HB1959

SECTION 1. Section 201-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"[[](a)[]] Without prejudice to its general functions and duties, the department of business, economic development, and tourism shall have specific functions in the following areas:

(1) Industrial development. The department shall:

(A) Determine, through technical and economic surveys, the profit potential of new or expanded industrial undertakings;

(B) Develop, through research projects and other means, new and improved industrial products and processes;

(C) Promote studies and surveys to determine consumer preference as to design and quality and to determine the best methods of packaging, transporting, and marketing the State's industrial products;

(D) Disseminate information to assist the [~~present~~] existing industries of the State, to attract new industries to the State, and to encourage capital investment in [~~present~~] existing and new industries in the State;

(E) Assist associations of producers and distributors of industrial products to introduce these products to consumers; and

(F) [~~Make~~] Award grants [or] and enter into contracts as may be necessary or advisable to [~~accomplish the foregoing;~~] effectuate the purposes of this paragraph;

(2) Innovative activity development. The department shall:

(A) Determine, through technical and economic surveys, the profit potential of innovative economic activities that have the potential to expand and diversify Hawaii's economy, including aerospace, diversified agriculture, aquaculture, renewable energy development, creative media, health care, and science and technology-based sectors;

(B) Develop, through research projects and other means, innovative activities that may pose risks or may be less labor-intensive than traditional business activities, that, if successful, will generate revenue in Hawaii through the export of services or products or the substitution of imported services or products;

(C) Promote opportunities for investors in innovative activities and talent engaged in innovative activities to personally meet and interact at cultural, art, entertainment, culinary, athletic, or visitor-oriented events not having a business focus;

(D) Disseminate information to foster a broader public recognition and understanding of the potential benefits of new or innovative growth-oriented industries in Hawaii to attract new industries to the State, and to encourage investment in existing and new industries in the State;

(E) Assist associations of entrepreneurs and investors to encourage investment in existing and new industries in the State; and

(F) Award grants and enter into contracts as may be necessary or advisable to effectuate the purposes of this paragraph;

[~~(2)~~] (3) Land development. The department shall:

(A) Encourage the most productive use of all land in the State in accordance with a general plan developed by the department;

(B) Encourage the improvement of land tenure practices on leased private lands;

(C) Promote an informational program directed to landowners, producers of agricultural and industrial commodities, and the general public regarding the most efficient and most productive use of the lands in the State; and

(D) [~~Make~~] Award grants [or] and enter into contracts as may be necessary or advisable to [~~accomplish the foregoing;~~] effectuate the purposes of this paragraph;

[~~(3)~~] (4) Credit development. The department shall:

(A) Conduct a continuing study of agricultural and industrial credit needs;

(B) Encourage the development of additional private and public credit sources for agricultural and industrial enterprises;

(C) Promote an informational program to acquaint financial institutions with agricultural and industrial credit needs and the potential for agricultural and industrial expansion, and inform producers of agricultural and industrial products as to the manner in which to qualify for loans; and

(D) [~~Make~~] Award grants [or] and enter into contracts as may be necessary or advisable to [~~accomplish the foregoing;~~] effectuate the purposes of this paragraph;

[~~(4)~~] (5) Promotion. The department shall:

(A) Disseminate information developed for or by the department pertaining to economic development to assist [~~present~~] existing industry in the State;

(B) Attract new industry and investments to the State; and

The industrial and economic promotional activities of the department may include the use of literature, advertising, demonstrations, displays, market testing, lectures, travel, motion picture and slide films, and other promotional and publicity devices as may be appropriate; and

[~~(5)~~] (6) Self-sufficiency standard. The department shall establish and update biennially a self-sufficiency standard that shall incorporate existing methods of calculation, and that shall reflect, at a minimum, costs relating to housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, clothing and household expenses, federal and state tax obligations, family size, children's ages, geography, and the number of household wage earners. The department shall report to the legislature concerning the self-sufficiency standard no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009, and every odd-numbered year thereafter. The recommendations shall address, among other things, the use of any federal funding that may be available for the purposes of establishing and updating the self-sufficiency standard."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1959
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII