To fully engage our advocacy role in caregiver-related policy issues, the Executive Office on Aging relies on your knowledge, experience, and perspectives to help us prepare for and participate in the legislative process. As such, we have prepared a list of measures that have been introduced in the 2005 Legislative Session that we believe affect Hawaii 's caregiving community. Click on the appropriate link to view the most up-to-date information about the bill status, bill text, or committee report.

If you would like to be electronically notified when these bills/resolutions are scheduled for a public hearing, please e-mail caregiver@mail.health.state.hi.us to be placed on our mailing list.

BILL NO.	TOPIC	STATUS & DESCRIPTION	TEXT	COMMITTEE REPORT
S.B. No. 40	Caregiver Consent for a Minor's Healthcare	Status	SB 40 SB 40, SD1 SB 40, HD1	SSCR 253 SSCR 698 HSCR 1485
S.B. No. 244	Establishes a LTC Resource Program Initiative at KCC	Status	SB 244, SD1 SB 244, SD2 SB244, HD1	SSCR 2 SSCR 568 SSCR 821 HSCR 1082 HSCR 1232 HSCR 1593
S.B. No. 485	Caregiver Reimbursement Demonstration Project on Kauai	Status - DEAD	SB 485
S.B. No. 560	Appropriates $ for caregiver support services	Status - DEAD	SB 560	SSCR 106
S.B. No. 561	Establishes a caregiver coordinator within EOA	Status	SB 561 SB 561, SD1 SB 561, HD1	SSCR 107 SSCR 963 HSCR 1155 HSCR 1526
S.B. No. 562	Requires DOH to provide caregiver support services	Status - DEAD	SB 562 SB 562, HD1	SSCR 314 SSCR 803 HSCR 1156
S.B. No. 864	Appropriates $ to DOH & DHS to reimburse family caregivers	Status - DEAD	SB 864
S.B. No. 865	Establishes a $500 Caregiver Tax Credit	Status - DEAD	SB 865 SB 865, SD1	SSCR 256
S.B. No. 872	Makes support for family caregivers a state objective	Status - DEAD	SB 872
S.B. No. 1198	Provide affordable housing for grandparents raising grandchildren	Status - DEAD	SB 1198	SSCR 437
S.B. No. 1211	Requires DOH to provide caregiver support services	Status - DEAD	SB 1211
S.B. No. 1356	Establishes a LTC Commission	Status - DEAD	SB 1356
S.B. No. 1620	Appropriates funds for DHS' Nursing Home Without Walls and Chore Services programs	Status	SB 1620 SB 1620 SD1 SB 1620 SD2 SB 1620 HD1 SB 1620 HD2	SSCR 604 SSCR 996 HSCR 1077 HSCR 1222 HSCR 1628
S.C.R. No.5	Urges employers to implement family friendly policies	Status	SCR 5
S.C.R. No. 21	Urges federal housing assistance for grandparent- and relative-headed households	Status	SCR 21	SSCR 1013 SSCR 1659
S.C.R. No. 60	Requests LRB to study laws that facilitate or detract from effective work-family policies.	Status	SCR 60 SCR 60 SD1	SSCR 1664
S.C.R. No. 79	Requests a Task Force to facilitate the establishment of viable naturally occuring retirement communities.	Status	SCR 79 SCR 79, SD1	SSCR 1438
H.B. No. 248	Caregiver Reimbursement Demonstration Project on Kauai	Status - DEAD	HB 248 HB 248 HD1	HSCR 9 HSCR 630 HSCR 917 SSCR 1154
H.B. No. 272	Establishes a Caregiver Tax Credit	Status - DEAD	HB 272
H.B. No. 359	Caregiver Consent for a Minor's Healthcare	Status - DEAD	HB 359 HB 359 HD1 HB 359 SD1	HSCR 461 HSCR 978 SSCR 1155
H.B. No. 1043	Establishes a caregiver coordinator within EOA	Status - DEAD	HB 1043
H.B. No. 1044	Requires DOH to provide caregiver support services	Status - DEAD	HB 1044
H.B. No. 1119	Establishes a LTC Resource Program Initiative at KCC	Status - DEAD	HB 1119 HB 1119 HD 1	HSCR 196 HSCR 571
H.B. No. 1249	Appropriates $ to DOH & DHS to reimburse family caregivers	Status - DEAD	HB 1249
H.B. No. 1250	Establishes a $500 Caregiver Tax Credit	Status - DEAD	HB 1250 HB 1250 HD1	HSCR 622
H.B. No. 1251	Establishes a $500 Caregiver Tax Credit	Status - DEAD	HB 1251
H.B. No. 1252	Makes support for family caregivers a state objective	Status - DEAD	HB 1252
H.B. No. 1335	Establishes a LTC Commission	Status - DEAD	HB 1335
H.C.R. No. 13	Urges employers to implement family friendly policies	Status - DEAD	HCR 13
H.C.R. No. 95	Urges the State to recognize the contributions of family caregivers.	Status	HCR 95	HSCR 1482
H.C.R. No. 96	Urges DOH and DHS to develop methods to support family caregivers.	Status	HCR 96	HSCR 1484

Your voice does count and if you would like to provide comments or support on these bills or others, get involved in the legislative process. You don't need to be politically savvy or need a lot of time in order to participate and be heard. The best thing to do is to contact your legislative representatives in both the House and the Senate.

If your legislative representative is not the chairperson or a committee member of the committees that the measure has been assigned to, you may want to call the committee chairperson and members to express your opinion about the measure. This is important because the committee chairperson and members will decide whether or not the measure will proceed through the process.

While a written statement/testimony about the measure is preferred, a phone call or an e-mail is better than nothing. In your statement, be as concise as possible, especially in your introductory statement. For example, in the beginning of your letter, e-mail, or phone call, state whether you support or oppose the measure. Then provide the reason(s) why you feel the way you do and how the measure would help or hurt your situation.

If you would like some help in composing your statement or if you would like general help with the legislative process, the Public Access Room at the Capitol is an excellent resource for the public. The room has equipment and materials that you may use such as computer terminals, typewriters, telephones, copies of legislative documents, reference materials, a fax machine, and a copy machine. Staff is also available to assist you with questions you may have and they are available either by phone or in person.

You can reach the Public Access Room by calling 587-0478, you may visit them at the State Capitol in Room 401, or by logging on to www.hawaii.gov/lrb/par . The best thing is that all the Public Access Room services are free of charge.

To get a copy of the bill, visit the Legislature's website at www.capitol.hawaii.gov , call your legislative representative and ask them to send you a copy, or you may also pick up a copy from the capitol print shop located in the basement of the State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street .

Disclaimer: This page is for information only. The Executive Office on Aging and the Department of Health does not necessarily endorse the measures listed above.

 

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