STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1527

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.C.R. No. 186
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred H.C.R.
No. 186 entitled: 

     "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE VARIOUS STATE
     DEPARTMENTS TO ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
     OF PROGRAMS AND SERVICES TO ASSIST DISPLACED EMPLOYEES OF
     PIONEER MILL TO OBTAIN OTHER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to request the
various state departments to develop and implement programs and
services to assist displaced employees of Pioneer Mill to obtain
other employment opportunities.

     Your Committee finds that Pioneer Mill has had a long
history in sugar cultivation which dates back to 1895 and that it
has approximately 5,000 acres of land under sugar cultivation,
500 acres planted in coffee and 2,000 acres for future
diversification.  The Pioneer Mill has announced that it will
close its sugar operations at the end of 1999 due to continuous
financial losses.  The closure of Pioneer Mill will directly
affect about 76 employees.

     Testimony in support of this concurrent resolution was
received from Rep. Sol P. Kaho'ohalahala, the Department of
Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Department of
Agriculture, the Superintendent of Education, the Board of Land
and Natural Resources, the Department of Labor and Industrial
Relations, the Rural Economic Transition Assistance-Hawaii, the

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1527
                                 Page 2

 
Mayor of the County of Maui, the Maui County Council, and the
ILWU Local 142.

     Your Committee has amended this concurrent resolution by
adding the Rural Economic Transition Assistance-Hawaii (RETA-H)
to its title and requesting that RETA-H also be included along
with the various state departments to develop and implement
programs and services to assist displaced employees of Pioneer
Mill seek alternative employment.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your
Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 186,
as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the
Committee on Labor and Public Employment, in the form attached
hereto as H.C.R. No. 186, H.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Agriculture,



                                   ______________________________
                                   FELIPE P. ABINSAY, JR., Chair