HB2203

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that a self-sufficiency standard that is measured appropriately and updated consistently for the State of Hawaii would much more accurately reflect the actual income needed to afford the basic necessities of life. In 2003, a study conducted for the Hawaii state commission on the status of women calculated the bare-minimum costs for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, clothing and household costs, and federal and state tax obligations. The study resulted in a measure designed to document a cost of living standard that takes into account family size, children's ages, geography, and number of household wage-earners. The study found that certain households in Hawaii could require as much as double to triple the amount listed in the federal poverty guidelines to meet their basic living needs. A self-sufficiency standard for Hawaii would be an excellent tool for lawmakers, the business and education community, and the nonprofit sector to improve the way they help lower income families reach economic sufficiency.

The purpose of this Act is to establish and biannually update a self-sufficiency standard for Hawaii.

SECTION 2. Section 201-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§201-3 Specific research and promotional functions of the department. Without prejudice to its general functions and duties the department of business, economic development, and tourism shall have specific functions in the following areas:

(1) Industrial development. The department shall determine through technical and economic surveys the profit potential of new or expanded industrial undertakings; develop through research projects and other means new and improved industrial products and processes; promote studies and surveys to determine consumer preference as to design and quality and to determine the best methods of packaging, transporting, and marketing the State's industrial products; disseminate information to assist the present industries of the State, to attract new industries to the State, and to encourage capital investment in present and new industries in the State; assist associations of producers and distributors of industrial products to introduce such products to consumers; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(2) Land development. The department shall encourage the most productive use of all land in the State in accordance with a general plan developed by the department; encourage the improvement of land tenure practices on leased private lands; promote an informational program directed to landowners, producers of agricultural and industrial commodities, and the general public regarding the most efficient and most productive use of the lands in the State; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(3) Credit development. The department shall conduct a continuing study of agricultural and industrial credit needs; encourage the development of additional private and public credit sources for agricultural and industrial enterprises; promote an informational program to acquaint financial institutions with agricultural and industrial credit needs and the potential for agricultural and industrial expansion, and inform producers of agricultural and industrial products as to the manner in which to qualify for loans; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(4) Promotion. The department shall disseminate information developed for or by the department pertaining to economic development to assist present industry in the State, attract new industry and investments to the State, and assist new and emerging industry with good growth potential or prospects in jobs, exports, and new products. The industrial and economic promotional activities of the department may include the use of literature, advertising, demonstrations, displays, market testing, lectures, travel, motion picture and slide films, and such other promotional and publicity devices as may be appropriate; [~~and~~]

(5) Tourism research and statistics. The department shall maintain a program of research and statistics for the purpose of:

(A) Measuring and analyzing tourism trends;

(B) Providing information and research to assist in the development and implementation of state tourism policy;

(C) Encouraging and arranging for the conduct of tourism research and information development through voluntary means or through contractual services with qualified agencies, firms, or persons; and

(D) Providing tourism information to policy makers, the public, and the visitor industry. This includes:

(i) Collecting and publishing visitor-related data including visitor arrivals, visitor characteristics and expenditures;

(ii) Collecting and publishing hotel-related statistics including the number of units available, occupancy rates, and room rates;

(iii) Collecting and publishing airline-related data including seat capacity and number of flights;

(iv) Collecting information and conducting analyses of the economic, social, and physical impacts of tourism on the State;

(v) Conducting periodic studies of the impact of ongoing marketing programs of the Hawaii tourism authority on Hawaii's tourism industry, employment in Hawaii, state taxes, and the State's lesser known and underutilized destinations; and

(vi) Cooperate with the Hawaii tourism authority and provide it with the above information in a timely manner[.]; and

(6) Self-sufficiency standard. The department shall establish and update biannually a self-sufficiency standard that shall incorporate existing methods of calculation, and shall reflect, at minimum, costs relating to housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, clothing and household expenses, federal and state tax obligations, family size, children's ages, geography, and number of household wage-earners.

The department shall be the central agency to coordinate film permit activities in the State."

SECTION 3. The department of business, economic development, and tourism shall report to the legislature with the first self-sufficiency standard no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009, and provide the legislature with biannual self-sufficiency standard updates thereafter.

SECTION 4. The department of business, economic development, and tourism shall recommend the procurement or use of federal monies whenever appropriate to establish and update biannually the self-sufficiency standard.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 to create one full-time staff position within the department of business, economic development, and tourism to establish and update biannually the self-sufficiency standard.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 5 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2203
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII