Committee advances bill to build permitting workforce pipeline

The House Committee on Higher Education on Feb. 13 voted to pass House Bill 1967 (HD1), which implements Speed Task Force recommendations to establish a permitting workforce pipeline. The bill requires the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) to develop the pipeline in partnership with community colleges and coordinate with state and county permitting agencies.

Diana Sentnes (Office of Planning and Sustainable Development) and Christine Boley (University of Hawaii System director of workforce development) told the committee they stand on written testimony in support and are available to answer questions. The bill would require coordination on classification levels, salary, hiring and responsibilities and includes an appropriation; the chair recommended passing the bill as is and the committee adopted the recommendation to send the measure to finance for further review.