STAND. COM. REP. NO.  418

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 1207

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1207 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to make technical and housekeeping revisions to update Chapter 210D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which establishes the Hawaii Community-Based Economic Development Program (CBED), by, among other things:

(1)  Allowing CBED's revolving fund to access funding other than from general funds;

(2)  Allowing CBED to make smaller loans due to the reduced funds available and reducing the maximum interest rate of those loans from ten percent to six percent; and

(3)  Clarifying the definition of "community interest" to mean a group of people who may not live in the same area, but are bound together through common economic interest.

     The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, and a concerned individual supported this bill.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1207 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs,

____________________________

ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair