STAND. COM. REP. NO.  655

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1373

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1373 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH FOR EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure the State's compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) by providing additional early intervention services to infants and children with developmental delay or at biological or environmental risk for developmental delay.  This bill appropriates $5,299,809 in fiscal year 2006-2007 for additional expenses required by the Department of Health (DOH).

 

     Pursuant to the requirements set forth in Article VII, Section 9, of the Hawaii State Constitution, the Governor, in her Governor's Message Number 237 to the Legislature, requested immediate consideration and passage of this bill by the Legislature citing an existing critical funding emergency.

 

     DOH, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Center on Disability Studies, Hawaii Chapter-American Physical Therapy Association, Hawaii Early Intervention Coordinating Council, Hawaii Centers for Independent Living, Easter Seals Hawaii, Imua Family Services, Waianae Coast Early Childhood Services, Inc., and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.

 

     Your Committee encourages DOH to develop more accurate estimates on its funding needs so that adequate resources can be incorporated into its base budget, thereby avoiding the need for similar emergency funding requests in the future.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1373 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair