STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3179

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2115

H.D. 1

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 H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Human Services to issue supplemental contracts to community-based organizations to address increases in costs related to labor, insurance, utilities, rent, and gas.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Community Alliance on Prisons; Parents and Children Together; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Hina Mauka; Aloha Independent Living Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association; Hawaiʻi Youth Services Network; Hawaiʻi Community Foundation; Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations; The Hawaiʻi True Cost Coalition; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; AlohaCare; The Institute for Human Services, Inc.; Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center; and one individual.

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

Your Committee finds that community-based organizations across the State provide essential support services on behalf of the Department of Human Services, including housing assistance, child and adult protective services, food security programs, vocational rehabilitation, and care for individuals facing homelessness or crisis. However, your Committee further finds that many of these state-contracted service providers have struggled to sustain programs because existing contract rates have remained stagnant for years and do not reflect the true cost of delivering care, threatening the stability of the State's social services infrastructure. This measure appropriates funding to ensure continuity of care, workforce stability, and long-term partnerships that benefit both the State and its communities.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to establish that for any multi-year contract entered into or renewed beginning in fiscal year 2027-2028, the Department of Human Services shall:

(A) Issue a request for information to determine whether any existing contract remains fiscally sound; and

(B) Determine, with the consent of the contractor, whether a new request for proposals should be issued; and

(2) 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 H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2115, H.D. 1, 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