STAND. COM. REP. NO. 470-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2400

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2400 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for Department of Hawaiian Home Lands projects eligible for general fund revenues that are generated by increases in transient accommodations tax collections and intended to be expended equally across projects related to natural resources, climate resilience, and destination management.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; CARES; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi Lodging & Tourism Association and Maui Hotel & Lodging Association.

Your Committee finds that this measure appropriates funds to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for specific infrastructure, natural resource protection, climate resilience, and hazard mitigation projects that meet the eligibility criteria established under Act 96, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025. Your Committee further finds that providing funding for these projects supports the health, safety, and long-term sustainability of Hawaiian home lands communities, protects trust resources for the benefit of beneficiaries, and advances the State's goals of climate adaptation and responsible land stewardship.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider a total appropriation amount of $111,912,000. Your Committee notes that this amount does not include funding for the public water systems pipeline replacement in Kalamaula, Molokai.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2400, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2400, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair