STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1431

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 1379

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred S.B. No. 1379, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Community Readiness Centers Program to be implemented and administered by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency;

(2) Establish the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund to fund the Community Readiness Centers Program;

(3) Rename the Environmental Response, Energy, and Food Security Tax to the Environmental Response, Energy, Food Security, and Resilience Tax and directs a portion of the tax into the Community Readiness Centers Special Fund; and

(4) Appropriate funds to acquire lands for Community Readiness Centers and for an emergency operations center.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Climate Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy; and four individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board; Kauaʻi Emergency Management Agency; and Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that as natural disasters become more frequent, it is vital to have centralized locations where communities across the State can access essential support, information, supplies, and health and medical services during and after emergencies. Your Committee further finds that this measure takes a proactive approach to preparing the people of Hawaii for natural disasters and other emergencies.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to develop, rather than provide, a selection criteria matrix of standards necessary for constructing community readiness centers;

(2) Adding the Hawaii Advisory Council on Emergency Management and county emergency management administrators as parties to be consulted by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency in its development of a selection criteria matrix of standards necessary for constructing community readiness centers, including identifying geographic areas where community readiness center sites would be able to withstand natural disasters;

(3) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to appropriate $10,800,000 for the initial design of four community readiness center sites and $1,200,000 for contract support, for a total appropriation of $12,000,000.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1379, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1379, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair