STAND. COM. REP. NO. 784

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 900

       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 S.B. No. 900 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to improve the State's community-based economic development program.

     Specifically, this measure:

(1)  Expands the definition of community-based organization to remove the requirement that the organization be membership-based;

(2)  Decreases the number of members of the Community-based Economic Development Council from twelve members to ten;

(3)  Authorizes grants to be issued for provision of technical assistance to community-based organizations; and

(4)  Deletes the requirement that community-based organizations show, at the time of applying for a grant, that the benefits of the grant will be realized for a continuous period of five years.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and the Hawaii Alliance for Community-Based Development.

     Your Committee finds that some nonprofit organizations active in community-based economic development are not "membership-based."  Removing the membership-based requirement from the definition of "community-based organization" will allow the Council to assist these otherwise qualified non-profit organizations. 

Your Committee further finds that the Council has experienced difficulty making a quorum and that reducing the membership from twelve members to ten will facilitate the scheduling of meetings and complying with the requirements to conduct business.

Your Committee believes that adding technical assistance as a grant option will assist grassroots organizations and other groups with limited technical and financial capacity.  Similarly, deleting the five-year continuous benefit demonstration requirement will remove an obstacle to applying for grant assistance.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

     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 S.B. No. 900, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 900, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair