STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1755

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 134

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 134 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TO SUBMIT A REPORT DETERMINING A LIVING WAGE STANDARD FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS LIVING IN THE STATE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, to submit a report determining a living wage standard for agricultural workers living in the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Farmers Union, Hawaii Farmers Union United, Lokoea Farms, Maui Farmers Union United, and fourteen individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Shrimp Improvement Systems, LLC. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of Agriculture, and Society for Human Resources Management Hawaii.

Your Committees find that a "living wage" is defined as a wage sufficient to provide the necessities and comforts essential to an acceptable standard of living. Your Committees further find that agricultural workers employed in the State earn wages less than other states and their wages are below living wage standards. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an hourly wage of $15.73 is considered livable in the State of Hawaii. The shortage of agricultural workers has posed a significant challenge to the Governor's Sustainable Hawai‘i Initiative, which plans on doubling local food production by 2020 and additionally, in the long term, to locally produce twenty percent of food by 2050 under the 2050 Sustainability Plan. Increasing the wages earned by agricultural workers will incentivize individuals to pursue an occupation in the agricultural workforce. Competitive wages in the agriculture sector will contribute in the retention of skilled individuals. Determining the living wage standard for agricultural workers living in the State will assist with any decision-making on increasing the wages for agricultural workers and attracting a new generation of agricultural workers in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Including the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism as one of the agencies the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations shall collaborate with in determining a living wage standard for agricultural workers living in the State; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 134, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 134, S.D. 1.

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

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair