STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2246

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2463

       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 Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2463 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to:

     (1)  By Part I, allow the Agribusiness Development Corporation to contract with financial institutions to provide lease management services;

     (2)  By Part II, authorize the Agribusiness Development Corporation to lease lands acquired pursuant to this measure for up to fifty-five years;

     (3)  By Part III, establish a process to ensure that certain agricultural lands owned by the Galbraith Estate:

          (a)  Remain available for agriculture usage;

          (b)  Are properly managed to ensure their continued economic viability while being used for agricultural usage;

          (c)  Are managed in a manner that is sensitive to and consistent with the needs of farmers in the Waialua area.

     (4)  By Part IV, authorize the Agribusiness Development Corporation to acquire agricultural lands to sustain and preserve viable agricultural enterprises within a contiguous geographic area; and

     (5)  By Part V, authorize the Agribusiness Development Corporation to acquire lands located on Oahu owned by the Galbraith Estate.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by The Trust for Public Land, Agribusiness Development Corporation, United States Department of the Army, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and one individual.  The Department of Budget and Finance and Bank of Hawaii offered comments regarding this measure.

     Your Committees find that it is important to protect existing agricultural lands by expanding the authority given to the Agribusiness Development Corporation as set forth in this measure.  Your Committees recommend that the Agribusiness Development Corporation pursue a potential partnership with the United States Army with regard to Part IV of this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending the effective date to July 1, 2050 for the purpose of facilitating continued discussions regarding this measure; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2463, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2463, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ JILL TOKUDA, Chair