STAND. COM. REP. NO. 694

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 283

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation and Energy, to which was referred S.B. No. 283 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to rename Mokulele Highway the Maui Veterans Highway.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Office of Veterans' Services and three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that Maui has no major roadways commemorating veterans and their role in Maui's history.  During World War II, Maui became a forward training center for the war in the Pacific.  Many of Maui's beaches were used to rehearse the invasion of Guadalcanal.

     Your Committee further finds that Maui's Puunene Airport was built in 1938 by the Territory of Hawaii.  In 1940, the United States Navy started using the airport as a base for the Navy's utility squadron VJ-3.  The base was commissioned as "Naval Air Station Maui" in 1942.  When the Navy built a larger airport at Kahului, it was renamed Puunene Naval Air Station.  Puunene Naval Air Station was used for fighter plane training and a base for small planes which towed targets for practice and retrieved the parachutes of target flares.  Puunene Naval Air Station was used by the United States Navy and the United States Army.  After the war, Puunene Naval Air Station was transferred back to the Territory of Hawaii.

     Your Committee additionally finds that there are approximately 9,451 veterans living on Maui.  In addition, Mokulele Highway passes along the former location of the Puunene Airport, and the Maui Army National Guard Puunene Armory is located just off the highway, which taken together, gives Mokulele Highway a symbolic connection to Maui's military history.

     Your Committee further finds that the heroic veterans living on Maui should be remembered for their sacrifice to our country by naming a highway in their honor.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Energy that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 283 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Energy,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair