STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2478

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2613

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2613 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL LAND TRANSFER,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Revise tax map key numbers and the conveyance process by which identified properties are conveyed to the Department of Education pursuant to Act 307, Session Laws of Hawaiʻi 2022; and

(2) Clarify that land dispositions of school buildings, facilities, and grounds made by the Department of Education shall not require approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources when these dispositions are for periods exceeding one year.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education and one individual.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System.

Your Committees find that Act 307, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, directed the conveyance of the fee simple title of certain lands owned by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, County of Kauai, and County of Maui to the Department of Education to consolidate ownership of land under existing public schools for efficient redevelopment, repositioning, and improvements. Since 2022, however, verification of information, parcel consolidation or subdivision, and changes in circumstances have necessitated revisions to the tax map key numbers of affected lands. This measure provides necessary technical corrections and clarifies the conveyance process for the identified properties.

Your Committees acknowledge the concerns raised in testimony by the Hawaii State Public Library System that despite sole responsibility for the management and operations of all public library buildings statewide transferring to the System in 1981, the Department of Education retains partial ownership authority over many public and school libraries, causing jurisdictional complications and delays in land management projects. Your Committees further note the concerns raised by the Department of Education that this measure misrepresents the ownership of the land parcel used for Wilcox Elementary School, which the Department would like to transfer to the County of Kauai. Therefore, amendments to this measure are necessary to address these matters.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language that directs the conveyance of the land used for Wilcox Elementary School from the Department of Education to the County of Kauai;

(2) Inserting language that directs the conveyance of certain lands used for public and school libraries and held by the Department of Education to the Hawaii State Public Library System; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Water, Land, Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2613, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2613, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Water, Land, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair