STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3393

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1561

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1561, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish and appropriate funds for:

(1) An Adult Workforce Readiness Program;

(2) One full-time equivalent Adult Workforce Readiness Program Coordinator for McKinley Community School for Adults; and

(3) One full-time equivalent Adult Workforce Readiness Program Coordinator for Waipahu Community School for Adults.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, University of Hawai‘i System, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, McKinley Community School for Adults, Waipahu Community School for Adults, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Workforce Development Council, Susannah Wesley Community Center, Society of Human Resource Management Hawaii, and fifty-eight individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that the State's high school students and adult education students, as well as employers, would benefit from a work readiness preparation program. Collaboration between educators and industry employers ensures that students develop the skills and credentials needed to make them highly employable. Your Committee further finds that allowing students, including students at adult and community schools, to earn associate degrees, workforce development diplomas, pre-apprenticeship certificates, and other industry-recognized certificates, helps employers identify suitable candidates and enhances employment success for students. Accordingly, this measure will benefit all manner of students across the State, and employers, by promoting workforce readiness.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2051, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1561, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1561, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair