STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2290

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2781

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2781 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATED TO DISASTER SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to establish the position of a Limited English Proficiency Language Coordinator within the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Hawaiʻi Friends of Civil Rights, Pacific Gateway Center, Waipahu Safe Haven Immigrant/Migrant Resource Center, Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, FilCom CARES, Kaibigan ng Lahaina, The Legal Clinic, Language Services Hawaii, Tagnawa, Hawaiʻi Alliance of Pacific Islanders, and six individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Office of Language Access.

Your Committee finds that in the aftermath of a disaster, many limited English proficient persons encounter barriers to obtaining relief when applying for state or county programs, including financial, medical, housing, and food assistance programs. Your Committee further finds that in the immediate aftermath of the August 8, 2023, Maui wildfires, language interpreters and sign language interpreters were not present at the shelters, nor was any provision made to assist individuals through remote interpretation. This measure will ensure that limited English populations can access disaster relief information, aid, and relief through an established Limited English Language Access Coordinator within the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of January 1, 2042, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2781, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2781, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

________________________________

GLENN WAKAI, Chair