Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 3138 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Office of the Auditor for the preparation of the 2050 Sustainability Plan.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of the Auditor and the Office of Planning.

Your Committee finds that Act 8, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, authorized the creation of the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Task Force (task force) to review the Hawaii State Plan and the State's planning process and required the Office of the Auditor to prepare the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan.

In December 2005, the task force submitted its first report to the Legislature, and in the report, the task force determined that, among other things, the process to create the 2050 Sustainability Plan should include research and data gathering, community input and outreach, and activities to educate the public. In Act 8, $100,000 was appropriated for each of two fiscal years to create the 2050 Sustainability Plan. However, after reviewing the task force's report and the Office of the Auditor's testimony, your Committee finds that this appropriated amount is inadequate to accomplish Act 8's objectives. Accordingly, this measure provides a vehicle to appropriate the necessary funding to accomplish the task force's goals and objectives.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3138 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.