STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2194

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2861

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2861 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF WELLNESS AND RESILIENCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish within the Office of Wellness and Resilience the Kakou Pilot Program to support families and children in need; and

(2) Expand eligibility for the $50 benefit under the Child Wellness Incentive Pilot Program established by Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, to include families ineligible for state Medicaid benefits.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Aloha United Way and one individual.

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

Your Committee finds that approximately forty percent of households in the State are below the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) threshold. These families are working families who earn above the federal poverty level but still cannot afford basic necessities. This measure directs unspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program funds toward child wellness visits, food assistance, counseling, and trauma-informed supports to help these vulnerable families.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to authorize the Office of Wellness and Resilience to expend temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) funds for the purposes of the Kakou Pilot Program;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect the measure's purpose of expanding eligibility for the $50 benefit provided under the Child Wellness Incentive Pilot Program established by Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, to include families ineligible for state Medicaid benefits; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2861, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2861, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair