Senate Standing Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts

Good afternoon. We're convening the committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts on our 1PM agenda here in State Capital Conference Room 224. We have a number of House bills on the agenda today, so we'd ask everyone to, make sure your written testimony submitted, and we'll be limiting folks to one minute to make sure that we have time to get through all the bills on the agenda and hear from all the different folks seeking to weigh in. So with that, up first is House bill 1860 relating to the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, which designates the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra as the Orchestra, and requires reporting. And testifying first is the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Oh, online.

Yes. Hello, Chair Lee and members of the committee. I'm Karen Ewell. I'm the executive director for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and we stand on our written testimony in support.

Thank you. Next is the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Good afternoon.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. My name is Dane Lam, music and artistic director of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. We, of course, stand on our testimony in vociferous support of this bill. Just wanted to add a tiny bit more context around the bill in that the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, apart from all the mental health, all the social cohesion benefits that it brings to the community, artistic and cultural benefits, we are the largest nonprofit and largest employer in the performing arts in the state. Not just our 84 musicians, it's all our crew, it's all our back of house, it's all our programming staff, and the ripple effect on the economy is really massive from having a state orchestra. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Testifying next is the Hawaii Youth Symphony.

Aloha, chair, vice chair, members of the committee. I'm Randy Wong, president of the Hawaii Youth Symphony. We submitted written testimony, and just to expand and actually play a little bit of chamber music with Maestro's comments here on the ripple effect, these musicians that are in the orchestra are also our teachers. They inspire our youth. They help them to become really the best young people that they can be.

And so your support of this bill also helps to provide that service far beyond just the constant hall. Mahalo. \.

Thank you. I believe that is everybody who signed up to testify on HB 1860. Although we have a ton of written testimony in support, is there anyone else here wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none, are there any questions? Seeing none, thank you very much.

Let's move on to the next measure on the agenda. HB 1815 relating to the state foundational culture and the arts, which applies the existing grant standards to the performing arts grants program that we enacted last year. And testifying first is the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Hello. Karen Ewald again, Chair Lee and members of the committee, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. We stand on our written testimony in strong support of this measure. This would allow for us to administer the performing arts grants fund in a very efficient way. So we, really hope that this bill passes through. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next Oh, that is everyone who signed up to testify on HB 1815. Is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure? Seeing none, are there any questions? Seeing none.

Alright. Thank you. Moving right along to the next measure, HB2100 and seventeen relating to the arts, which establishes a mapping of arts data for education task force to conduct a study and develop comprehensive publicly available statewide database and geographic information systems map of arts entities and programs engaged in arts and arts education. Testifying first on HB 2117 is the attorney general. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair.

Good afternoon.

Senator, I'm Ian Robertson, deputy attorney general. We submitted testimony suggesting a small amendment to this bill to make it clear that this is a temporary task force. Thank you.

Thank you. Up next is the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Hello again. State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. We stand on our written testimony in support. It's been, a real pleasure getting to understand this data mapping project with, Arts First partners and, and Randy, and, we look forward to seeing this happen. Thank you.

Thank you. Next is the office of planning and sustainable development, PSD. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon chair, vice chair, member of the committee. My name is Arthur Buto. I'm here for Mary Alice Evans, the director of the office of planning sustainable development. We stand on our written testimony in support of this measure, and I'm available for any questions about GIS, geographic information systems. Thank you.

Thank you. Testifying next is Creative Industries at DBEDT.

Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, senator. We we stand behind our written testimony in support of this bill. Thank you.

And next is the Hawaii Youth Symphony.

Hello, chair and vice chair, members of the committee. Thank you again for hearing this bill. This is something that really stands to benefit a lot of arts organizations, arts educators, folks really all across the sector, not benefiting any one single organization or any one single art form. This is, a challenge that's been, very difficult to overcome without state help, and the whole idea is what is the opportunity gap available for us to fill so that more kids can have more equitable access to arts education? So thank you for your interest, and mahalo. Thank you.

That's everyone who had signed up to testify on SB 2117. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none other questions.

I have a question for attorney general. It's not, I'm not in opposition to your recommendation, by the way, but just interesting because of the language that we used, shall thereafter be dissolved, dissolved after '20, I have no problem with that. But in some of the measures that we normally pass

You know, it it says it sunsets at certain date. So is that an unusual I mean, do we change the language every so often, or that's the language that we use more when we want to sunset a particular

In in this particular instance, the reason that we are suggesting to put in this clarifying amendment is because the the task force isn't established within any department.

Department. Yeah. That's why I kind of thought about it. But I thought I'd let you answer that because I've never seen this language used very rarely.

When they're established within a department, then this wouldn't be an issue.

Okay. We learn something every day. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Any further questions?

Thank you, chair.

Thank you. Seeing none, all right, let's move on to the next measure HB 2426 relating to state parks, which authorizes and appropriates funds for the expansion of the Wailuku River State Park and authorizes DLNR to exercise the power of eminent domain mix for the expansion of Waialuku River State Park. Actually, you know what? Just for a Sec, because we're transitioning into the waterline measures. Let's take a quick recess.

Recess. Thank you. We're reconvening the committee on water and land on our 1PM agenda. We're on HB 2426 relating to state parks. It is authorized and authorizes and appropriates funds for the expansion of Waileuk River State Park. And authorizes DLNR to exercise the power of eminent domain for the expansion of said park. And testifying first is DLNR. Thank you. We also have signed up, Aaron Lee. Oh, I think you're muted. You could unmute yourself. Sure.

Sorry about that. Good afternoon. Chairman Lee, members of the committee. I'm here to testify. I think it's being 2426.

I think I sent it pretty lengthy PDF to most of the members of this committee about why it was this matter. I think the main thing is that it removes a land that could be used for housing from potential supply of housing to be a little low, and we have Okay. Quite a over here of housing. Also, if the park is built there, I mean, 203 acres is huge. It'd probably not ever be fully used.

It would also be very costly to the public in terms of acquiring the light, building the park, and maintaining it. And I think the the potential use of the admin domain is I think it can should be a concern to everybody. I'm not sure if there's enough of a public interest in building a park here to to use that power. And lastly, I I heard a speaker earlier talking about how money for the arts will benefit many groups. HB 2426 will basically just benefit the neighbors who said that you don't wanna have a neighbor.

Please summarize.

Okay. In summary, I I think this is an unnecessary measure, and I ask that you prefer it or stop it by any means that you deem necessary.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

K. That's everyone who signed up to testify on HB 2426. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none. Are there any questions?

Can I call mister Lee? That's in my district as

well. Yes.

Aaron.

There you are.

Thanks for being available today, but it seemed like the video we cut was a little garbled, so I didn't understand most of what you were saying. So you're in opposition to this measure?

Yes ma'am.

Are you one of those parcels that is part of the eminent domain?

No.

No.

I believe they are all owned by the

So the TM yeah. You're not one of the TMKs that's listed in this bill?

No, ma'am.

Oh, okay. Alright. Okay. So you're but you live within the area at Kaumana?

Yes. I've I've lived in Hilo most of my entire life.

Where are you? Are you at Wainui Nui Avenue or somewhere close?

I'm on Wilder Road, so not that far away.

Where I'm sorry. It's kinda garbled what we're hearing. Where what's your address? What street?

Wilder Road. South Wilder Road.

Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry. You're my constituent, so I just wanted to make sure that, you know, what your stance is. But I thank you for taking time.

Yeah. Thank you for for having me. Appreciate it

Okay. Parks. Manu. Though parks is supportive, but the recommendation is not the same as what the bill calls for. So because you're recommending that it be CIP separate from the budget items that you already what parts is already, committed in its authority.

So first off, thank you, senator, for asking. State Parks is going to be working with Land Division to first we have to do the acquiring of the property. And then we would be doing possible C I P and or our own funds to manage the lands. The only thing that down the line that we would be asking for would probably be as of right now that I know of is positions to help maintain. This process is just the first step in your in the planning, and so I wasn't at the actual site visit chair and Alan were there.

And so, they were there with Rep Koush as well. And so they they've kind of led the direction of the testimony. And, unfortunately, any other question I'm gonna have to write down and get back to you. Sure. No problem.

We'll we'll see how the measure moves along.

And I'll let I'll let Alan know so he can stop by if you have any other questions. Sure.

Yeah. Thank you. And, yeah. Well, another thing is those TMKs, are you familiar if they're acceptable to within this?

My understanding is they are, and that they are working with the people who actually have the property.

Okay. Because eminent domain normally is market value.

Okay. Do we have an idea what the cost is?

Yes.

Not at this time. I do not.

Okay. All right. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Any further questions?

Seeing none. Thank you very much. Let's move on to the next measure. Excuse me. Next measure. HB 1881 relating to land use, which prohibits passenger ropeways on mountain lands within land use districts. Testifying first on HB 1881 is keep the North Shore Country on Zoom.

All right.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay. That's everyone who had signed up to testify. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on HB 1881? Seeing none. Alright. Seeing as there's no one to ask questions of, why don't we then

Do we, Chair? Yes. Do we have any communication from those that were the owner of the property? No one's here?

There's no one here testifying.

So we don't know who the the builders are for this particular project? No. Okay. Alright. Thank you, chair. Okay.

Let's move on to the next measure, HB 1918 relating to taxation, which imposes advanced tax in the transfer of controlling interest of an entity with an interest in real property and makes other related amendments. Testifying first on eight Excuse me, 1918 is the Department of Taxation.

Chair, vice chair, vice senators, Clinton Piper, department of taxation. We'll stand on our written comments available for questions. Okay.

Thank you. Up next is the Grassroot Institute. Excuse me. Online.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Thank you. That's everyone who had signed up to testify on 1918. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none, are there any questions?

Yeah. Trans department again. Can you explain what this does? It's transferring the acquisition or something?

Yes. So, essentially, what this is, attempting to do is close a perceived loophole in the convenience, property tax. As it stands right now, if a property is conveyed from party a to party b, and the sale of property, there is a convenience tax.

Okay. There is, however, a, what's sometimes referred to as a dropkick exception, where a corporation or an entity will drop the property into a shell company and then sell the interest in that shell company so there's not actually a transfer of the title and thus no conveyance tax. This attempts to close that proceed to loophole. There have been versions of this bill addressed in prior years.

Sure. Yes.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you,.

Thank you. Anybody else? Seeing none. Thank you very much. Okay. Let's move on to HB 1802, relating to conservation mitigation banks, which authorizes DLNR and other entities to operate conservation banks subject to approval of DLNR and other amendments. Testifying first on 1802 is the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, yes. DLNR on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, Chair.

Okay. Up next is... Oh, that's it. That's everyone who intended to testify. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Hearing none. Are there any questions? I guess there's no one asked questions of. So we'll move on to...

No DLNR today?

I don't... I don't believe State Parks is the Division assigned to this one.

Really? Oh, okay. So you're not? DLNR Land Division?

Yeah. Now we'll see if they show up. We've got another bill yet. Moving on to HB 2544, relating to administrative fees. This makes permanent rather than repealing upon adoption of relevant admin roles DLNR's authority to establish fees for services rendered by the Bureau of Conveyances, and so on and so forth. Testifying first on 2544 is DLNR. Thank you. And finally, HGEA. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Nui Sabas for HGEA. We'll stand on our testimony in opposition to this measure. And we'll respectfully request an amendment to include a two year sunset on the use of the qualified, on use of qualified contractors. Thank you.

Thank you. That's everyone who had signed up to testify on 2544. Is there anyone else wishing to testify in this measure? Seeing none. Are there any questions? Vice Chair.

Good afternoon. Good to see you here as well. So right now there's no fees, no transactions available?

We do have a transaction fee, and that's part of the recording fees that goes part of our recording fees. Yes.

Okay. So are we adding more fees?

So what we're doing is so, right now, recording documents or regular system documents is $41 and to record a Land Court document, it's $36. So all this bill is trying to do is just to equalize the fees that were implemented years back.

Okay. But you're paying the Land Court fees or the Land Court fees the Land Court pays for it?

There, we have the Bureau of Conveyances consists of two systems of recording. System in Land Court. So, yes, it's part of the fees to record a Land Court document.

Okay. And reason I asked because there's a bill, I guess you know there's a bill trying to get rid of the Land Court.

It's to, perhaps, reform?

Yes. Reform and get rid of the Land Court. So, no. I always thought that with the second part, the Land Court, that the fees were coming out of not from your office, not from the...

Well, there's Land Court Judiciary that has their own fees as well. But for recording per se, we have the Land Court recording fees, which is $36 and...

So you're going so currently, what was the cost you said?

Currently, for Land Court document, it's $36 under 50 pages. And for our regular system document, it's $41 under 50 pages. So basically, all we're trying to do is just equalize the fees to 41/41.

For both?

Correct. Correct. Because it's the regular system documents are already at $41, so we're just trying to equalize the fees.

I see. I see. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Any further questions? Seeing none. All right. Thank you. That's the end of our 1pm agenda. Thanks, everyone, for your patience.

We're gonna go into decision making on these measures and I'll just note we're gonna split the agenda. There were three bills relating to culture and arts that we'll vote on now. The rest of the measures on the agenda, which all relate to water and land issues, which are HB 2426, HB 1881, HB 1918, HB 1802, and HB 2544 will defer for decision making to this Wednesday, here in this room, Conference Room 224, at the end of our, 1:00 PM agenda.

Okay. Okay. Just a correction. So, 2426 ending on the next page.

That's right. Okay. All right.

Right.

So, we'll be voting just on the first three today.

So, we're deferring decision making when again?

To Wednesday, in this room at this time.

Is that the eighteenth?

Yes. Wednesday, the eighteenth.

Okay. Alright.

That just gives a little time to sort out some of the more technical issues that some of the testimony raised.

One second.

All gonna be with amendments. The first three.

Oh, all amendments.

Yeah. Okay. Okay.

So, beginning with HB 1860, relating to the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, which designates the orchestra as the state of Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, requires reporting. I'd like to move this on with amendments. First, we'll remove section three from the measure which is the appropriation section, and we'll change the date to upon approval. Any discussion, any questions? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Moving on to HB 1815 relating to the State Foundation portion of the arts, which applies the existing grant standards to performing arts grants. I'd like to recommend moving us along as well, with amendments, changing the effective date to 07/13/2085. There's no discussion on that. Vice Chair.

[Roll Call]

Thank you. And finally on HB 2,117 relating to the arts, which establishes a mapping of arts data project. I'd like to recommend passing with amendments, adopting the AG amendments, which would insert a sunset date on the task force of 2029. And

Oh, okay.

Oh, and that's it. If there's no discussion, vice chair we'll vote.

Okay. Chair's recommendation on HB 2,117 house draft two, to pass with amendments with five members present. Any voting with reservations? Any no votes? Measure is adopted, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. As I mentioned on the rest of the bills in the agenda, HB 2426 HB 1881 HB 1918 HB 1802 and HB 2,544. We'll be deferring decision making till this Wednesday, the eighteenth, here in State Capital Conference Room 224 at the end of our 1PM agenda. And with that, we're adjourned.