STAND. COM. REP. NO. 796-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1859

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1859, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Workforce Development Council to:

(1) Recommend to the Governor a comprehensive statewide workforce strategy for inclusion in the State Unified Plan; and

(2) Facilitate the alignment of state departments' and agencies' workforce development efforts to achieve the State Unified Plan and the comprehensive statewide workforce strategy.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; University of Hawaiʻi System; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; Workforce Development Council; Office of Economic Revitalization of the City and County of Honolulu; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Maui Chamber of Commerce; Hawaiʻi Executive Collaborative; HawaiiKidsCAN; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Holomua Collaborative; Hawaiʻi Gas; Title Guaranty of Hawaiʻi; aio Family of Companies; Hawaiʻi Community Foundation; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative; Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi; Mana Up; Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education; and Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and Department of Human Services.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1859, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

____________________________

CHRIS TODD, Chair