HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	152
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY AND LABOR AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON LABOR TO CONVENE A JOINT HEARING ON THE LABOR FORCE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROPOSED TURTLE BAY RESORT EXPANSION AND THE IMPACTS THAT A LARGE INCREASE IN EMPLOYEES MAY HAVE ON THE SPARSELY POPULATED NORTH SHORE OF OAHU.

     WHEREAS, Kuilima Resort Company, based upon a Unilateral Agreement approved in 1986, is now proceeding with plans to expand the Turtle Bay Resort from five hundred to four thousand hotel and condominium units; and

     WHEREAS, such an expansion would require thousands of new employees; and

     WHEREAS, the statewide number of employees in accommodation and food services was 96,400 in January 2007; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed resort expansion of the Turtle Bay Resort would require an increase of approximately three to four per cent to the statewide workforce of accommodation and food service employees; and

     WHEREAS, the unemployment rate in January 2007 was two per cent on Oahu and 2.2 per cent statewide; and

     WHEREAS, the number of potential new jobs could not possibly be filled by residents of the North Shore; and

     WHEREAS, the number of potential new jobs could not likely be filled by residents of Oahu or from the rest of the State of Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, there exists a substantial shortage of affordable housing units throughout Oahu and more particularly on the north shore of Oahu; and

     WHEREAS, hundreds, if not thousands, of new employees seeking residences in the vicinity of the resort would severely aggravate the housing situation on the north shore; and

     WHEREAS, hundreds, if not thousands, of new employees who do not live near the resort and would need to commute would add substantially to the increasing traffic problems experienced statewide; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor and the House of Representatives Committee on Labor are requested to convene a joint hearing to consider the likely impacts on the labor force by the proposed Turtle Bay Resort expansion; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor and the House of Representatives Committee on Labor, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and the Chair of the Honolulu City Council.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Turtle Bay Resort Expansion; Labor Force