HCR105.DOC

WHEREAS, The Compact of Free Association defines the relationship that the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau have as associated states with the United States; and

WHEREAS, under the Compact, the United States provides direct economic assistance, federal services, and military protection to the associated states in exchange for defense rights; and

WHEREAS, under the Compact of Free Association, Freely Associated States citizens can migrate in and out of Hawaii without visas or other immigration requirements; and

WHEREAS, according to United States census data, it is estimated that over twelve thousand Freely Associated States citizens have migrated to Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, this migration has had a significant financial impact on Hawaii in terms of unreimbursed health care, education, public safety, and welfare costs; and

WHEREAS, since the federal government continues to provide inadequate federal medical and welfare assistance to Freely Associated States citizens who migrated to Hawaii and other parts of the United States, many rely on state aid; and

WHEREAS, it is reported that the education, health, public safety, and social services cost of migrants from the Freely Associated States to Hawaii alone was $628,752,280 between 2004 and 2010, with education and health care costs accounting for the largest shares; and

WHEREAS, there are high rates of tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and syphilis reported among migrants from the Freely Associated States; and

WHEREAS, there is no centralized plan for the provision of services to this population; and

WHEREAS, the Senate adopted S.R. No. 142, S.D. 1, during the Regular Session of 2007, which requested the Attorney General to convene a task force to investigate and coordinate the provision of services to migrants from the Freely Associated States; and

WHEREAS, another task force should be convened to investigate and coordinate the provision of medical, educational, housing, and social services to migrants from Freely Associated States; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of the Attorney General is requested to convene a task force to investigate and coordinate the provision of medical, educational, housing, and social services to migrants from Freely Associated States; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include:

(1) The Director of Health or the Director's designee;

(2) The Director of Human Services or the Director's designee;

(3) The Chairperson of the Board of Education or the Chairperson's designee;

(4) The Director of Labor and Industrial Relations or the Director's designee;

(5) A professor from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine, or the professor's designee;

(6) The President of the Micronesian Community Network or the President's designee;

(7) The President of Micronesians United or the President's designee;

(8) The Director of the Institute for Human Services or the Director's designee; and

(9) A professor from the University of Hawaii-West Oahu or the professor's designee; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to:

(1) Consult with the Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs in Hawaii regarding what federal funds and services are available to assist Freely Associated States citizens in Hawaii;

(2) Consult with the United States Census Bureau on obtaining information in future national or regional censuses on the number of Freely Associated States citizens living, working, and attending school in Hawaii; and

(3) Investigate the medical, educational, housing, and social services needs of migrants from Freely Associated States, including the impact these service needs have on schools, and make recommendations regarding how to plan for and coordinate the provision of services to this population; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session on any actions taken, information gathered, and recommendations made by the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General, Director of Health, Director of Human Services, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, Dean of the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, Director of the Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs in Hawaii, President of Micronesians United, President of the Micronesian Community Network, Director of the Institute for Human Services, and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Freely Associated States; Task Force

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	105
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII