STAND. COM. REP. NO.  971

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2017

RE:   H.B. No. 961

      H.D. 2

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 961, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FARMERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to support farmers in Hawaii by providing an income-tax exclusion for the first $50,000 of income earned by farmers whose annual gross income does not exceed $150,000 if filing a tax return singly or $300,000 if filing a tax return as married filing jointly.

The Hawaii Farm Bureau supported this measure.  The Department of Agriculture, Department of Taxation, and Tax Foundation of Hawaii provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the income excluded and threshold amounts to unspecified amounts; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 961, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 961, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair