STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1090-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: S.B. No. 3383

S.D. 1

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 Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 3383, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Executive Office on Aging to contract for a statewide assessment of the needs of the long-term care workforce for providers of home- and community-based services.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Aging; AARP Hawaiʻi; and Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the availability of skilled workers is essential to meet the long-term care needs of Hawaii's residents. In 1997, the Hawaii Long-Term Care Reform Task Force indicated the State's need to increase the number of workers for in-home and community-based programs. Since then, this worker shortage has continued to worsen and is exacerbated by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing numbers of the State's aging population who need long-term care. To address the needs for services for kupuna and the disabled, better understanding of the challenges and barriers faced by providers of home- and community-based services is required.

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3383, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3383, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair