Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 157 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to formally recognize the Agriculture Working Group and its efforts to formulate appropriate land use policies.

The 1978 Constitutional Convention mandated in part that "The State shall conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency and assure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands." To that end, in August through October 2001, your Committees held a series of hearings to gain information and consensus on legislation to fulfill that mandate. As a result of these efforts legislation was introduced during the Regular Session of 2002 which failed to gain conference committee approval. Similar legislation was introduced during this current session; however, the difficulty in resolving these complex issues dictated that this matter be deferred and subjected to further in-depth discussion by all involved stakeholders in the agricultural community.

Your Committees find that a group of approximately forty-eight stakeholders in the agricultural community, the Agriculture Working Group, met on February 8 and 28, 2003, to focus on legislation to protect agricultural lands and will continue its efforts to formulate appropriate agricultural land use policies and legislation.

Your Committees wish to formally recognize the Agriculture Working Group and commend its members for their time and effort. Your Committees further request that the Agriculture Working Group continue to address all pertinent issues it deems appropriate, including:

Your Committees have amended this measure to note that the Agriculture Working Group is a successor to the Agricultural Coalition that was organized in 2001 and 2002, primarily to advance agricultural activity in the State. Your Committees have made further technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 157, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 157, H.D. 1.