STAND. COM. REP. NO. 225

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 532

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 532 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIA SERVICES COORDINATOR POSITION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for an Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Services Coordinator position with the Department of Health's Executive Office on Aging.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Aging; AARP Hawaii; Alzheimer's Association, Aloha Chapter; Manoa Cottage; Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience Institutes; International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 Hawaii; and eight individuals.

     Your Committee finds that Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and it affects twenty-seven thousand Hawaii residents.  This number will continue to grow rapidly due to the rising number of seniors in the State.  Alzheimer's disease also greatly affects the estimated sixty-five thousand unpaid caregivers in Hawaii that provide over seventy-four million hours of unpaid care each year.  Your Committee further finds that despite the significant number of individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease, there remains a substantial lack of resources for families affected by the disease.

     Your Committee notes that the Executive Office on Aging published a state plan on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias that identifies goals and key strategies to improve the lives of the significantly high number of families affected by the disease.  Many of the strategies identified in the state plan require coordination at a systemic level.  In addition, an Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias State Plan Collaborative consisting of over seventy government and private entities has been working to implement the state plan but has only made minimal progress due to the lack of a dedicated leader and dedicated resources.  Your Committee finds that a statewide coordinator position is needed to lead the numerous private and government entities invested in helping families affected by Alzheimer's disease by implementing the State's Alzheimer's disease and related dementias plan.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting a blank appropriation amount.  Your Committee notes that although the appropriation has been removed, the recommended appropriation for the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Services Coordinator position is $80,000 per fiscal year.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 532, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 532, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair