Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani and Senator Rosalyn Baker, co-conveners of the Senate Women’s Legislative Caucus, issued a statement today following the passage of several bills that were introduced as part of the caucus’ package:

“As leaders of the Senate Women’s Legislative Caucus, we are pleased that our colleagues have supported measures that aim to improve the quality of life for Hawaiʻi’s women and children. From allocating monies to fight the sexual exploitation of children, to assisting incarcerated women, if passed, these bills will go a long way toward addressing long-standing issues and concerns.”

The following Women’s Legislative Caucus bills passed third reading in the Senate:

SB2634 SD1 appropriates monies to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months following the end of pregnancy.

SB2635 SD2 requires insurers and mutual benefit societies to cover mandated services for mammography at least as favorable as coverage for other radiological examinations.

SB2637 SD1 mandates that there be a community-based work furlough program for all incarcerated women in the State. Monies will be appropriated.

SB2638 SD2 requires the Department of the Attorney General to provide annual reports to the Legislature on available data pertaining to the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Monies will be appropriated.

Other bills of interest to the Senate Women’s Legislative Caucus that passed third reading are:

SB2821 SD2 requires the Department of Education to provide menstrual products free of charge to all students on all public and public charter school campuses.

SB2640 SD2 appropriates monies for the second year of the program that trains incarcerated women to be general education development tutors for their peers, provides college correspondence courses for women in the Women’s Community Correctional Center, and provides reentry and transition services for women wanting to continue their education post-incarceration. It authorizes partnerships between the Department of Education, University of Hawai‘i, and the Department of Public Safety

SB3294 SD2 relating to reentry planning circles. It appropriates monies to fund reentry planning circles for at least 50 incarcerated women.

SB3295 SD1 relating to corrections. It establishes the Women’s Corrections Implementation Commission within the Department of Public Safety to provide oversight over state correctional facilities and community correctional centers that incarcerate women, receive and investigate complaints from incarcerated women, monitor the criminal justice system’s progress in implementing reforms, and monitor programs and data that are important to ensuring successful outcomes for women in the correctional system. It requires annual reports to the Legislature.

To view the Women’s Legislative Caucus Package, click here.