THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

141

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING a study of the effects of FEDERAL INITIATIVES ON THE ECONOMY OF THE STATE OF HAWAII.

 

WHEREAS, the explosion of federally-mandated programs began during the latter half of the 1980s when the federal government, struggling with new spending priorities and a rapidly expanding federal budget deficit, chose to require the states to finance, administer, and implement these new and costly responsibilities; and

WHEREAS, these initiatives included, among others, requiring states to enforce new standards for smog and acid rain reduction, enforce new transportation requirements for hazardous waste, expand state Medicaid coverage for certain households and individuals, and enforce driver's license revocation requirements for certain drug offenses; and

WHEREAS, many of these initiatives are now current service requirements of ongoing federal-state programs that require state matching funds for federal grants; and

WHEREAS, forcing the states to comply with and contribute to the cost of implementing federally-developed programs and initiatives offers the federal government a convenient method of taking credit for expanding and developing new programs while exporting the burden of cost and administration to the states; and

WHEREAS, a case in point is the State's expenditure hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with the Felix-Cayetano consent decree, which requires the State's compliance with federally-mandated special education standards; and

WHEREAS, the federal government is supposed to contribute 40 percent of the costs of complying with these federally-mandated special education standards; and

WHEREAS, up to now, the federal government has only been funding approximately 10-12 percent of Felix related special education program costs; and

WHEREAS, in a related issue, the influx of Pacific Rim and Pacific Island nation peoples immigrating to the State of Hawaii is a concern that has been brewing for years but has come to a head as the federal government this year renegotiates the Compact of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and

WHEREAS, the compact with Micronesia and the Marshall Islands was signed in 1986 and gave the United States a strategic foothold in a vast area of the Pacific with access to the air and water of the island nations; and

WHEREAS, in return for the national security benefits, residents of these nations, and the Republic of Palau, whose compact with the United States does not expire for several more years, are able to live and work in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the United States as a whole benefits from this arrangement from a defense perspective, but Hawaii is bearing a disproportionate burden of this open migration; and

WHEREAS, when the compact was signed, federal lawmakers said they would be "sympathetic" to the financial cost to Hawaii, but that has not been the case; and

WHEREAS, more than 6,000 people from the so-called freely associated states now live in Hawaii, although small in number — less than one percent of the population — they have a large effect on the State's resources; and

WHEREAS, the cost of supporting the immigrants — largely in healthcare and education — was $86 million between 1996 and 2000, with private hospitals being owed millions more; and

WHEREAS, while most of the Pacific Rim and South Pacific Island immigrants are drawn to Hawaii by the promise of work and a better education for their children, they end up working in low-skill, low-wage jobs, and more than half live in poverty; and

WHEREAS, although they have the freedom to enter the country, the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996 cut them off from access to federal welfare and medical programs, forcing many to rely on state aid; and

WHEREAS, without the money or insurance to cover their often serious health problems, the community health centers and emergency rooms are often left paying the bill; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, Hawaii's hospitals and community health centers were owed more than $17 million for treating people from compact nations; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's public schools also pay the price as immigrant children enter school without English skills needed to progress with the rest of the class; and

WHEREAS, between 1988 and 1999, the State spent $54 million on education for compact children, $9 million of it in 1999, with no financial assistance coming from the federal government; and

WHEREAS, as Hawaii's economy continues to struggle, the economic and social costs of complying with federal mandates and honoring compacts and other federal initiatives are staggering and too great a burden to bear by the State; 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 Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study how federal initiatives have impacted Hawaii's economy, including, but not be limited to:

(1) An identification of all departmental programs and services that are mandated by the federal government and the proportion of federal and state funds received to operate each program or service;

(2) An identification of all programs and services that are required to be provided as a result of a policy, compact, or other initiative of the federal government, and the proportion of federal and state funds received to provide each program or service; and

(3) A determination as to how the State can either maximize its receipt of available federal funds or be exempt from obligations imposed by a particular federal law, policy, compact, or other initiative that imposes an excessive social or economic burden on the State;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is requested to direct all state departments and agencies to begin compiling federal impact information and data and to fully cooperate with the Legislative Reference Bureau in the conduct of this study; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit the survey to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, and to the Governor of the State of Hawaii.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Economic Impact of Federally-Mandated Policies; LRB Study