The Hawaii State Legislature will reopen Monday, May 11, to finalize the state budget.
Hawaii's general revenue has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and lawmakers have worked out a plan to cover a projected $1 billion gap without cutting your pay. A reduction of public employees’ salaries cannot be a part of the solution.
The Senate Committee on Ways & Means will be hearing House Bill 2200, HD1, relating to the state budget, this Monday, May 11, at 10:30 a.m. at the Hawaii State Capitol.
The first deadline to be included in legislators' testimony packets is Sunday, May 10, at 10:30 a.m. The final deadline is Monday, May 11, at 10:30 a.m., when the hearing begins.
Please submit written testimony in support of this bill to the Senate Ways and Means Committee and address it to Chair Donavan Dela Cruz. If you are one of the 900 HSTA members who emailed testimony to the Board of Education last week, mahalo! You can repurpose your BOE letter for this testimony.
Submit your testimony through your capitol.hawaii.gov account (you can create one by clicking on "Register" in the upper right corner). Another option is to email WAMtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov and include in the subject line: Testimony in support of HB 2200, HD1, Committee on Ways and Means, Monday, May 11, at 10:30 a.m.
If you haven’t written testimony before, start by introducing yourself with your name, school/worksite, position/grade/subjects, and how long you’ve been teaching. We've included a template that you can copy and paste, but please revise the parts in red to share your own story. Feel free to forward this email to friends and coworkers so they can send in testimony as well.
Mahalo for all you do!
TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE
RE: HB 2200, HD1 RELATING TO THE STATE BUDGET
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020
10:30 a.m.
Chair Dela Cruz and members of the Ways and Means Committee:
My name is [INSERT NAME]. I am a [INSERT POSITION] at [INSERT SCHOOL] in [INSERT DISTRICT] on [INSERT ISLAND]. I am submitting testimony in support of HB 2200, HD1.
I want to thank the Legislature for finding ways to revise the state budget and cover COVID-19 revenue losses without including any suggestions of pay cuts or furloughs for our educators in our public schools, including our charter schools, or any other state employees. As Chair Dela Cruz said this week, “We don’t want to have an additional negative effect on the economy that might make matters worse.”
[In one or two short paragraphs, tell your personal story or specific anecdotes to illustrate how pay cuts or furloughs would hurt you and/or your fellow teachers/librarians/counselors and our students. Please be sure to include how students would be hurt if educators' pay is reduced.]
Mahalo,
[INSERT NAME, DISTRICT, ISLAND]
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