STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2279

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2665

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2665 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 goal four, quality education, of the seventeen United Nations Sustainability 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 Education, Department of Human Services, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Airport Concessionaires Committee, Oahu Economic Development Board, and Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities for the Democratic Party of Hawaii. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning.

Your Committee finds that Hawai‘i 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. This measure codifies Sustainable Development Goal four, quality education, into state law.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2665 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair