STAND. COM. REP. NO. 784

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 694

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 694 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to codify the State's commitment to conservation, sustainability, and economic development by including the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Indicators, with references to existing state sustainability programs, in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Hawaii Immunization Coalition, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and two individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii has been a leader in conservation efforts for decades through its commitment to the environment and sustainability.  Your Committee further finds that this measure reiterates the State's leadership in this area by recommitting Hawaii's dedication to its existing environmental and sustainability policies and connecting those policies to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Indicators.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

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

 

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

 

     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. 694, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 694, S.D. 1.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair