STAND. COM. REP. NO. 962

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 172

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Economic Development, to which was referred S.B. No. 172, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GRANTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow an organization to qualify for grants under chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the organization is registered with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and in possession of a valid certificate of vendor compliance issued by the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Mayor of the County of Kaua‘i, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hanalei Watershed Hui, Laukahi: Hawaii Plant Conservation Network, Waipā Foundation, and four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Community Services and State Procurement Office.

Your Committee finds that under existing law, a nonprofit organization must be incorporated in the State in order to be eligible to receive grants under chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes. This measure expands the eligibility for such grants to ensure that all nonprofit organizations that are doing work that benefits the State and are in good standing, regardless of where the organizations are incorporated, are eligible to receive state funding pursuant to chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that an organization may qualify for grants under chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the organization is incorporated under the laws of the State or spends at least ninety percent of its operating budget in the State and is registered with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and in possession of a valid certificate of vendor compliance issued by the State; and

(2) 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 Economic Development that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 172, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 172, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development,

____________________________

SEAN QUINLAN, Chair