Senate Standing Committee on Hawaiian Affairs

This is the Joint Committee of Hawaiian affairs and Committee on Ways and Means. We're here for one session. This is being live streamed. I'd like to remind our testifiers we have. You have two minutes for your your testimony and if it's easier you can stand on your testimony. So with that we we have one-

One motion on the agenda Senate Bill 903. Senate draft number one. We have one testifier OHA please.

Good morning Chairs.

Vice Chairs, Members of the Committees Leina'ala Ley, Director of Advocacy for Office of Hawaiian Affairs with Chair Kahele we will stand on our written comments emphasizing the need for the Public Lands Trust Working Group to finish its scope of work before there's a baseline for settlement discussions and available to answer any further questions you may have.

Okay, thank you. Just stay right there. Since you're the only testifier. Senators, any questions for OHA? Seeing none we'll move right into decision making. Recess. Back in session on Senate Bill 903 Senate Draft One is recommendation the chair make some tech- tech amendments to blank the appropriations and defect the date to June 30, 2059.

Hearing no discussion. Senator Keohokalole for the vote.

Members passing with amendments. Chair Richards. Aye. Vice Chair San Buenaventura. Excused. Senator Ihara Excused. Senator Keohokalole. Senator Decourt, Aye. Recommendation adopted.

Thank you.

Ways and Means same recommendation. Chair votes aye.

Same recommendations. SB 903 Chair votes aye. Vice Chair votes aye. Senator Aquino?

Aye.

Senator Decoite. Excused. Senator Elefante. Aye. Senator Hashimoto.

Aye.

Senator Inouye. Senator Kanuha. Senator Kidani. Senator Kim. Excused. Senator Lee. Senator Wakai. Senator Favella. Measure adopted.

Thank you.

Thank you. Motion adopted. We are adjourned.

Calling the 10am meeting to order. This meeting, including the audio and video remote participants, is being streamed live on YouTube. You will find links to bring objects for senate meetings on our live and on demand video page of our website. In the event that we are we have to abruptly end this hearing.

The committee will reconvene on Wednesday, February 19th, 10:02am in this room. A public notice will be posted on our website. For those participating remotely, all testifier audio will be muted and video disabled until shortly before it's your turn to testify. There will be a one minute limit on verbal testimony.

A timer will be visible. If we. If there are any glitches during your time to testify, we'll be moving on to the next person due to time constraints. However, we have your written testimony. First item is SB 439. Recommendation is to pass an amendment adopting LRB tech amendments. Any discussions? Oh, recommendation. There's a testifier.

Recess. Okay, we're.

We're in recess in the 10am but we're going to convene the 10:02. First item is SB 497. Sorry, 934. This is the 10:02 agenda. The recommendation is to pass with amendments adopting the proposed SD1 and recommitting the bill back to Ways and Means. Any discussion? Chair votes I.

SB 934 to recommit. Chair votes I. Vice Chair votes I.

[roll call]

Motion adopted.

Thank you. Next item. SB 935. Recommendation is to adopt the proposed SD1 and recommit back to Ways and Needs. SB 935.

Wait, wait, wait.

The vote sheet for 935.

Any discussions? If not, Chair votes I.

What was the recommendation? 935.

Amendments and recommend.

Oh.

It's the same.

Oh, okay. So this is SB 935 to recommit. All Members present. Anyone voting no or reservation? Motion adopted.

Thank you.

Okay. Adjourned. They were going to order.

Calling to order the 10:01 agenda, starting with SB 65. First item, SB 65. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, bank the appropriation, defecting the date to 2050. Any discussion? If not, chair votes I.

All members present. SB 65, pass with amendments. All members present. Anyone voting no with reservation? Motion adopted.

Thank you. Next item. SB 125.

Recommendation is to pass amendments, adopt LRB tech amendments, and for the purposes of this section. Value added agricultural products shall be defined as a product that has been processed, enhanced, or otherwise modified beyond the raw, the raw state in a manner that increases their economic value and that meet the criteria established for the Hawaii Seal of quality under HRS148-63 by the Department of Agriculture.

Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Motion adopted.

Next item. SB 227. Recommendation is to pass an amendment. Sorry. Pass with amendments. Adopting LRB tech amendments. Any discussion?

SB 227. Pass with amendments. All members present. Anyone voting no with reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item. SB 328. Recommendation is to pass with amendments defecting the date to 2050. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 328. All members are passed with amendments. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 329. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not Chair votes I.

SB 329 passed with unamended. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 383. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopt LRB tech amendments, and effect the date upon approval. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 383 passed with amendments. Any members voting no or reservation?Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 448. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not Chair votes I.

SB 448, pass unamended. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 465. Recommendation is to pass with amendment, defective date to 2050. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

This is SB 558?

465.

Oh, okay. 465 pass with.

Wait. Defective date. Yeah.

SB 465 passed with amendments. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 558. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, insert clarifying amendment to define open access, wider network and world class products in the bill. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 558. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 576. Recommendation is to pass with amendments defecting the date 2050. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 576. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 744. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 744. Pass unamended. Anyone voting no? With reservation?

Reservation.

Reservation For Inouye. Reservations just for Inouye. Anyone else? Okay. Motion adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 789. Recommendation is to pass with amendments. We shall insert language that says this act shall take effect on its effective date, provided that the Department of Education meets the statutory goals outlined in 302A-456. If the Department of Education fails to meet its goals, then this act shall be repealed January 1, 2031.

Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 828. Recommendation is to defer till February 19 to 10:02 in this room. Next item, SB 997. Recommendation is to pass with amendments. Insert an amendment to narrow the scope of the preferential rate to firm renewables. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1023. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item is SB 1065. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopting LRB tech amendments and effecting the date upon approval. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1065. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1220. Recommendation is deferring till February 19, 10:02 in this room. Next item. 1232. Recommendation is to pass with amendments adopting LRB tech amendments. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1232. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservations? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1234. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, inserting a preamble section to provide clarification on the bill. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1234. Pass with amendments. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1252. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopt LRB tech amendments, and provide an effective date upon approval. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1252. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Recession.

Next item, SB 1269. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1269. Pass unamended. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Next item, SB 1360. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopting LRB tech amendment. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1361. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present. Anyone voting no on SB 1361? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1381. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

All members present on SB 1381. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, 1388. Recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopt LRB Tech Amendments, and clarify that the two new SFA board members created in this measure will be ex official voting members. Change language in the purpose section and section two to reflect this clarification. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1388. Pass with amendments. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Motion adopted.

Next item, SB 1487. Recommendation is we'll be deferring this till 10am on February 26th in this room. Next item, SB 1491. Recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1491, all members present. Anyone voting no? With reservations? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1530, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1530, pass unamended. All members present. Anyone voting no or with reservation? Measure adopted.

Thank you. Next item, SB 1536, recommendation is to pass with amendments, adopt LRV tech amendments, and effect date upon approval. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1536. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Next item, SB 1543, recommendation is to pass with amendments. Adding language to clarify on page four, line three, that this will only apply to contracts approved following the enactment of this act.

Adding language to clarify page four, line two, that the amount shall be applied to each individual contract that the purchasing agent requires service for. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1543. All members present. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

And last item, SB 1547, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes I.

SB 1547. Pass unamended. Anyone voting no? With reservation? Measure adopted.

Okay, it's calling back to order the 10am agenda. First item is SB 439.

Good morning, chair and members of the committee. Curt Cottrell, Administrator for the Division of State Parks, DLNR. You had me worried for a moment when you said there were no--there was no one to testify on this one.

So you have one minute, so keep it going.

Okay. I hear you. We provided comments and it was hard not to support the bill, but we're basically doing everything that the bill is requesting at this point. We are doing studies, and my testimony has the the eight criteria that we typically apply to the State Park units that are under consideration for fees.

So we have ten collecting now and five that are under examination. We have the rules through 13-146 that are attached as the exhibit where we've already had the board designate which state parks will be applicable to fees.

The one exception this bill does that's interesting and I appreciate the creativity is the reference to the Consumer Price Index. A couple sessions ago in Act 194, SLH 21, you guys did approve that the Land Board could in fact adjust our fees rather than us having to go out for rule-making.

That was primarily to try to experiment with surge or dynamic pricing, which we haven't started to do yet but it's, it's on our list of, of things to do. And again, Act 194, you know, allows us to do the--which, you know, which fees will apply where, and yes, the fees already go into our State Park Special Fund. So we appreciate the bill, but we're--we're basically doing everything the bill requests now, and it's working quite well. Thank you.

Yeah. Probably--the problem is not fast enough. We've been talking about this for years now, but it's not--that's not a question.

I understand.

Okay, next testifier: OHA. Okay. Kua'aina Ulu 'Auamo, in support. Resources Legacy Fund, in support. Care for Aina Now Coalition.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. My name is Hannah Leziak, and I'm here on behalf of the Care for Aina Now Coalition and our leadership committee in full support of SB 439.

Our organization is comprised of over 60 different organizations, all of which who care deeply about the protection of our aina and we believe that this bill would provide necessary funding for natural resource protection and restoration. So we're in full support of this bill and we urge that you do as well. I'm here for any questions. Mahalo.

Thank you. Coalition Earth, in support. Tax Foundation.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay, comments, and then we have two opposed individuals and one support. Anyone else wishing to testify on SB 439? Next Item: SB 938, DOTAX.

Good morning. Chair, Vice Chair and Committee Members, Gary Suganuma, Director of Taxation. The Department stands on its written testimony offering comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? Ruth Love in support. Anyone else wishing to testify? Okay, next item. HB 1440. Ombudsman.

Hello, Mr. Chair, Vice Chair. Members Robin Matsunaga, State Ombudsman, stand on my written testimony in support of the bill.

Thank you.

Members. Any questions? LRD.

Good morning. Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Charlotte Carter Yamauchi, Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau. We stand in strong support of this bill. We have written testimony. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them. Thank you.

Thank you. Members. Any questions? Go ahead.

Are there any vacant positions within the Reference Bureau? You guys have any vacancies? Yes, we do. And then the numbers of positions that sufficient for you to complete your research, but we're finishing. How much you need?

Well, we would like the amount that's in the bill for us, but yes, we're trying to get all of our work done with the staff that we have at the moment.

How much you would need for if you would need the positions to do what you need to do in lrb, what the positions that you would need.

More we're asking for on the administrative side, our LER side, our systems office, we would like to reestablish that as a full fledged division. So we're asking for an administrator and an IT person and then a securities person. So software, programming and it, those are the main positions we need. We do have in our budget to fill.

The other positions we're just unable to hire at the moment.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Office of the Auditor.

Good morning. I'm Les Condo. I'm the State Auditor. Daria Loy-goto is the deputy Auditor. She's in the second row. Anyway, thank you for the opportunity to testify. We support the bill at least as it as it relates to my office and the funding to my office.

We're a really valuable resource for the Legislature and I feel like perhaps the Legislature could use us as that resource more regularly. We, we provide insight as to how programs that the Legislature creates and funds, how they're performing, we assess their performance, how they're performing effectively, efficiently, etc. I think my office needs to do more.

We're going to try to do more. We started two audits just last week. One about Department of Education's farm to school program and we also started an audit about do more leasing of their mooring slips at the state harbors.

So those are two that we thought we could do in a relatively short time frame waiting for whatever the Legislature may provide for us to do after session. So we're hopeful to get those done in the relatively I don't want to say near future. I want to say sometime in the middle of the summer. Anyway.

Thank you very much. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Members. Any questions? Ethics Commission.

Hello Chair Vice Chair Robert Harris on behalf of the White State Ethics Commission. Members of the Committee as well. We will send out a written testimony and available for any questions you might have. Thank you. Thank you. Members.

Thank you. Members, any questions? And we have two individuals in support. Anyone else wishing to testify? Okay, we're going to decision making. First item, SB 439. Recommendation is to pass with amendments adopting LRB Tech Committee. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes "Aye."

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Next item, SB 938, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes "Aye."

[Roll Call]

Thank you. And last item, HB 1440, recommendation is to pass unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes "Aye."

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Adjourned.