STAND. COM. REP. NO 263

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 377

       S.D. 1

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. 377 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds and to appropriate funds for a food innovation center that shall be operated by Kapiolani Community College for the purpose of utilizing processing-grade, locally grown farm products to manufacture prepared meals in a large-scale kitchen.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, University of Hawaii System, High Technology Development Corporation, Kauai Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Hawaii Farmers Union United, Pioneering Healthier Communities-Honolulu, ‘Ai Pohaku, Hawaii Island School Garden Network, Maui Cattlemen's Association, Laakea Community LLC, and twenty-five individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

     Your Committees find that agriculture is one of the three major state industries due to the fertile land statewide that is capable of producing high-quality farm products.  Due to the absence of a large-scale food manufacturing industry in Hawaii, between ten percent and thirty percent of second-grade or processing-grade farm products are not ultimately sold commercially or otherwise exchanged for profit.  This loss of revenue has the potential to deeply impact the state economy currently and in the future.  Accordingly, the innovative pilot kitchen to be installed at Kapiolani Community College for the preparation, analysis, and processing of food would provide a solid foundation of projected industry trends, food hubs, and the increased demand in the future for food and food-related jobs.

     Your Committees have amended this measure to make technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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. 377, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 377, S.D. 1, 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