STAND. COM. REP. NO. 464

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1414

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Business and Economic Development and Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 1414 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OCEAN RECREATION AND COASTAL AREAS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to exempt voyaging canoes from moorage fees charged by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the 'Aha Punana Leo, and three individuals. Your Committees also received comments from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committees believe that voyaging canoes, which are designed, built, and operated in the traditional manner of Pacific Islanders, play an important role in preserving the traditional Hawaiian culture. Voyaging canoes also are dynamic models of Hawaiian culture at work, which can be used as a platform for education and language preservation and revitalization. Your Committees find that this measure supports the educational and cultural value of traditional Polynesian voyaging canoes.

It is your Committees' intent that the Board of Land and Natural Resources give consideration to a permanent mooring site for the voyager canoe Hokule'a, and work with the Polynesian Voyaging Society to determine appropriate sites for establishing a permanent mooring.

As introduced, this measure exempts voyaging canoes from state moorage fees. Your Committees have amended the measure to clarify that the exemption applies to inter-island moorage fees only.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Business and Economic Development and Water, Land, and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1414, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1414, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Business and Economic Development and Water, Land, and Agriculture,

____________________________

RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair