STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2592

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 112

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, Water and Land, Agriculture, and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 112, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Establish the Whitmore project facility revenue bond special fund into which proceeds from revenue bonds shall be deposited for purchasing certain parcels of land from Dole Food Company, Inc.; and

     (2)  Appropriate funds to acquire certain lands from Dole Food Company, Inc.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Agribusiness Development Corporation; The Trust for Public Land; Wahiawa Community and Business Association; Hawaii Agriculture Research Center; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council; Sugarland Growers, Inc.; Hawaii Farm Bureau; and one individual.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from five individuals.

     Your Committees find that there is a need to further develop a centralized hub for agricultural operations in central Oahu that includes commercial farming, packing, processing, workforce housing, food safety, education, marketing, agro-tourism, manufacturing, and other related activities.  Furthermore, the purchase of certain lands in central Oahu from Dole Food Company, Inc., will provide the State with prime agricultural land, watershed lands that produce drinking water, lands that are the scenic gateway to the North Shore, and lands that are an important habitat for dozens of endangered and threatened plant and animal species.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, Water and Land, Agriculture, and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 112, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, Water and Land, Agriculture, and Ways and Means,

____________________________ MALAMA SOLOMON, Chair	____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair
____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair	____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair