STAND. COM. REP. NO. 955

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1513

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1513, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE WEED AND SEED STRATEGY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to continue the success of the Weed and Seed Program in reducing violent crime and drug use on Oahu by:

 

     (1)  Establishing a permanent Weed and Seed Program within the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR); and

 

     (2)  Appropriating unspecified funds to maintain the Program in areas currently designated for the Weed and Seed strategy and expand the Program to other areas of the State.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Principal of Farrington High School; Principal of Linapuni Elementary School; Honolulu Police Department; Director of Weed and Seed Honolulu; Kalihi Baptist Church; Kalihi Ahupuaa Ulu Pono Ahahui (KAUPA); Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii; The Gentry Companies; Haseko Development, Inc.; Pacific Gateway Center; Broadcast House of the Pacific, Inc.; Meadow Gold Dairies; Hawaii's Most Wanted Magazine; and five individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that the State has benefitted greatly from Weed and Seed Programs based on the Weed and Seed strategy at sites on Oahu that encompass Ala Moana, Chinatown, Downtown Honolulu, Kalihi, Waipahu, and Ewa Beach.  Since the implementation of the strategy, crime in those areas has decreased significantly.  You Committee further finds that the strategy's success warrants the continued operation of the Weed and Seed Program in these communities, and envisions expanding it to other communities in the future.  Your Committee notes that the appropriation amount for the permanent Weed and Seed Program remains to be determined by your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2011; and

 

     (2)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1513, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1513, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

 

 

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair