STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3463

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.R. No. 26
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.R.
No. 26 entitled:

     "SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC
     AFFAIRS TO CONDUCT A PUBLIC POLICY REPORT ON HAWAII AND THE
     NEW ECONOMY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this resolution is to request the Hawaii
Institute for Public Affairs to conduct a public policy report on
Hawaii and the New Economy.

     Specifically, the resolution requests a report on the
State's strategic environmental, human, and technological
resources and capabilities, focusing on activities that can be
initiated currently but whose impacts will mainly be felt in the
formation of a New Economy.

     The report is to include a summary of Hawaii's strategic
environmental, human, and technological resources and
capabilities that can be used to attract overseas investment and
diversify the State's economy; estimates of current national and
international trends and future demands for products and services
in key industries that correspond to these strategic resources
and capabilities; recommendations for promoting and enhancing the
visibility and attractiveness of Hawaii's strategic assets in

 
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world markets; and a strategy for promoting and sustaining
partnerships among government, industrial, and educational
policies and programs that can facilitate networking of
resources, expedite technology transfers, and foster
entrepreneurial growth.

     The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs is further requested
to work in collaboration with appropriate government, business,
labor, community, and educational institutions and leaders
statewide in preparing the report, and is further requested to
address the potential negative effects of excluding rural and
indigent communities that do not have access to technology or
lack sufficient educational and technological skills.

     Your Committee finds that the "New Economy" that has emerged
in the United States has brought about fundamental changes in the
industrial and occupational order, introduced unprecedented
levels of entrepreneurial dynamism and competition, and initiated
a dramatic trend toward globalization.  Your Committee finds that
although Hawaii performs well in certain aspects of the New
Economy, including foreign direct investment, workforce
education, and education technology in the schools, it
nevertheless ranks poorly in a number of critical areas,
particularly new business startups and high technology jobs.

     Your Committee finds that a public policy report on Hawaii
by the Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, a nonpartisan and
independent research and educational organization, will assist in
exploring ways to promote and enhance Hawaii's strategic position
in the global marketplace as well as assist the State's
businesses and residents in their ability to compete successfully
in the New Economy.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 26, and
recommends its adoption.


 
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                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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