STAND. COM. REP. NO. 720

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 249

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 249, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys to the Department of Agriculture to:

     (1)  Purchase a slaughterhouse within the Campbell Industrial Park and any requisite equipment; and

     (2)  Fund construction, renovation, and improvement projects at the slaughterhouse.

     Your Committee received comments in support of this measure from Russell S. Kokubun, Director, Department of Agriculture; and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

     Your Committee finds that most cattle raised in Hawaii are shipped to the mainland for finishing and slaughter.  Appropriating funds for the purchase and construction of a local slaughterhouse will maintain the viability of the State's beef industry and increase Hawaii's food self-sufficiency and overall sustainability.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 249, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 249, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair