STAND. COM. REP. NO.156

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1432

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1432 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for a Kauai Tropical Fruit Disinfestation Facility and an incubator community kitchen.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the County of Kauai's Office of Economic Development. Testimony in support of the measure, with an amendment, was submitted by the Kauai County Farm Bureau. Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by the Agribusiness Development Corporation and the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

Your Committee finds that reopening the Kauai Tropical Fruit Disinfestation Facility and expanding it to include a full-service community kitchen is an excellent opportunity for the State to promote diversified agriculture, while making optimal use of available agricultural resources. The Kauai Farm Bureau (Bureau) stated that it has been, and would prefer to continue, working through the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) on obtaining the master lease to the Disinfestation Plant. The Bureau would therefore prefer that the ADC be the expending agency for the repair and maintenance of the facility because the ADC has greater flexibility and understanding of the issues involved in reopening this facility.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended the measure to effectuate the suggested amendment.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1432, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1432, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair