STAND. COM. REP. NO. 291

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1273

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Technology and the Arts and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1273 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an appropriation to establish the system-wide, statewide Academy for Creative Media (ACM) within the University of Hawaii to award certificates and degrees emphasizing narrative storytelling through a unique program in indigenous filmmaking.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii System; Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Academy for Creative Media.

 

     Your Committees find that ACM was formally approved by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents in 2003 as a progressive program that recognizes the talent of students in developing creative media and the promise of a new and vibrant industry for Hawaii.  This measure seeks to codify the successful ACM Manoa program, which has been teaching the art of digital media and filmmaking for the past decade.

 

Prior to the program's establishment, students sought film or digital media education outside the State, often furthering their careers on the mainland or abroad rather than in Hawaii.  Today the ACM Manoa program ranks among the fastest growing majors in the history of the University of Hawaii System and has more candidates for classes than can be accommodated.  Your Committees further find that extending the educational opportunities statewide can be a powerful incentive for workforce development.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the specific dollar amount of the appropriation requested, which was $2,129,967; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Technology and the Arts and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1273, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1273, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Technology and the Arts and Higher Education,

 

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

 

____________________________

GLENN WAKAI, Chair