STAND. COM. REP. NO. 991

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1431

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1431, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION FOR NATURAL DISASTERS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to make an emergency appropriation for emergency relief operations throughout the State as a result of the October 15, 2006, Kiholo Bay earthquake disaster.

 

     Specifically, this measure makes appropriations to:

 

     (1)  Cover the costs of statewide response and recovery efforts to repair damaged public and private structures and transportation, utility, and irrigation infrastructure, including the cost of national guard personnel on state active duty;

 

     (2)  Cover the required twenty-five per cent cost share for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's public assistance program;

 

     (3)  Upgrade state and county warning systems;

 

     (4)  Hire consultants to survey alternate sources of irrigation water and develop plans to protect sources and distribution of irrigation water on the island of Hawaii; and

 

     (5)  Provide financial assistance to critical facilities, including public schools, hospitals, and nursing facilities for structural and non-structural mitigation projects.

 

     Your Committee received comments in support of this measure from the state Judiciary, the Department of Education, the Department of Civil Defense, the Mayor of Hawaii county, and the Daughters of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee is in agreement that many of the residents of this State are in need of immediate financial assistance to remedy the devastation suffered due to the Kiholo Bay earthquake and that an immediate emergency appropriation to provide that financial aid is in the public interest and ensures the public's health, safety, and welfare.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the source of funds for the Kiholo Bay earthquake disaster recovery projects, including the twenty-five per cent state cost share to be eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, from the general fund to the emergency and budget reserve fund;

 

     (2)  Requiring that any reimbursements the State receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency be redeposited into the emergency and budget reserve fund; and

 

     (3)  Complying with the requirements of section 9 of article VII of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, by inserting a new section 7 which states that the appropriation in this bill will cause the general fund expenditure ceiling to be exceeded by $900,000, or an additional 0.017 per cent.  As required by section 37-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the new section of this Act also sets forth the reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2006-2007.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your


Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1431, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1431, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair