STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2599

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2659

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2659, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL HEMP,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Establish an industrial hemp pilot program to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp and distribution of its seed in Hawaii through limited activities by the Board of Agriculture for purposes of agricultural or academic research;

     (2)  Exempt the possession, cultivation, sale, receipt, or transfer of industrial hemp for the purposes of agricultural or academic research from constituting an offense under part IV of chapter 712, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (3)  Appropriate funds for Department of Agriculture staff to assist in registration of industrial hemp licensees.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; Aha Moku Advisory Committee; Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii; Hawai‘i Center for Food Safety; Hawaii Farm Bureau; Hawaii Farmers Union United; Maui Coffee Association; Maui Venture Consulting, LLC; International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142; and sixty-seven individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

     Your Committees find that industrial hemp is well suited to Hawaii's climate and soil and can grow to over ten feet in a short period of time with little water and no pesticides.  According to estimates by the Hemp Industries Association, retail sales of industrial hemp products grew to over $620,000,000 annually in 2014.  Industrial hemp has over 25,000 uses, including food, fiber, and fuel products, and has high potential to contribute to the future viability of the State's agricultural industry.  This measure will allow Hawaii to acquire a potentially lucrative and sustainable economic driver in addition to tourism.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the appropriation amount to the Department of Agriculture for the hiring of staff;

     (2)  Inserting a sunset date of July 1, 2021;

     (3)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2659, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2659, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means,

________________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

________________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair