101
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
    AND TOURISM TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF BIG BOX
    RETAILERS ON LOCAL SMALL AND MEDIUM RETAIL BUSINESSES.
 


 1        WHEREAS, Oahu has experienced the establishment of several
 2   "big box" retailers in the past several years; and
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, big box retailers typically sell in volume at
 5   discounted prices from warehouse type operations; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, big box retailers do business in groceries,
 8   office supplies, sporting goods, home furnishings, toys, books
 9   and music, computers, electronics and hardware on Oahu and on
10   some Neighbor Islands; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the economy of the State and the cost of living
13   for Hawaii residents are impacted considerably by big box
14   retailers; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, anecdotal reports are that big box retailers have
17   had an adverse economic impact on small and medium sized
18   businesses that are locally owned, causing many of them to lose
19   revenue and eventually close; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, the legislature needs solid and reliable
22   information regarding the full economic impact on the State
23   from big box retailers, particularly the effects on small and
24   medium sized businesses that are locally owned; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, section 201-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, states
27   that the objective of the Department of Business, Economic
28   Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) is to "make broad policy
29   determinations with respect to economic development in the
30   State"; now, therefore,
31   
32        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
33   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
34   Representatives concurring, that the DBEDT is requested to

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   conduct a study on the effects of big box retailers on local
 2   small and medium retail businesses, including but not limited
 3   to the:
 4   
 5        (1)  Number, types, and locations of big box retailers in
 6             Hawaii;
 7   
 8        (2)  Number of employees employed by each of the various
 9             big box retailers in each location;
10   
11        (3)  Amounts of excise, income withholding, and property
12             tax revenues generated by big box retailers;
13   
14        (4)  Estimated number and types of small and medium
15             locally owned retail businesses that are in
16             competition with the big box retailers in any type of
17             merchandise, and the estimated number of employees,
18             and amounts of excise, income withholding, and
19             property tax revenues generated by these businesses;
20   
21        (5)  Estimated number and types of small and medium
22             locally owned retail businesses that have been closed
23             or placed in bankruptcy attributable to adverse
24             competition from big box retailers; and
25   
26        (6)  Comparative economic impact of big box retailers on
27             Hawaii's economy;
28   
29   and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and
32   Industrial Relations, Department of Taxation, and the directors
33   of finance of the various counties cooperate with DBEDT in
34   providing information and data for purposes of this study
35   subject to confidentiality requirements; and
36   
37        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DBEDT report findings and
38   recommendations to the legislature twenty days prior to the
39   convening of the Regular Session of 2001; and
40   
41        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
42   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of

 
 
 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Director of Labor
 2   and Industrial Relations, Director of Taxation, Director of the
 3   Department of Budget and Fiscal Services of the City and County
 4   of Honolulu, Director of the Department of Finance of the
 5   County of Hawaii, Director of the Department of Finance of the
 6   County of Kauai, and the Director of the Department of Finance
 7   of the County of Maui.