STAND. COM. REP. 2357

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2077

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Economic Development and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2077 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PLANNING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to mandate ten-year interval updates of state functional plans from state agencies.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from Hawaii's Thousand Friends. Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Comments were received from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Department of Agriculture, and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that this measure addresses the critical issue of long-range development in the state. By mandating updates of functional plans by state agencies every ten years, the State is able to allocate limited resources more efficiently as well as facilitate increased collaboration between the state and county governments. This mandated ten-year interval functional planning also recognizes the value of ongoing and previous planning efforts conducted by various state agencies.

Your Committees have amended this measure by requiring that the functional planning take into consideration any ongoing or previous planning documents, created within the past five years, by various state agencies and, if appropriate, adopt any findings or recommendations contained in these planning documents for inclusion in a functional plan.

The amended measure recognizes the value of various planning documents created and promulgated by state agencies within the past five years. The findings and recommendations contained in these planning documents should not be automatically discounted, but given serious consideration and, if warranted, utilized for possible inclusion in the functional planning document mandated by this measure.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2077, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2077, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committees on Ways and Means and Water, Land, and Agriculture.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations,

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair

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CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair