STAND. COM. REP. NO 73

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 559

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 559 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE MILITARY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Expand the Office of Veterans' Services to include military affairs; and

     (2)  Appropriate funds to expand the Office of Veterans' Services to include military affairs.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Office of Veterans Services, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and four individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the United States military presence in the State is critical to the State's economy.  Military spending in the State is approximately $8,800,000,000 each year and generates approximately 102,000 local jobs.  The military's influence on the State's economy is second to only tourism.  The Office of Military Affairs and Veterans' Services will address the needs of the expanded and appreciated military and veteran population in the State.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Expanding the duties of the Office of Military Affairs and Veterans' Services to include interacting and working with the Armed Services in the State to address any issues; collecting and maintaining information pertaining to the military's economic impact in the State; serving as a liaison between the State's Executive Branch and the State's Armed Services; and researching federal funding opportunities; and

     (2)  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 Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 559, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 559, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair