STAND. COM. REP. NO.  634

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2023

 

RE:   H.B. No. 846

      H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 846, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHERS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to enact the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact to reduce barriers to teacher license portability and employment.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education and Hawaii Association for Justice.

 

     Your Committee recognizes that there is a shortage of teachers for certain subject areas and in rural or remote geographic areas, and the employment of individuals who are not certified to teach in the State may help to ameliorate the shortage.  Your Committee finds that the interstate compact that would be authorized by this measure may allow more licensed out-of-state teachers to be quickly absorbed by these areas.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, should it deliberate on this measure, to look into whether other states which have adopted this compact have encountered problems with qualified immunity in subsection (g)(1) on page 22 of this measure.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 846, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 846, H.D. 2.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Government Operations,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair