STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2634

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3068

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 3068 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR WILDFIRE RECOVERY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to support the State's continued response to the August 2023 Maui wildfires that affected the counties of Hawaii and Maui.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance, Department of Defense, Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, and one member of the Maui County Council.

Your Committee finds that the devastating wildfires brought on by winds from Hurricane Dora on August 8, 2023, resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in the State's history, causing loss of life and the displacement of thousands on Maui. Your Committee further finds that to support response and recovery efforts and address immediate 2023 wildfire funding needs, the Governor and other departments and agencies transferred millions of dollars to allow the State to address response and recovery expenses incurred thus far without cutting positions and departmental base budgets. This measure will continue the necessary activities of the state response to these wildfires by appropriating and reauthorizing funds relating to wildfire mitigation and response.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3068 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

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GLENN WAKAI, Chair