SSCR1520

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1520

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1343

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1343, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate moneys for the establishment of a business recovery center within the Department of Defense.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Defense.

Your Committee finds that businesses play a vital role in providing resources and information to the public, and following a natural disaster, business recovery is critical to helping entire communities recover. Your Committee believes that the establishment of a business recovery center to facilitate communication between state and county agencies and local businesses following a natural disaster will assist in effective recovery. The business recovery center would consist of an online portal where businesses and government agencies may collaborate and share information, including federal disaster program information, before, during, and after a disaster. Your Committee notes that the Department of Defense was recently awarded $1,159,000 from the United States Department of Commerce to be used for the establishment of a business recovery center. Your Committee finds that in order to access these funds, the State must provide matching funds of $328,000.

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 H.B. No. 1343, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair