Senate committees advance dementia training for first responders and disability-focused disaster services with amendments

The Senate joint committees recommended passage on March 23 of two health‑ and emergency‑focused bills: HB1976, which would establish dementia training for first responders, and HB2443, which creates a disability integration specialist role in the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to improve planning, accessible communications and FEMA coordination.

Chair Fukunaga said the committees understand existing training exists but that dementia response differs from broader mental‑health training and recommended passing HB1976 with targeted amendments to make the curriculum and timelines advisory rather than mandatory.

Victor McCraw, administrator for the Law Enforcement Standards Board, told the committee he agreed with the bill’s purpose but opposed the process and said there was no documented statewide training gap. "There is no documented problem and there is no training gap as far as law enforcement in the state of Hawaii," McCraw said, noting CALEA accreditation includes mental‑illness response and estimating additional personnel costs "at the very least" could reach about $500,000 a year.

Supporters, including the Alzheimer’s Association and family members with lived experience, said the training fills a practical gap. Kobe Chak of the Alzheimer’s Association said the proposed curriculum could be credited toward existing agency training and allows departmental flexibility; testimony from Hayden Cobb recounted family losses to dementia and urged lawmakers to provide responders tools that can be lifesaving.

On HB2443, Brian Mick and Executive Director Christine Pagano of the Disability Communication Access Board and representatives from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities argued a permanent disability integration specialist at emergency management would make shelters and FEMA coordination more effective by collecting critical information for survivors with access or functional needs. "Having someone on staff who understands and can support the needs of people with disabilities would make disaster planning and emergency shelters much stronger," social‑work student Kayla Hida told senators.

The committees adopted the chair’s recommendations to pass both bills with amendments that replace some mandatory language (for example, replacing "shall" with "may" or "urge" in specified sections) and to incorporate attorney‑general and technical edits for clarity. The record shows the measures were recommended to pass with amendments; the committees noted technical and timing edits to be reflected in committee reports.

Next steps: the amended measures will be reflected in committee reports and proceed through the legislative process with the revised language and effective‑date changes noted by chairs during the decision session.