CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 126

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2023

 

RE:    S.B. No. 894

       S.D. 2

       H.D. 2

       C.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sirs:

 

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 894, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF WELLNESS AND RESILIENCE,"

 

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

 

     The purpose of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Transfer the Office of Wellness and Resilience from the Office of the Governor to the Department of Human Services on July 1, 2025;

 

     (2)  Extend the Trauma-Informed Care Task Force dissolution date to June 30, 2025, and establish the Task Force as an advocacy board to the Office of Wellness and Resilience until its dissolution; and

 

     (3)  Reconstitute the membership of the Trauma-Informed Care Task Force into a permanent advocacy board to the Office of Wellness and Resilience to be called the Wellness and Resilience Advocacy Board.

 

     Your Committee on Conference finds that Act 291, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, established the Office of Wellness and Resilience, the first of its kind in the nation, to be temporarily placed within the Office of the Governor.  The Office was created to support and implement the statewide framework developed by the Trauma-Informed Care Task Force.  Together, the Office and Task Force seeks to implement trauma-informed wellness and resilience policies to assist individuals and communities impacted by trauma and thereby reduce crime, substance abuse, suicide, and homelessness.  Your Committee on Conference recognizes the continued need for the State to support children, families, and survivors of trauma and this measure reaffirms the State's commitments by permanently establishing the Office of Wellness and Resilience within the Department of Human Services and ensuring that the Task Force will continue its important work in an advisory capacity as the Wellness and Resilience Advisory Board.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the Trauma-Informed Care Task Force will serve as an "advisory board" to the current Office of Wellness and Resilience, as opposed to serving as an "advocacy board";

 

     (2)  Replacing the Director of Public Safety with the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to serve on the Trauma-Informed Care Task Force, effective January 1, 2024;

 

     (3)  Renaming the "Wellness and Resilience Advocacy Board", which will be established within the Department of Human Services on July 1, 2025, as the "Wellness and Resilience Advisory Board";

 

     (4)  Replacing the Director of Public Safety with the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to serve on the Wellness and Resilience Advisory Board;

 

     (5)  Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2024; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 894, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 894, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

 

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

 

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

 

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO

Co-Chair

 

____________________________

ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY

Chair

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI

Co-Chair

 

____________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO

Co-Chair

____________________________

BERTRAND KOBAYASHI

Co-Chair

 

____________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI

Co-Chair