STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2798

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2701

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2701, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide support for early child care workers and early education programs.

More specifically, this measure:

(1) Requires the Department of Human Services to:

(A) Establish and implement a one-year early child care worker subsidy pilot program;

(B) Develop standards and qualifications for participation in the pilot program;

(C) Establish best practices to bring all early childhood educators' wages to a certain amount; and

(D) Submit a report to the Legislature on the pilot program;

(2) Appropriates moneys to the Department of Human Services for the pilot program; and

(3) Appropriates moneys to be deposited into the early learning special fund for the Executive Office on Early Learning to expend on the Hawaii early childhood educator stipend program.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Early Learning Board; Executive Office on Early Learning; AAUW of Hawaii, AF3IRM Hawaii, Aloha United Way, Inc.; American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; Early Childhood Action Strategy; Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children; Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; Neighborhood Place of Kona; Save Medicaid Hawaii; Special Education Advisory Council; and numerous individuals.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Department of Human Services.

Your Committee finds that this measure will help to improve the recruitment and retention of child care workers in the State and facilitate access to high-quality child care by working families.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Renaming the early child care worker subsidy pilot program the child care worker subsidy pilot program;

(2) Clarifying that the scope of the pilot program is to serve child care workers;

(3) Requiring the Department of Human Services to submit interim and final reports on the pilot program;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(5) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee notes that, in its written comments, the Department of Human Services requested that the measure be amended to remove references to "early" when referencing child care and child care workers. Although your Committee accepted the Department of Human Services' amendments, it acknowledges that this change of focus from "early child care" and "early child care workers" to the more general categories of "child care" and "child care worker" could cause the amended contents of the measure to exceed the scope of the measure's title. Therefore, as the measure moves through the legislative process, your Committee requests that the Department of Human Services consult with the Attorney General to address this potential conflict.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2701, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2701, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair