STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2093

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2039

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Higher Education and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2039 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII COLLEGE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN RESOURCES COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an appropriation to the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Cooperative Extension Service to improve education regarding agricultural sciences and food safety.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation.

     Your Committees find that the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH CTAHR) Cooperative Extension Service has been assisting and training farmers in Hawaii for over one hundred years.  UH CTAHR's Cooperative Extension Service provides educational workshops and courses covering topics in agriculture, home economics, family living, Hawaii 4-H and other youth activities, nutrition, and health.

     This measure will support the Cooperative Extension Service's efforts to provide important educational and informational resources regarding agricultural sciences and food safety while UH CTAHR explores additional, long-term sources of funding.

     In addition, in light of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed into law in 2011, UH CTAHR's Cooperative Extension Service will serve an important role in helping local farmers navigate the federal law and ensure food safety and security in Hawaii.  UH CTAHR's Cooperative Extension Service helps train farmers in production and practices that will ensure the safety of the food they produce without unreasonably increasing production costs.

     If this measure is considered for passage by your Committee on Ways and Means, your Committees note that UH CTAHR has indicated a need for $520,000 to fund the following positions:

     (1)  One full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent livestock agent in Maui County;

     (2)  One full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent food crops agent in the City and County of Honolulu;

     (3)  One full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent sustainable agricultural agent in Hawaii County; and

     (4)  One full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent sustainable agricultural agent in Kauai County.

     Your Committees ask that these funds be allowed to lapse in two years, rather than one.

     As this measure moves forward, your Committees also encourage consideration of additional amendments to this measure to authorize UH CTAHR's Cooperative Extension Service to establish an on-farm mentoring program to provide statewide and island-specific mentoring to teach farmers about methods to improve soil health by using whole system practices.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2039 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and Agriculture,

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair