STAND

 

STAND. COM. REP. NO.794-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2038

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Legislative Management, to which was referred S.B. No. 2038, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE AUDITOR,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify the Auditor's access to student records by designating the Auditor as:

(1) The authorized representative of the Department of Education (DOE) for the purpose of accessing student education records in connection with the audit of federally supported education programs; and

(2) The health oversight agency under federal and state law to conduct oversight of the Department of Health (DOH) to evaluate the effectiveness of the DOH in providing services that relate to educational programs.

In addition, this bill requires the Auditor to keep the information it collects confidential and to destroy personally identifiable data when no longer needed.

The Auditor supported the intent of the measure but preferred the language in the unamended version of S.B. No. 2038. The DOE opposed this bill. The Attorney General commented on this bill.

You Committee has amended this bill by deleting its substance and inserting the contents of the original S.B. No. 2038 to address the concerns raised by the Auditor.

This bill as amended:

(1) Removes the incorrect statutory reference to the Federal Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA);

(2) Amends the type of records that the Auditor may have access to include "any student or other records"; and

(3) Combines the health oversight provisions with FERPA provisions to eliminate any confusion with respect to the Auditor's access to DOH records.

Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments were made for clarity and style

Your Committee finds that the Office of the Auditor has been thwarted in its efforts in the investigation into the State's compliance with the Felix consent decree. Your Committee believes that this bill will provide the Auditor the authority needed to access these records, while still keeping these records confidential.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Legislative Management that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2038, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2038, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Legislative Management,

 

		____________________________ NATHAN SUZUKI, Chair