STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2536

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2231

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 Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 2231 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the State Internship and Workforce Development Program for the public sector by:

(1) Expanding the program to the Legislative and Judicial branches;

(2) Limiting the internships to full-time placements of ten to eleven months;

(3) Establishing eligibility criteria, application requirements, and selection preferences; and

(4) Requiring the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to collaborate with coordinating agencies to promote the program and recruit eligible applicants.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaiʻi System and Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee finds that the State continues to experience significant workforce shortages across multiple sectors, including critical public service fields. Your Committee further finds that the State Internship and Workforce Development Program was established to provide structured on-the-job training and work experience opportunities for secondary and postsecondary students in the executive branch and create a clearer pathway from education to employment in high-demand fields. This measure promotes program consistency, transparency, and alignment with workforce needs, increases participation, and strengthens the State's workforce development pipeline through a more coordinated approach to public sector employment pathways.

Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony by the University of Hawai'i System regarding the eligibility criteria and application documents required for the program under this measure. Specifically, the University advised that not all positions require a bachelor's degree; requiring applicants to submit letters of recommendation is duplicative of the requirement to provide references; and official transcripts can be time consuming and costly for a student to procure. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address these concerns.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have limited the State Internship and Workforce Development Program to full‑time internship opportunities;

(2) Inserting language that allows applicants to qualify for participation in the program if they have the credential required for the specific position they are applying for, recognizing that not all positions require a bachelor's degree;

(3) Deleting language that would have imposed a minimum qualification criteria based on an applicant's grade point average;

(4) Deleting language that would have required applicants to provide at least two letters of recommendation;

(5) Deleting language that would have required applicants to provide their transcripts from each college and university the applicant attended;

(6) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2077, to encourage further discussion; and

(7) 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 Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2231, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2231, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

________________________________

BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair