Bill Text: HI SCR53 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Compact of Free Association Nations Migrants; Urge Increased Federal Aid
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-06 - (S) Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-06-11. [SCR53 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2011-SCR53-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
53 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
STRONGLY URGING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FEDERAL AID TO THE STATE OF HAWAII FOR THE PROVISION OF VARIOUS STATE SERVICES TO MIGRANTS FROM THE COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION NATIONS; DEEM MIGRANTS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FEDERALLY FUNDED FINANCIAL AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE; AND PROVIDE DIALYSIS AND CHEMOTHERAPY CENTERS IN MICRONESIA AND ALL AREAS WITHIN THE COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION NATIONS.
WHEREAS, migrants from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau are allowed to enter the State of Hawaii under the Compact of Free Association; and
WHEREAS, the cost to the State to provide various state services to the Compact of Free Association migrants continues to increase each year; and
WHEREAS, for example, in 2006, the State spent $91,443,066 to provide services for these migrants and in 2007, the State spent an estimated $101,163,113 in state funds; and
WHEREAS, many state agencies provide a broad range of health and social services to Compact of Free Association migrants who have moved to Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, for example, in 2007, various state agencies spent a total of $101,163,113 as follows to provide services to the Compact of Free Association migrants in Hawaii:
(1) Department of Human Services -- $37,116,012 to provide services including, among other things, financial assistance, medical assistance, and emergency housing and outreach for homeless persons;
(2) Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Office of Community Services -- $717,360 to provide social services, including employment readiness training and cultural awareness education, to 503 Compact of Free Association migrants;
(3) Department of Health -- $6,829,020 to provide a variety of community-based and direct health care and health-related education, most notably related to tuberculosis, Hansen's disease, and other communicable diseases, which are over-represented within the populations making up the Compact of Free Association;
(4) Department of Defense -- $21,130 to provide educational and intervention services directed at children and young adults who are considered at risk for becoming juvenile offenders, who come from needy families, or who receive services from the State's Department of Human Services;
(5) Department of Education -- $53,586,418 to educate students from the Compact of Free Association nations who typically require specialized language services that utilize extra resources of the Department of Education;
(6) The University of Hawaii -- $1,958,627 in foregone revenue due to the practice of allowing all students from the Compact of Free Association nations to pay the lower state resident tuition, regardless of the date of their initial residence in Hawaii (discontinued beginning with the 2008 fall semester due to budget restrictions);
(7) Department of Public Safety -- $839,500 for costs of 1,425 arrests on 2,509 charges resulting in 613 convictions and 224 incarcerations of Compact of Free Association migrants. Costs are exacerbated by a shortage of qualified and reliable interpreters that can result in delayed hearings and additional costs;
(8) Judiciary -- $82,796 for interpreter services; and
(9) Office of the Public Defender -- $12,250 for interpretation services necessary to provide legal defense; and
WHEREAS, migrants from the Compact of Free Association nations are proportionally over-represented in the population of persons who receive various state social services in Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 prevents needy persons from the Compact of Free Association nations from receiving federally funded financial and medical assistance; and
WHEREAS, when that law went into effect in 1997, Hawaii continued to provide equivalent services for the Compact of Free Association migrants using state funds; and
WHEREAS, if the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is amended to allow the Compact of Free Association migrants to receive federally funded financial and medical assistance, the State would not have to expend state funds to provide the equivalent services, thus allowing more of the State's general funds to be used for services and programs for which federal funding is not available; and
WHEREAS, there is a need for dialysis and chemotherapy centers in Micronesia and all areas within the Compact of Free Association nations; and
WHEREAS, the federal government must address the issue of additional federal support for the State to continue providing state services arising from the unique federally created relationship between the United States and Compact of Free Association nations; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, the House of Representatives concurring, that the United States Department of the Interior and the Congress of the United States are strongly urged to provide additional federal aid to the State of Hawaii for the provision of various state services to migrants from the Compact of Free Association nations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, is strongly urged to review the funding of the Compact Impact Assistance grant and to make every effort to increase the amount of direct assistance available to Hawaii to offset costs incurred by the State; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Congress is strongly urged to support federal legislation to amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to render Compact of Free Association migrants eligible to receive federally funded financial and medical assistance; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of the Interior is strongly urged to provide dialysis and chemotherapy centers in Micronesia and all areas within the Compact of Free Association nations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of the Interior is strongly urged to identify and secure other forms of direct assistance to the State and the Compact of Free Association population in the United States, including grants from other sources and federal programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, United States Secretary of the Interior, Director of the Office of Insular Affairs, Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii, Adjutant General, and Directors of Human Services, Labor and Industrial Relations, Health, and Public Safety, Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and Public Defender.
Compact of Free Association Nations Migrants; Urge Increased Federal Aid
