STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3357

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2034

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2034, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE KAHO‘OLAWE ISLAND RESERVE COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to ensure that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission has the necessary resources to effectively meet the unique challenges of restoring, preserving, and determining the appropriate uses of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve.

     Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Requires the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission to submit a financial self-sufficiency and sustainability plan, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2017; and

     (2)  Appropriates $600,000 to the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission for its projects.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Chair of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission; the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission; Aha Moku Advisory Committee; one member of the Maui County Council; Conservation Council for Hawaii; and forty-seven individuals.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee recognizes that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve is of significant cultural and historic importance, and that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission is responsible for overseeing the use and restoration of the reserve.  Your Committee finds that the Kaho‘olawe rehabilitation trust fund is the predominant funding source of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission.  However, the Auditor's 2013 fiscal audit of the trust fund predicted that it will be depleted by 2016, and that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission lacks a comprehensive and quantifiable restoration plan with performance measures to gauge the fulfillment of objectives.  Your Committee finds that this measure will ensure that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission fulfills its important duties in the management and control of the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve.

     Your Committee notes that the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission has requested an appropriation of $600,000 for the purposes of this measure.

     To facilitate further discussion on this measure, your Committee has amended the measure by changing:

     (1)  The appropriation from $600,000 to an unspecified amount; and

     (2)  The effective date to July 1, 2076.

     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. 2034, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2034, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair