STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3096

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2429

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2429, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RECREATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to create the University of Hawaii Stadium Corporation and transfer the duties of maintenance, operation, management, and improvement of Aloha Stadium from the Stadium Authority to the University of Hawaii Stadium Corporation.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Local 152, AFL-CIO.  The Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS), the Chairperson of the Stadium Authority, the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet Vendor's Association, Bubble Shack Hawaiian Soap Company, and three individuals, including two Swap Meet vendors, testified in opposition.  The Aloha Stadium Manager, the State Procurement Office, the University of Hawai‘i System (University), and one individual submitted comments.

     Your Committees are well aware of both the benefits and the deficiencies of Aloha Stadium.  As recently as 2005, DAGS contracted for a planning study for Aloha Stadium.  The final report, published in December 2005, included findings and recommendations related to a conditional survey, structural safety, capital improvements, stadium enhancements, and new stadium options.

     Your Committees are in agreement that Aloha Stadium should be maintained to maximize the current use and income from the varied activities.  However, your Committees are also in agreement that it may not be in the best long-term interests of the public to maintain the current stadium in perpetuity.

     Your Committees have amended this measure accordingly, by deleting its content and replacing it with a study of the feasibility of constructing a new recreational stadium in West Oahu.  Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Amends the findings and purpose section to reflect the other changes;

     (2)  Requires the University, with the assistance of other public and private sector entities involved in the development of West Oahu, to study the feasibility of constructing a new recreational stadium in West Oahu;

     (3)  Authorizes the study to include:

          (A)  The focus of a new stadium;

          (B)  Possible sites located in or near regional growth centers in the West Oahu region;

          (C)  Funding and development options; and

          (D)  Alternative uses for the current Aloha Stadium facility and site, as a means of financing the new stadium;

     (4)  Requires the University to consider and update as necessary the December 2005 Aloha Stadium Planning Study Final Report;

     (5)  Requires the University to submit the findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009;

     (6)  Appropriates funds from the Stadium Special Fund to be expended by the University for the study; provided that the University provides in-kind or other resources as appropriate to conduct the study; and

     (7)  Makes the measure effective upon approval with the appropriation effective on July 1, 2008.

     Your Committees wish to assure the current users of Aloha Stadium that it is not the intent of the Committees to adversely impact any of the current activities during the conduct of the study.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2429, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2429, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development and Taxation and Education,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair