Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 1403 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide the Harbors Division of the Department of Transportation (DOT) with greater flexibility to develop its harbor lands and facilities to a broader spectrum of users, subject to the approval of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

DOT and the Maritime Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Honolulu testified in support of this measure.

Hawaii is the most maritime state in the nation and critically dependent on state harbors and harbor infrastructure for the receipt of life-sustaining supplies. State harbors also help drive the economy, especially with the rapidly growing interest in the cruise industry. The growing numbers of cruise ships stopping in Hawaiian waters, as well as an increase in ocean tourism industries, aid in the diversification of harbor revenues. Your Committee finds that through this diversification of revenues, DOT is able to maintain wharfage fees and other costs at a more stable level, thus keeping the cost of goods in Hawaii more stable for consumers.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1403 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.