The Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs and the Senate Committee on Health, with overwhelming testimony in support, voted today to PASS HB1616 HD1, a bill that would allow state planning around the social determinants of health, and facilitate the investment of resources to address health disparities that impact the Native Hawaiian, other Pacific islander and Filipino communities here in Hawai'i.  

This bill would amend the state health planning statute for the first time in nearly 30 years, and would be the first step in modernizing our state's approach to health planning, consistent with national and international best practices.

The only steps remaining for this measure to pass into law are 1) a final reading in the Senate 2) a conference committee to resolve any disagreements between the House and Senate, which is likely to be waived and 3) the Governor's signature. 

Testifiers in support included the following organizations and individuals:

Hawai'i State Department in Labor and Industrial Relations, Office of Community Services
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Queen's Health Systems
Kaiser Permanente
Kenneth Conklin
Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Inc.
Hawai'i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development
Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training
Kokua Kalihi Valley
Ho‘ola Lahui Hawai‘i
I Ola Lahui Rural Hawaii Behavioral Health Program
Hawai'i Primary Care Association
Community Alliance for Mental Health
Hawai'i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice
HealthyPacific.Org
Filipino American Citizens League
'Aha Kane
Waimanalo Health Center
Papa Ola Lokahi
National Federation of Filipino American Associations 
Ann Pobutsky
Charlyn Ontai
Darlene Rodrigues
Dawn Tanimoto
Dean O
Jacob Kaumuali'i Ching
Javier Mendez-Alvarez
Joakim Jojo Peter
Kelly Withy
Kevin Chang
Leanne Kealoha Fox 
Lora Lum
Randy Compton
Reginald Ho
Richard N. Salvador
Robin E.S. Miyamoto
Suresh Tamang
Veronika Geronimo
Kapina Palacat
Godfrey
Wayne Tanaka
Sharde Freitas
Susan 

HB1616 HD1 has been scheduled for its final public hearing before the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Health on Friday, March 21 at 1:15 p.m. in Hawaiʻi State Capitol room 229.  This is the final hearing that this bill needs to pass, in order to be considered for passage into law.

As explained in earlier posts, HB1616 would modernize the state planning code to allow state agencies to plan around and invest resources in addressing "social determinants of health," particularly those affecting Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander and Filipino communities in Hawaiʻi.

Testimony can be submitted by registering and logging in to capitol.hawaii.gov, clicking on "Submit Testimony," and then entering "HB1616" in the field that follows.  Or, simply e-mail the Hawaiian Affairs Committee at HWNtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov with "TESTIMONY in SUPPORT of HB1616 HD1, 3/21/2014, 1:15 p.m." in the subject header.

For more information, please see the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' informational Mauli Ola page, or click to download a white paper on the measure and an infographic on the social determinants of health.

Mahalo nui to  community organizer/advocate Richard Salvador, Dina Shek with the Medical Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai'i, and Drew Astolfi with Faith Action for Community Equity for spreading the word about these community events.

The Cathedral of St. Andrew and the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center will be hosting a Pacific Peace Forum potluck and film screening of Islands on the Edge of Time, a 14-year documentary of Palau's struggle to become and remain a nuclear-free nation -- against the wishes and best efforts of the United States.  A discussion will be hosted by Richard Salvador, a long-time advocate for the independence and nuclear-free interests of Pacific island nations. A copy of Mr. Salvador's Peace Action Conference paper and speech on nuclear testing in the Pacific can be found here: Legacy of Nuclear Testings in the Pacific: Re(Visiting) Los Alamos, Production Site of Weapons of Mass Destruction. 

Pacific Peace Forum
Nuclear Free Palau
Film - Islands on the Edge of Time
(Richard Salvador)
Friday, March 7th, 2014
6:00 PM
Pot-Luck and Non-Violence Training
Von Holt Room, St. Andrews Cathedral (Beretania and Alakea)
FREE

For more information, download the latest Pacific Peace Forum newsletter and program here: Pacific Peace Forum, March 7, 2014.

The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is hosting a Policy Summit and Leadership Academy over two days at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa Campus Student Center and the Hawaiʻi State Capitol.  

The summit and leadership training will be for elected officials, students, community organizers, and folks interested in running for office or who just want to better understand the political/electoral process.  A panel discussion on health issues will also be presented, moderated by Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum Kathy Ko Chin, and featuring JoAnn Tsark with Papa Ola Lokahi, Diane Paloma with the Queen's Health Systems' Native Hawaiian Health Program, and Herb Lee with the Pacific American Foundation.

Events include meals, and are free for students and community members. To RSVP, click here.

For more information, download the program here: APAICS Policy Summit and Leadership Academy program, or contact APAICS director Laila Mohib at lmohib@apaics.org or at (914)318-9226.

Faith Action for Community Equity Hawaiʻi, which successfully helped to lead the campaign to provide translated drivers licensing written exams, is hosting its fourth annual Equity Summit at First United Methodist Church from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The summit will feature workshops on the Minimum Wage campaign, immigration reform, and a class for non- and limited-English speakers to prepare for the written drivers test.  Per Drew Astolfi, executive director of FACE: 

"I'm writing to ask you both to come yourself and invite others to our fourth annual Equity Summit on March 15th, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church on 1020 South Beretania Street.  This year's Equity summit will be a little different; it will be issue workshops in the morning, and we will board the buses for actions and prayer vigils in the afternoon.  Its really important that we get the word out to all our churches, so please tell people this weekend. 
 
Here is an overview of the exciting things we'll be doing:
 
9:00 - 9:20.  Opening Plenary celebrating our victories from last year, and featuring a speech from a guest (possibly Dwight Takamine the current State Director of Labor), as well as a thank you to several groups that have helped us over the last year.
 
9:30 to 10:45 First Workshops:  Minimum Wage (featuring a return for Jack Temple, the leader of the fast food organizing from around the county); Clean Elections (led by our friends at Common Cause); a class for non English speakers preparing for the driver's test (these are members from FACE churches who worked on the translate the driver's test campaign preparing for the first set of tests). 
 
11:00 - 12:15  Second Workshops:  Immigration Reform, Building a Sutainable Energy Future, and Aging and Long Term Care
 
Following the workshops we will load busses to go to three locations where we will hold prayer vigils/actions related to the issues of minimum wage, energy, and immigration."

For more information, contact Drew Astolfi at (808)782-3674 or via e-mail at drewastolfi@facehawaii.org.