STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 434-20
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2020
RE: H.B. No. 2215
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirtieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2020
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Lower & Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2215 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to establish and
appropriate funds for the workforce development coordinator position within the
Department of Agriculture to oversee ongoing communication and collaboration of
the P-20 Agriculture Education Working Group and lead the implementation plan
for a coordinated framework of support for P-20 agriculture education in
Hawaii.
Your Committee finds that the average age of farmers in Hawaii is sixty years, and Hawaii does not have a farming workforce large enough for expansion of cultivated agricultural lands and food production. A primary cause of the shortage of new farmers in the State has been the decline of support for agriculture education from state government. Your Committee further finds that the Hawaii State Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 80, Regular Session of 2015, requesting the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources to "convene a working group to develop a coordinated framework of support for preschool through post-secondary (P-20) agriculture education and a plan for implementation". After three years, the convened P-20 Agriculture Education Working Group submitted a final report to the 2019 Legislature outlining a coordinated framework of support for P-20 agriculture education in the State. This measure establishes and funds a workforce development coordinator position to assist the P-20 Agriculture Education Working Group and lead in the implementation of the Working Group's coordinated framework.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Establishing the workforce development coordinator position within the Department of Education, rather than the Department of Agriculture;
(2) Changing the expending agency of the appropriation for the workforce development coordinator position from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Education;
(3) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Lower & Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2215, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2215, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Lower & Higher Education,
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____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair |
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