STAND. COM. REP. NO.3028
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2002
RE: H.B. No. 2764
H.D. 1
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2002
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Water, Land, Energy and Environment and Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 2764, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONVEYANCE TAX,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purposes of this measure are to change the percentage of the conveyance tax designated to the natural area reserve fund from twenty-five per cent to twelve and one half per cent, to appropriate $1,000,000 for homeless assistance, and to require the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii to submit a report to the Legislature.
Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii (HCDC), Hawaii Catholic Conference, Catholic Charities, Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, and two individuals. The Department of Land and Natural Resources, County of Maui Mayor and Department of Water Supply, The Nature Conservancy of Hawai`i, Sierra Club Hawai`i Chapter, Hawaii Society of American Foresters, Earthjustice, and Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd., testified in opposition. The Tax Foundation of Hawaii submitted comments.
Your Committees are fully appreciative of the problems facing the homeless in Hawaii, particularly after the tragedy of September 11, and the resulting increases in job losses and homelessness. Your Committees find, however, that the decrease in revenue to the natural area reserve fund that would result from this measure would have a devastating effect on a department that has borne severe budget cuts for the last decade.
Your Committees have heard one hopeful note in the many testimonies received – that the high number of home sales in Hawaii over the past year should bring an increase in conveyance tax revenues. With this in mind, your Committees have amended this measure to:
(1) Keep the share of the conveyance tax paid into the natural area reserve fund at twenty-five per cent;
(2) Transfer $1,000,000 from the portion of the conveyance tax that would be paid into the general fund to the HCDC's homeless assistance program identification BED224;
(3) Require the HCDC to include an assessment of the $1,000,000 from the conveyance tax in its report on homeless assistance;
(4) Clarify the appropriation language to reference program identification BED224; and
(5) Make a technical, nonsubstantive amendment to reflect the preferred drafting style.
Your Committees wish to add that any future appropriations for the homeless should include a matching requirement from the counties, for this is a problem that can only be resolved if all branches of government contribute a portion of the resources necessary to take care of those Hawaii residents who have fallen on hard times.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, Energy and Environment and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2764, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2764, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, Energy and Environment and Health and Human Services,
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____________________________ DAVID MATSUURA, Chair |
____________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair |
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