STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2264

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3282

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor and Technology and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 3282 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE WORKFORCE PELL GRANT PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a statewide framework for the implementation of the federal Workforce Pell Grant Program to provide financial aid for certain short-term workforce education and training programs; and

(2) Establish a Workforce Pell Grant Program Approval Committee within the Workforce Development Council.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawai'i System, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and Maui Chamber of Commerce.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Office of Information Practices.

Your Committees find that the federal Workforce Pell Grant Program, slated to begin on July 1, 2026, expands access to Pell grants for short-term workforce education and training programs aligned with in-demand and high-wage occupations. Your Committees further find that the federal program assigns the states a formal role in identifying and approving eligible short-term workforce education programs and requires coordination among state workforce agencies, postsecondary institutions, and the United States Department of Education. This measure modernizes the State's workforce credential pathways and data systems and establishes a comprehensive statewide framework to ensure that residents of the State can access funding under the Workforce Pell Grant Program.

Your Committees note the concerns raised in testimony by the Office of Information Practices that the confidentiality provision in the measure for program-related information shared between the University of Hawaii and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is ambiguous, and could be interpreted to allow the entities to shield information from public disclosure beyond what is permitted under the Uniform Information Practices Act. Your Committees also acknowledge testimony by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations stating that federal Pell grants carry complex compliance, reporting, and audit requirements, and that the Department has dedicated staff, specialized expertise, and a proven track record and therefore is better suited to adopt rules necessary to manage the program. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address these matters.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language stating that ensuring access to federal grants for short-term workforce education and training programs offered by postsecondary institutions for residents of the State is a matter of statewide concern;

(2) Inserting language clarifying that program-related information shared between the University of Hawaii and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations designated as confidential is protected from public disclosure to the extent authorized by the Uniform Information Practices Act;

(3) Inserting language authorizing the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, rather than the Workforce Development Council, to adopt rules;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

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

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor and Technology and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3282, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3282, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Labor and Technology and Education,

________________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair