STAND. COM. REP. NO. 671
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 1578
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Economic Development and Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 1578 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Establish
the Hawaii Sister-State and International Partnerships Commission;
(2) Require
the Office of International Affairs to provide support to the Hawaii
Sister-State and International Partnerships Commission;
(3) Allow
the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to establish
out-of-state offices and facilities to support sister-state and other
partnerships that promote and enrich the people, cultures, environments, and
economies of the State and its international partners, generate revenue for the
State, and buy property; and
(4) Appropriate
funds.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Hawaiʻi Green Growth Local2030 Hub; and two individuals.
Your Committees
received comments on this measure from the
Department of the Attorney General.
Your Committees find that the mission of the East-West center is to benefit local residents and the State's international partners by strengthening the State's international ties and advancing cooperation across the Pacific. By supporting the State's sister-state mechanism, this measure will reaffirm the State's commitment to building and maintaining the international partnerships so they can continue to benefit local residents and communities.
Accordingly,
your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting language that would have designated Hawaii Green Growth as the Hawaii Local2030 Hub and exempted it from 42F grant requirements;
(3) Changing
the appropriation to an unspecified amount;
(4) Amending section 1 to
reflect its amended purpose;
(5) Inserting an
effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and
(6) 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 Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Economic Development and Tourism that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1578, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1578, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Economic Development and Tourism,
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________________________________ LYNN DECOITE, Chair |
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________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair |
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