STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1625

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

 

RE:   S.B. No. 382

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure as received by your Committee is to:

 

     (1)  Establish and fund a grant program within the Department of Agriculture for qualified livestock feed developers, including eligibility criteria and documentation requirements;

 

     (2)  Appropriate funds to reimburse qualified livestock producers for the cost of feed and qualified feed developers for the costs of developing feed for sale to qualified producers; and

 

     (3)  Appropriate funds to the Department of Agriculture to identify, assess, and validate locally sourced feed ingredients available to qualified feed developers.

 

     For the purposes of a public hearing on this bill, your Committee circulated a proposed draft of S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 2 (Proposed Draft), and notified the public that it would be accepting testimony on the Proposed Draft.  The Proposed Draft contains the content of S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and also appropriates funds to the Department of Education for the Future Farmers America program to educate and support youth in agricultural careers.

 

     The Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Pacific University, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, and one concerned individual provided testimony in support of the Proposed Draft.  The League of Women Voters of Hawaii opposed the Proposed Draft.  The Department of Agriculture and Ulupono Initiative provided comments on the Proposed Draft.  

 

     Your Committee considered the merits of both S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as received by your Committee, and the Proposed Draft and upon careful consideration, adopted the Proposed Draft.  Your Committee further amended the Proposed Draft by:

 

     (1)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2030, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 382, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair