STAND. COM. REP. NO. 37-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 1653

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1653 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide automatic step increases in teacher and educational officer salaries who have satisfactorily completed a certain amount of service and complied with certain requirements, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement negotiated for Bargaining Unit (5).

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Hawaiʻi State Youth Commission; Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Education Caucus; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Labor Caucus; and three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Office of Collective Bargaining. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committee finds that the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers is essential to the success of the State's public education system. Your Committee further finds that Hawaii continues to face a chronic teacher shortage in special education positions, hard-to-staff geographic locations, and Hawaiian language immersion programs. Your Committee believes that applying salary differentials for teachers in these areas will help to incentivize qualified teachers to fill these vacancies and reduce associated labor shortages.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 3000.

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. 1653, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1653, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Labor & Government Operations.

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

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair