside in the state of hawaii.
WHEREAS, the Compact of Free Association is an agreement established in 1986 between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and in 1994 with the Republic of Palau; and
WHEREAS, under the Compact, the United States provides direct economic assistance, federal services, and military protection to these nations, in exchange for defense rights; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. State Department should consider the impact of Freely Associated States citizens on Hawaii during this year’s renegotiation of the compacts; and
WHEREAS, citizens of these Freely Associated States (FAS) are also allowed to freely enter the United States without a visa or other immigration requirements; and
WHEREAS, drawn by the promise of better medical care and a better education for their children, over 6000 Freely Associated States citizens have migrated to and are currently residing in Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Compact’s enabling legislation authorizes federal compensation for impact costs incurred by United States areas, including Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the 1996 federal welfare reform act cut off access to federal welfare and medical programs forcing citizens of these Freely Associated States to rely on state aid; and
WHEREAS, the cost of supporting FAS citizens, largely in healthcare and education, was $86 million between 1996 and 2000; and
WHEREAS, FAS students have higher costs than other students due to poor language and other skills; and
WHEREAS, due to FAS students entering and leaving school a few times each year their integration into the school system difficult; and
WHEREAS, since the Compact went into effect in 1986 until 2001, the State spent over $64 million to educate FAS citizens and their children in our public schools, $10 million in 2000 alone; and
WHEREAS, FAS citizens continue to have a fast-growing impact on our public school system; and
WHEREAS, last year, the number of FAS students in our primary and secondary public schools increased by 28%, resulting in costs to the State of over $13 million for the academic year, bringing the total cost since 1988 to about $78 million; and
WHEREAS, during the academic school year 2001-2002, the University of Hawaii lost over $1.2 million in tuition revenue as a result of students from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau paying resident rather than non-resident tuition; and
WHEREAS, inadequate and delayed federal compensation to Hawaii’s education system will be at a cost to our own children, and is one reason Hawaii is the last among the fifty states in per pupil expenditures for its public school children in kindergarten through 12th grade; and
WHEREAS, state Medicaid payments for FAS citizens from 1998 to 2001 totaled $12.4 million; and
WHEREAS, the financial stability and viability of private hospitals and medical providers is threatened by staggering debts and write-offs resulting from medical services to FAS citizens, in spite of state Medicaid reimbursements; and
WHEREAS, the Queen’s Medical Center alone has incurred operating losses of $16 million between 1995 and 1999, and is owed over $11 million by Compact of Free Association nations; and
WHEREAS, community health centers estimate an annual cost of $420,000 for services to FAS residents; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Health has also been significantly impacted by the cost of public health services to FAS immigrants with $967,000 spent on screening vaccination and treatment of communicable diseases and $190,000 spent for immunization and outreach by public health nurses; and
WHEREAS, FAS citizens may face unfair criticism and refusal of medical services from medical providers; and
WHEREAS, inadequate and delayed federal compensation threaten to overwhelm Hawaii’s health care systems, leading to potential cutbacks in services and personnel that would impact all of Hawaii’s citizens; and
WHEREAS, it is imperative that Hawaii be granted immediate and substantial federal assistance to meet these mounting costs; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Bush Administration and the U.S. Congress are requested to appropriate adequate financial impact assistance for health, education, and other social services for Hawaii’s Freely Associated States citizens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Hawaii’s congressional delegates are requested to assure financial reimbursements, through the establishment of a trust, escrow, or set-aside account, to the State of Hawaii for educational, medical, and social services and to Hawaii’s private medical providers who have provided services to Freely Associated States citizens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the U.S. State Department, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, the Governor, the Superintendent of the Department of Education, and the Director of Health.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Report Title:
Federal Impact Assistance for Costs of FAS' Hawaii Residents