STAND. COM. REP. NO. 708

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 382

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

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 S.B. No. 382, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish within the Department of Agriculture's livestock revitalization program a grant program for qualified feed developers.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Farmers Union United, Maui County Farm Bureau, and Ulupono Initiative.  Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that the cost of imported feed for livestock production is increasing because of market forces and transportation expenses, and that the rising cost of imported feed is one of the biggest challenges for the State's livestock industry.  Subsidizing the cost of importing feed for an extended period of time may not be in the public interest, and currently there is only a limited supply of feed produced in the State.

 

Your Committee further finds that subsidizing a feed development program in the State to help address the needs of Hawaii's livestock producers will benefit the State's economy and help meet the State's sustainability goals.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the requirement that feed development costs shall not include the cost of transportation to or from Hawaii;

 

     (2)  Requiring the Department of Agriculture to:

 

          (A)  Define "feed development costs" as they relate to the grant program established by this Act; and

 

          (B)  Determine whether the definition should include the cost of transporting feed equipment to the State; and

 

     (3)  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 S.B. No. 382, S.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.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair