STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1346

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 749

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 749, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish, within the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Hawaii Agriculture Workforce Advisory Board.

The purpose of the Board is to:

     (1)  Develop the next generation of the agriculture workforce in the State;

     (2)  Develop partnerships with agricultural organizations and stakeholders;

     (3)  Maintain and support the National Future Farmers of America Organization within the State; and

     (4)  Recommend projects and programs to promote the expansion and development of the agricultural industry in the State.

     This measure also appropriates an unspecified sum of funds to assist in the establishment and support of the Hawaii Agriculture Workforce Advisory Board.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will further the policy of the State, as expressed by the State Planning Act, to promote economically competitive activities that increase Hawaii's agricultural self-sufficiency and to increase the attractiveness and opportunities for an agricultural education and livelihood.  Your Committee believes that this measure will increase Hawaii's agricultural self-sufficiency by developing the State's agricultural workforce and promoting the development of the State's agricultural industry.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Codifying section 2 as part of chapter 371, Hawaii Revised Statutes (Department of Labor and Industrial Relations organizational law); and

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

     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 H.B. No. 749, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 749, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair