April 25, 2023
The Legislature is in its final days. All bills without fiscal impact need to be filed by Thursday, April 27, and bills with fiscal impact need to be filed by Friday, April 28. Three of the measures Commit to Keiki has been tracking in the Governor’s package are still alive:
SB 1351 Relating to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health establishes an infant and early childhood mental health program in DOH to coordinate services for children ages 0-5. As introduced, this bill appropriated $800,000 for fiscal year 2023-24 and $1.7 million for fiscal year 2024-25 and established a position. Please contact the following conference chairs to meet to restore funding and the position for this important bill.
Conferees:
Senate Chair:
Senator Joy San Buenaventura
sensanbuenaventura@capitol.hawaii.gov
808-586-6890
Senate Co-Chair:
Senator Michelle Kidani
senkidani@capitol.hawaii.gov
808-586-7100
House Co-Chairs:
Representative John Mizuno
repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov
808-586-6050
Representative Della Au Belatti
repbelatti@capitol.hawaii.gov
808-586-9425
Representative Bertrand Kobayashi
repkobayashi@capitol.hawaii.gov
808-586-6310
HB 961, Relating to Early Learning expands Preschool Open Doors to serve eligible 3 year-olds. Funding is included in the Executive Budget (HB 300) for this expansion. The bill is still needed to provide the legal authority. The conference committee will meet on Tuesday, April 25, 4:55 p.m., in conference room 329.
HB 1049, Relating to Income Tax is the Governor’s tax package to help working families. The Senate Draft 2 of this bill (1) adjusts the child and dependent care tax credit to be based on federal adjusted gross income, (2) increases the earned income tax credit; and (3) adjusts the thresholds and credit amounts of the refundable food/excise tax credit.
Conferees have not been appointed for this measure yet. Please urge Senate President Ron Kouchi (senkouchi@capitol.hawaii.gov, 808-586-6030) and House Speaker Scott Saiki (repsaiki@capitol.hawaii.gov, 808-586-6100) to appoint conferees for this measure.
