STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2781

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2953

       S.D. 1

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. 2953 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE RESOURCES ON HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is, for geothermal resources located on land under the jurisdiction of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, to require twenty per cent of the royalties received by the State to be paid to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and twenty per cent to be paid to the county in which the geothermal resources are located.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Written comments in opposition were received from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

     Your Committee finds that current law requires thirty per cent of all royalties received by the State from geothermal resources to be paid to the county in which the mining operations are situated.  Your Committee believes that providing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with a percentage of the royalties from geothermal resources on land under the Department's jurisdiction will support the Department's programs, including homestead lot development, loan programs, and rehabilitation programs, as well as the administration expenses related to these programs.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

     (2)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for 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 S.B. No. 2953, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2953, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair