STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1102

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 853

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor, Agriculture, and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 853, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Establish a K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative under the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to conduct training sessions on all islands for teachers and school administrators regarding agricultural self-sufficiency;

 

     (2)  Authorize the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to appoint a coordinator to head the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative and authorize the coordinator to hire necessary staff;

 

     (3)  Require the Hawaii Agriculture Workforce Advisory Board to approve any course materials for the training sessions conducted by the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative;

 

     (4)  Require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to submit annual reports to the Legislature on the activities of the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative; and

 

     (5)  Appropriate an unspecified sum to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations for fiscal years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 for the development, operation, and implementation of the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative, including the hiring of a coordinator and workforce development specialist.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Education; Department of Agriculture; University of Hawaii System; Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council; Hawaii Primary Care Association; International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; The National Future Farmers of America Organization; Hawaii Island School Garden Network; Hawaii State Teachers Association; and four individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that the interest in agriculture is waning among Hawaii youth because they may have an inaccurate perception of farming as a low-paying and low-skilled trade and are unaware of the increasingly technical nature of jobs in the industry.  By establishing the K-12 agriculture workforce development pipeline initiative to conduct training sessions for teachers and school administrators regarding agricultural self-sufficiency, this measure will assist in generating interest and excitement for jobs in agriculture for Hawaii students and promote expansion of the agricultural workforce.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by 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 Judiciary and Labor, Agriculture, and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 853, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 853, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor, Agriculture, and Education,

 

________________________________

RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair

 

 

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair