STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2649
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2640
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2640 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INCARCERATED WOMEN,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the second year of the education program for imprisoned women.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawai‘i; Women's Prison Project; Hawai‘i Friends of Restorative Justice; Young Women's Christian Association, O‘ahu; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i; Community Alliance on Prisons; and six individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Services, and Department of Budget and Finance.
Your Committees find that in August 2021, the Governor awarded over $8,000,000 to schools, colleges, and other entities as part of the Governor's emergency education relief. Among the awardees, the Hawaii Friends for Restorative Justice received $250,000 for the first year of an education program for imprisoned women. The program involves the Hawaii Friends for Restorative Justice partnering with the Women's Community Correctional Center, Windward Community College, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and McKinley Community School for adults to train incarcerated women to be general education development tutors for their peers, provide college correspondence courses for women in the Women's Community Correctional Center, and provide reentry and transition services for women who wish to continue their education post incarceration. Additionally, your Committees believe that continuing education reduces repeat crime. This measure will allow the State to reduce recidivism and provide skills to develop incarcerated women's potential and help with their post-incarceration employment by appropriating funds for the second year of the education program for imprisoned women.
Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2640, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2640, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Higher Education,
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________________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair |
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________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair |
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