STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2014

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2679

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 2679 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS TO THE KAMUELA VACUUM COOLING PLANT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriate funds for the planning and designing of phase II renovations to the Kamuela Vacuum Cooling Plant.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the Kamuela Vacuum Cooling Plant is operated by the Kamuela Farmers Cooperative and the Department of Agriculture to cool down locally grown vegetables before they are shipped to market.  The facility processes approximately seven million pounds of produce annually and is an effective means to increase the shelf life of a wide variety of produce.  Unfortunately, the Kamuela Vacuum Cooling Plant is nearly thirty years old and in desperate need of repair.  Your Committee concludes that the facility's cooling and electrical systems must be repaired or upgraded to facilitate the continued integrity, expansion, and diversification of locally grown produce.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by clarifying that the expending agency for the appropriation is the Department of Agriculture.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2679, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2679, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture,

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair