STAND. COM. REP. NO. 416-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 2494

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. 2494 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CIVIC EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Education for the:

(1) Expansion of civic education in Hawaii's public school system, including professional development and classroom resources related to the Hawaii core standards in social studies; and

(2) Hiring of one full-time equivalent permanent civic education resource teacher position.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education, Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Common Cause Hawaii, Americans for Democratic Action Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and twelve individuals. Your Committee received testimony in support of the intent of this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that civic education prepares students to participate in the public and political lives of their communities and helps them develop critical thinking skills that are vital to the functioning of a democratic nation. Your Committee further finds that in the 2020 general election, forty states had a higher voter turnout than Hawaii. This measure appropriates funds to the Department of Education to increase access to civic education in Hawaii's public school systems to increase voter turnout and citizen engagement over the long term.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the amounts appropriated to unspecified amounts;

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

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

Should your Committee on Finance decide to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it appropriate to the Department of Education:

(1) $84,000 for the expansion of civic education in public schools; and

(2) $100,000 to hire one full-time equivalent permanent civic education resource teacher position.

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. 2494, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2494, 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