STAND. COM. REP. NO. 531

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 798

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 798 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the digitization of records, files, and other materials of the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that the SHPD consists of three branches, Architecture, Archaeology, and History & Culture, that collectively strive to preserve and protect Hawaii's historic identity and ensure that Hawaii's treasured past is here for future generations. SHPD has approximately 3,700,000 pages of documents, including numerous documents necessary for compliance with the state historic preservation laws. These records are cumbersome to access and use, and materially slow the process of reviewing projects. The creation of an electronic data management system is the final requirement imposed on the State of Hawaii by the National Park Service's Corrective Action Plan. SHPD has digitized approximately 1,500,000 documents to date. Your Committee therefore finds that making continuing progress on the data management system is critical to completing the corrective action plan and lifting SHPD's status as a "high risk" recipient of federal funds. This measure will provide SHPD the funding to do so.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 798 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 Labor, Culture and the Arts,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair