STAND. COM. REP. NO. 445

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1074

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Water and Land and Economic Development and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1074 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE PLANNING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the Office of Planning to review and propose updates to the Hawaii State Planning Act and to submit a written report to the Legislature accordingly; and

     (2)  Make an appropriation to the Office of Planning for reviewing and proposing the updates.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning.

     Your Committees find that the Hawaii State Planning Act was enacted in 1978 to improve the planning process and guide future development of the State.  The Hawaii State Planning Act sets forth the Hawaii State Plan, which articulates goals and policies to guide the development of the State and establishes an integrated planning and implementation system regarding those goals and policies.  The last review of the Hawaii State Planning Act was initiated in 1983 and completed in 1985 and resulted in several amendments to the Hawaii State Planning Act.  Since then, there have been significant changes in Hawaii's economic, physical, and social conditions; technology; and the global marketplace.

     Accordingly, your Committee further finds that a comprehensive review of the Hawaii State Planning Act, chapter 226, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is now warranted.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Economic Development and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1074 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 Water and Land and Economic Development and Technology,

____________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

____________________________ LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair