STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1564

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 478

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 478, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for agricultural management positions and equipment to support prison farming programs.

     More specifically, this measure appropriates funds for:

(1)  A full-time agricultural management position and equipment for Kulani Correctional Facility agriculture operations; and

(2)  A full-time agricultural management position and equipment for Waiawa Correctional Facility agriculture operations.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety; Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii; Community Alliance on Prisons; The CHOW Project; and two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that agricultural programs at correctional facilities provide numerous benefits for the correctional system and inmates.  Rising prison populations and shrinking correctional budgets have made reducing costs an important focus for correctional facilities.  Your Committee finds that prison farm programs can increase food self-sufficiency and reduce correctional costs by allowing facilities to produce food in-house.  In addition, prison farm programs promote inmate rehabilitation and provide inmates with the opportunity to learn a variety of technical skills and trades, such as caring for and identifying plants, managing and controlling pests, applying planting and harvesting techniques, performing watering and weeding, and operating and repairing farm machinery.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 478, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair