STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2572

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2294

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2294, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IRRIGATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Director of Finance to issue general obligation bonds to finance capital improvements for various irrigation systems and associated agricultural management facilities throughout the State.

     Your Committee received no written comments on the measure.

     Your Committee finds that to ensure a reliable source of water for Hawaii's agricultural enterprises, it is imperative to provide funding sufficient to maintain and improve the State's irrigation systems.  Many existing irrigation systems are antiquated and have atrophied over a period of decades.  The repair and maintenance of these systems is vital to a sustainable agricultural industry.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

     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. 2294, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2294, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair