STAND. COM. REP. NO. 318-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 1942

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1942 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Education to create a three-tiered student bus fare rate system for the Department's school bus program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education, Department of Budget and Finance, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Education provides regular bus service for qualified public school students to facilitate compliance with state and federal laws, which is essential for getting students to and from school, particularly for students who lack other transportation options or face hardship in obtaining transportation to school due to economic difficulty. Your Committee further finds that a student who qualifies for free lunch under the free and reduced price lunch program is eligible for a free bus pass. However, free bus passes do not extend to students who qualify for reduced lunch under the program. This measure creates a tiered student bus fare system to allow for comparable bus fare rates for students and households that quality for reduced lunch under the free and reduced price lunch program.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Broadening the eligibility for free bus passes by specifying that students who qualify, based on the student's household eligibility, for free lunch or reduced lunch under the free and reduced price lunch program shall be eligible for a free bus pass;

(2) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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. 1942, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1942, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair