STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2088
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 2800
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Twenty-Eighth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2016
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2800 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish in the Agribusiness Development Corporation a grant program to provide financial support for agriculture-related improvements to existing and emerging farms and agribusiness operations.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Agribusiness Development Corporation, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, and one individual.
Your Committee finds that the ability for the Agribusiness Development Corporation to issue grants will provide the means to assist local farming operations, make investments to strengthen and diversify Hawaii's agriculture, attract and retain businesses, and streamline the Corporation's operations. Your Committee further finds that a grant program may help foster partnerships to facilitate agribusiness projects and help grow Hawaii's agriculture industry.
Your Committee has amended this measure by;
(1) Deleting language that would have set a limit on the dollar amount of the grant awarded per qualified person per year;
(2) Inserting language to require the Agribusiness Development Corporation to prioritize grants relating to food production;
(3) Inserting language to require the Agribusiness Development Corporation to submit an annual report on the grant program to the Legislature; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2800, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2800, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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