131
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO EVALUATE THE
    AGRICULTURE LOAN SYSTEM IN HAWAII.



 1        WHEREAS, the agricultural sector continues to make a
 2   significant contribution to Hawaii's economy, and is the
 3   business opportunity of choice for many rural communities; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, the agricultural sector produces about
 6   $500,000,000 annually of the gross product of Hawaii and
 7   directly employs over forty thousand persons through more than
 8   five thousand five hundred farm and ranch businesses.  The vast
 9   majority (eighty-six per cent) of the farm units are less than
10   ten acres, with reported gross annual revenues of $50,000 or
11   less; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, the business growth in the agricultural sector is
14   the fastest growing segment of our recovering economy; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, rural Hawaii is experiencing a historic change
17   from the once dominant sugarcane and pineapple plantation
18   cropping pattern to a much more diverse and new agriculture as
19   sugar mills and canning plants have been closed; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, this change has been and is being caused, in
22   large measure, by market forces that are controlled outside the
23   State; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, this rural transition requires the conservation
26   and conversion of the improved crop lands and their production
27   infrastructure, such as cleared and graded fields, irrigation
28   and drainage works, and roads and bridges, in order to
29   facilitate the start-up of new agricultural enterprises of all
30   sizes and types; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, examples of new agricultural enterprises include
33   trees for fiber for international markets, fresh produce crops
34   to displace interstate trade to increase self-sufficiency, and
35   new and treated flower and fruit products for interstate
36   markets; and
37   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        WHEREAS, these new rural enterprises provide sources of
 2   needed employment for displaced agricultural workers and their
 3   communities; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, this farm business change creates the demand for
 6   new investment for the modification of production facilities to
 7   deliver new products to local, interstate, and international
 8   markets; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the farm credit system has had to undergo changes
11   during this transition as the result of mature, corporate
12   agricultural companies being replaced by a mixture of expanding
13   or new start-up farm operations of variable financial strength
14   and experience, but with significant investment requirements;
15   and
16   
17        WHEREAS, the public and private farm credit system, which
18   had been devised to respond to the credit demand of the
19   plantation agricultural pattern, may not be adequate or
20   appropriate in today's economy; and
21   
22        WHEREAS, agricultural land and water use rights may not be
23   adequately conveyed to a tenant to provide reasonable security
24   for the extended credit needed for redevelopment needs; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, there is an immediate need for an evaluation of
27   the farm credit demand and supply system and the public and
28   private constraints to those credit transactions; now,
29   therefore,
30   
31        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
32   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
33   Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference
34   Bureau is requested to evaluate the agriculture loan system in
35   Hawaii; and
36   
37        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Bureau is requested to
38   consult with the following state agencies and private companies
39   in conducting its evaluation:
40   
41        (1)  The Department of Agriculture, including the
42             Agricultural Loan Division, and the Aquaculture
43             Development Program;
44   

 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        (2)  The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation;
 2   
 3        (3)  The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human
 4             Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa;
 5   
 6        (4)  The Department of Land and Natural Resources;
 7             including the Division of Land Management and the
 8             Division of Forestry and Wildlife;
 9   
10        (5)  The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands;
11   
12        (6)  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs;
13   
14        (7)  The Department of Business, Economic Development, and
15             Tourism;
16   
17        (8)  The Rural Development, United States Department of
18             Agriculture, Business and Industry Loan Guarantee
19             Program;
20   
21        (9)  The Farm Service Agency, United States Department of
22             Agriculture;
23   
24       (10)  The Hawaii Small Business Development Center Network,
25             a partnership program between the University of
26             Hawaii at Hilo and the United States Small Business
27             Administration;
28   
29       (11)  The United States Small Business Administration;
30   
31       (12)  Major owners of agricultural lands in Hawaii;
32   
33       (13)  Major financial institutions in Hawaii and other
34             banking interests;
35   
36       (14)  Major agribusiness in Hawaii;
37   
38       (15)  Major farm and ranch businesses in Hawaii, including
39             part-time, full-time, and every operating size of
40             growers of food, fiber, and flowers for sale,
41             including aquacultural and maricultural farmers;
42   
43   and
44   

 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these state agencies and
 2   private companies are requested to cooperate with and provide
 3   assistance to the Bureau with respect to its evaluation; and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
 6   Bureau is requested to report its findings and recommendations,
 7   including any proposed implementing legislation, to the
 8   Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of
 9   the Regular Session of 2001; and
10   
11        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
12   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of
13   the Legislative Reference Bureau; the Chairperson of the Board
14   of Agriculture; the Administrator of the Agricultural Loan
15   Division; the Manager of the Aquaculture Development Program;
16   the President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; the Dean of
17   the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources,
18   University of Hawaii at Manoa; the Chairperson of the Board of
19   Land and Natural Resources; the Administrator of the Division
20   of Land Management; the State Forester, Division of Forestry
21   and Wildlife; the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission;
22   the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of
23   Hawaiian Affairs; the Director of Business, Economic
24   Development, and Tourism; the State Director of Rural
25   Development, Hawaii State Office, United States Department of
26   Agriculture; the State Executive Director of the Farm Service
27   Agency, United States Department of Agriculture; the State
28   Director of the Hawaii Small Business Development Center
29   Network; and the State Director of the United States Small
30   Business Administration.
31   
32 
33 
34 
35                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________