STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2702

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2207

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2207, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC LANDS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide fair compensation to lessees when a withdrawal or taking of leased land renders the land unusable for the lessee's original intended purpose.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

Your Committee finds that current law, which provides for a reduction in lease rent for any withdrawal or taking by the State that causes the land to become unusable for the specific use for which it was originally leased, does not provide adequate compensation to the lessee.  Your Committee further finds that lessees are required by the leases to maintain insurance on the land and pay taxes for the land even though they cannot use the land for the specific purpose for which the lease was originally signed, thus causing financial hardship for the lessees.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

 

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

 

     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. 2207, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2207, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair