STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3062

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2704

       H.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2704, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HA‘IKU VALLEY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to establish the Ha‘iku Valley Cultural Preserve Commission (Commission), to have policy and management oversight of the Ha‘iku Valley cultural preserve.

     The measure also authorizes the Office of Planning and the Attorney General, after consulting with the Ha‘iku Valley Cultural Preserve Commission, to convey the Ha‘iku Valley Cultural Preserve in fee simple to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and appropriates funds for this purpose.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter; Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; Ko‘olau Foundation; and the Ko‘olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by one private citizen.  Comments were submitted by the Director of Finance.

     Your Committees find that the establishment of the Commission will provide a system that recognizes Ha‘iku Valley's unique challenges and preserves in perpetuity its cultural and historic resources for the people of Hawai‘i.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2704, H.D. 2, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ JILL TOKUDA, Chair	____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair
	____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair