STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1345

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 707

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 707 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NON-GENERAL FUNDS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal and abolish certain non-general funds and accounts, as recommended by the Auditor in Report Nos. 14-04 and 14-13.

 

     Specifically, this measure repeals or abolishes the:

 

     (1)  Cancer Detection Development Revolving Fund;

 

     (2)  Hawaii Criminal Justice Commission Trust Account;

 

     (3)  Preservation of Endangered Plants Trust Account; and

 

     (4)  State DOD Physical Amelioration Donation Trust Fund.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Defense, Office of the Auditor, and the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that, in 2014, the Auditor reviewed various non-general funds and accounts, including an evaluation of the original purpose of each fund and account and the degree to which each fund and account continues to serve its intended purpose.  Your Committee further finds that the Auditor concluded that the funds and accounts repealed and abolished by this measure no longer serve their intended purpose or meet statutorily-established criteria for such funds and accounts.  Accordingly, your Committee believes that it is appropriate to repeal and abolish these non-general funds and accounts and to transfer any remaining unencumbered balances to the general fund.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Abolishing the UH Wellness Center - operating account administratively established in 2008 and administered by the University of Hawaii; and

 

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

 

     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 H.B. No. 707, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 707, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair