[§302A-1314]  Hawaii 3Ts school technologylaboratories fund.  (a)  There is established the Hawaii 3Ts schooltechnology laboratories fund (hereinafter, "fund") as a separate fundof the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc., a Hawaii nonprofit organization. Moneys received from the state, county, or federal government, privatecontributions of cash or other property, and the income and capital gainsearned by the fund shall constitute its assets.

(b)  The Economic Development Alliance ofHawaii Inc. shall expend moneys in the form of either grants to organizationsor contracts with private vendors from the fund for the establishment andmaintenance of technology laboratories in public schools in Hawaii.  Suchexpenditures shall be in accordance with this section, and consistent with thecriteria and recommendations of the Hawaii 3Ts school technology laboratoriesboard.

(c)  The fund may receive contributions,grants, endowments, or gifts in cash or otherwise from all sources, includingcorporations or other businesses, foundations, government, individuals, andother interested parties.  The legislature intends that the public and privatesectors work together as partners in securing contributions for the fund, andthat the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc., through its Hawaii 3Tsproject, assist the public and private sectors in reviewing and investigatingall potential funding sources.  The State may appropriate moneys to the fund;provided that any appropriations made by the State are not intended to supplantthe funding of any existing public school programs for the establishment andmaintenance of school technology laboratories.

(d)  The Economic Development Alliance ofHawaii Inc. shall appoint the members of the Hawaii 3Ts school technologylaboratories board, which shall be responsible for:

(1)  Soliciting and otherwise raising moneys for thefund;

(2)  Establishing criteria for proposals to be fundedand the expenditure of funds;

(3)  Reviewing grant proposals utilizing criteria establishedby Hawaii 3Ts school technology laboratories board; and

(4)  Making recommendations for grants and otherspecific expenditures to the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc.

Members of the advisory board shall be stakeholdersin Hawaii's public education and workforce development entities, includingstudents and parents, teachers and principals, business and community leaders,representatives from the county economic development boards, andrepresentatives from the department of education, the department of business,economic development, and tourism, and the department of accounting and generalservices, who shall be represented on the advisory board.

(e)  In managing the moneys in the fund, theEconomic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc. shall exercise ordinary businesscare and prudence given the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time ofaction or decision.  In doing so, the Economic Development Alliance of HawaiiInc. shall consider its long-term and short-term needs in carrying out itspurposes, its present and anticipated financial requirements, expected totalreturn on its investments, price trends, and general economic conditions.

(f)  There may be an endowment component of thefund.

(g)  The use of any state moneys may be restrictedby the legislation appropriating these moneys to the fund.

(h)  The Economic Development Alliance ofHawaii Inc. is authorized to expend the principal from the fund for thepurposes of the fund.

(i)  Any organization submitting a proposal tothe Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc. for fund moneys shall meet allof the following standards at the time of applications:

(1)  Be a for-profit organization duly registeredunder the laws of the State, or be a nonprofit organization determined by theInternal Revenue Service to be exempt from the federal income tax, or be anagency of the State or a county;

(2)  In the case of a nonprofit organization, have agoverning board whose members have no material conflict of interest and servewithout compensation;

(3)  In the case of an applicant that is not a stateor county government agency, have bylaws or policies that describe the mannerin which business is conducted and policies that relate to the management ofpotential conflict of interest situations;

(4)  Have experience with the project or in theprogram area for which the proposal is being made; and

(5)  Be licensed and accredited, as applicable, inaccordance with the requirements of federal, state, and county governments.

(j)  All proposals approved by the Hawaii 3Tsschool technology laboratories board and for which the Economic DevelopmentAlliance of Hawaii Inc. intends to provide fund moneys shall be approved by thedirector of business, economic development, and tourism for consistency inmeeting the purposes of this section.

(k)  Organizations or agencies to which fundmoneys are awarded shall agree to comply with the following conditions beforereceiving the award:

(1)  Employ or have under contract persons qualifiedto engage in the activity to be funded;

(2)  Comply with applicable federal, state, and countylaws; and

(3)  Comply with any other requirements prescribed bythe Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc. to ensure adherence by therecipient of the award with applicable federal, state, and county laws and withthe purposes of this section.

(l)  Chapter 103D shall not apply toorganizations or agencies that apply for grants or contracts under thissection; provided that the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii Inc. shallbe held accountable for the use of the funds under a contract with thedepartment of business, economic development, and tourism.

(m)  Any contracts awarded by the EconomicDevelopment Alliance of Hawaii Inc. shall be made under as much competition aspractical to execute its purposes.

(n)  The fund shall be audited annually by anindependent auditor retained by the Economic Development Alliance of HawaiiInc.  The auditor's report of each annual audit shall be submitted to thedepartment of business, economic development, and tourism not later than thirtydays from the date the audit report is received by the Economic DevelopmentAlliance of Hawaii Inc.  In addition, the Economic Development Alliance ofHawaii Inc. shall retain for a period of three years, and permit the departmentof accounting and general services, the department of education, the departmentof business, economic development, and tourism, state legislators, and theauditor, or their duly authorized representatives, to inspect and have accessto, any documents, papers, books, records, and other evidence that is pertinentto the fund.

(o)  The fund shall not be placed in the statetreasury, and the State shall not administer the fund, nor shall the State beliable for the operation or solvency of the fund, the Economic DevelopmentAlliance of Hawaii Inc., or Hawaii 3Ts.

(p)  For every dollar granted to a recipient bythe fund, a minimum of 50 cents in value shall be from private, federal,county, or community sources.

(q)  For purposes of this section, "schooltechnology laboratory" means a multi-station computer laboratory thatoffers students a variety of different types of hardware and softwareapplications.

[(r)]  The Economic Development Alliance ofHawaii Inc. shall submit an annual report for approval by the director ofbusiness, economic development, and tourism on the progress of the Hawaii 3Tsschool technology laboratories fund by December 1 of each year.  The directorof business, economic development, and tourism shall transmit the report alongwith comments from the department of business, economic development, andtourism to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening ofeach regular session. [L 2004, c 218, §§2, 3]

 

Revision Note

 

  L 2004, c 218, §3 is codified to this section as subsection(r) pursuant to §23G-15.