STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3104
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 3197
S.D. 2
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2022
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3197, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to invest in the future of Hawaii's farming industry by increasing the number of new farmers and providing more support for aspiring farmers in the State.
More specifically, the measure:
(1) Establishes a beginning farmer training program, to be administered by the Department of Agriculture in conjunction with qualified farmer training providers;
(2) Requires the Department of Agriculture, among other things, to:
(A) Collaborate with and support qualified farmer training providers;
(B) Implement strategies to increase the number of new farmers in the State;
(C) Distribute any available funding to as many training programs as is practicable to achieve the purpose of the program; and
(D) Submit annual reports to the Legislature containing specified information, including an evaluation of program results; and
(2) Appropriates moneys to establish and implement the program.
Your
Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of
Agriculture and Department of Budget and Finance.
Your
Committee finds that the program created by this measure will help to achieve a
more robust agricultural industry by providing needed training to new and aspiring
farmers across the State.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Establishing, in place of the beginning farmer training program, a farmer apprentice mentoring program having substantially similar characteristics, and amending the measure's preamble to reflect the purpose of the farmer apprentice mentoring program;
(2) Requiring the Department of Agriculture, among other things, to collaborate with, and provide funding and information to, qualified farmer mentorship providers to fund apprenticeships for bona fide Hawaii farmers;
(3) Specifying that a farmer apprentice shall be eligible to receive training for a maximum of one year;
(4) Setting limits on: the maximum dollar amount of apprenticeship stipends that a farmer mentorship provider may receive per year; the maximum percentage of total farmer apprentice wages that may be funded by the program in a given year; and the maximum aggregated dollar amount that a farmer mentorship provider may receive during any five-year period for services procured by the Department of Agriculture;
(5) Changing all dollar amounts, and the appropriation amount, to unspecified amounts to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and
(6) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3197, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3197, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,
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________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair |
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