STAND. COM. REP. NO. 265

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 314

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Higher Education and the Arts and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 314 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate monies for critical staff positions in the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Cooperative Extension Service.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; University of Hawaii System; Kauai County Council; Hawaii Farm Bureau; Hawaii Farmers Union United; Kauai Chamber of Commerce; Kauai County Farm Bureau; Kauai Kunana Dairy; Hawaii Island School Garden Network; Maui Cattlemen's Association; Laakea Community LLC; ‘Ai Pohaku; DuPont Pioneer; Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; and thirty-five individuals.

     Your Committees find that the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources is in critical need of personnel for its cooperative extension service to improve and strengthen Hawaii's sustainability in agriculture through educational programs.  The College houses a cooperative extension service that partners with federal, state, and county governments, with the responsibility to provide science-based information and education programs in agriculture, natural resources, and human resources.

     The extension offices are located throughout the State, with roughly twenty-five extension agents statewide.  The cooperative extension service provides valuable tools that the public can use to strengthen communities and sustain Hawaii's agricultural economy.  Extension personnel provide various services to the communities within each county, ranging from individual consultations, educational workshops, and short courses on relevant subjects, including agriculture, home economics, family living, 4-H and other youth activities, nutrition, and health.

     Your Committees further find that over the past twenty years the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Cooperative Extension Service has experienced a forty-three percent decrease in extension agents who service the various counties, including a twenty-seven percent decrease since 2008.  The College requires an infusion of personnel and support to maintain a viable academic program and strong infrastructure for the University System.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and the Arts and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 314 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 Higher Education and the Arts and Agriculture,

____________________________ RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair