STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3374

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 145

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Labor, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 145 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, TO CONVENE AN AGRICULTURE LABOR TASK FORCE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, to convene an agriculture labor task force.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Hawaii Coffee Association; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Kau Valley Farms; Heavenly Hawaiian Farms; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; MauiGrown Coffee, Inc.; O‘ahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; and three individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

Your Committees find that the agriculture industry is currently in need of harvest labor; specifically, the coffee industry is in need of an expanded labor pool and improved availability of affordable housing for laborers. Your Committees further find that the homeless population and at risk veterans are two demographic groups that could benefit from employment while helping to alleviate the immediate pressure on the coffee industry. Your Committees note that while this measure seeks to target labor shortages in one subsector of Hawaii's agriculture industry, your Committees support efforts to increase and improve labor in all agricultural sectors across the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by specifying that the objective of the task force is to look for ways to address the immediate workforce shortage and improve the availability of affordable housing for laborers, in alignment with the goals of the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 145, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 145, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Environment and Labor,

________________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair