STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2407

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2661

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2661 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to codify the State's commitment to conservation and sustainability by including the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and indicators, with references to existing state sustainability programs, if applicable, in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Human Services, Department of Education, Office of Planning, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Airport Concessionaires Committee, Oahu Economic Development Board, Polynesian Voyaging Society, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii has been a leader in conservation efforts for decades, through its commitment to environmental and sustainability policies, and that the priority of the Senate for the Regular Session of 2018 is to adopt the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals at the state level. The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Your Committee finds that the Sustainable Development Goals are voluntary commitments to make the world a better and more prosperous place. In order for Hawaii to continue to serve as a trailblazer in setting policies on sustainability and to serve as the global leader on issues of conservation and sustainability, your Committee finds that it is essential that the State demonstrate its full commitment to the goals set by the United Nations. This measure codifies all of the Sustainable Development Goals into state law.

However, your Committee agrees with the Office of Planning that it would be more appropriate to include the provisions of this measure as part of the Hawaii State Planning Act.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding the provisions of this measure as a new section to chapter 226, Hawaii Revised Statutes, instead of 344, Hawaii Revised Statutes; 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 Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2661, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2661, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Government Operations,

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair