STAND. COM. REP. 2720

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3025

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3025 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF PLANNING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify that the Office of Planning shall report exclusively to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and that the Department shall have sole jurisdiction over land and state planning functions.

Specifically, the measure reaffirms the administrative placement of the Office of Planning under the Department and clarifies that the Department shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the Land Use Commission and the Hawaii State Planning Act. This measure also prohibits the transfer of any of these offices or functions to any other department by executive order.

Your Committee finds that the authority to allocate executive and administrative offices within state government is well within the purview of the legislature. Using that authority, the Office of Planning was placed under the jurisdiction of the Department because of the common purposes and functions shared by both agencies. The Office of Planning prepares the guidelines for the state functional plans and provides recommendations to the Governor and state and county agencies on conflicts between the functional plans, the Hawaii State Planning Act, state programs, and county plans. These planning functions are essential to the business, economic development and tourism objectives of the State. Thus, technically, as well as intuitively, the Office of Planning belongs under the jurisdiction of the Department.

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. 3025 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair