THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              50
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
    AND TOURISM TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF BIG BOX
    RETAILERS ON LOCAL SMALL AND MEDIUM RETAIL BUSINESSES.
 


 1        WHEREAS, Oahu has experienced the establishment of several
 2   "big box" retailers in the past several years; and
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, big box retailers typically sell in volume at
 5   discounted prices from warehouse type operations; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, big box retailers do business in groceries,
 8   office supplies, sporting goods, home furnishings, toys, books
 9   and music, computers, electronics and hardware on Oahu and on
10   some Neighbor Islands; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the economy of the State and the cost of living
13   for Hawaii residents are impacted considerably by big box
14   retailers; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, anecdotal reports are that big box retailers have
17   had an adverse economic impact on small and medium sized
18   businesses that are locally owned, causing many of them to lose
19   revenue and eventually close; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, the legislature needs solid and reliable
22   information regarding the full economic impact on the State
23   from big box retailers, particularly the effects on small and
24   medium sized businesses that are locally owned; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, section 201-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, states
27   that the objective of the Department of Business, Economic
28   Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) is to "make broad policy
29   determinations with respect to economic development in the
30   State"; now, therefore,
31   
32        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
33   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, that the DBEDT
34   is requested to  conduct a study on the effects of big box

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              50
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   retailers on local small and medium retail businesses,
 2   including but not limited to the:
 3   
 4        (1)  Number, types, and locations of big box retailers in
 5             Hawaii;
 6   
 7        (2)  Number of employees employed by each of the various
 8             big box retailers in each location;
 9   
10        (3)  Amounts of excise, income withholding, and property
11             tax revenues generated by big box retailers;
12   
13        (4)  Estimated number and types of small and medium
14             locally owned retail businesses that are in
15             competition with the big box retailers in any type of
16             merchandise, and the estimated number of employees,
17             and amounts of excise, income withholding, and
18             property tax revenues generated by these businesses;
19   
20        (5)  Estimated number and types of small and medium
21             locally owned retail businesses that have been closed
22             or placed in bankruptcy attributable to adverse
23             competition from big box retailers; and
24   
25        (6)  Comparative economic impact of big box retailers on
26             Hawaii's economy;
27   
28   and
29   
30        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Taxation and
31   the directors of finance of the various counties cooperate with
32   DBEDT in providing information and data for purposes of this
33   study subject to confidentiality requirements; and
34   
35        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DBEDT report findings and
36   recommendations to the legislature twenty days prior to the
37   convening of the Regular Session of 2001; and
38   
39        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
40   Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic
41   Development, and Tourism, Director of Taxation, Director of the
42   Department of Budget and Fiscal Services of the City and County

 
 
 
 
 
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                                  S.R. NO.              50
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   of Honolulu, Director of the Department of Finance of the
 2   County of Hawaii, Director of the Department of Finance of the
 3   County of Kauai, and the Director of the Department of Finance
 4   of the County of Maui.
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________