Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Third Special Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 12 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to appropriate $33,270,403 out of the Hawaii Tobacco Settlement Special Fund and into the Emergency Budget and Reserve Fund (EBRF) to meet the pressing needs of the people of Hawaii during the current period of economic and social crisis. Funds from the EBRF may be used to, among other things, ensure the health, safety, and welfare of Hawaii's people and provide for programs to stimulate the economy in periods of economic downturn. Your Committee, therefore, finds that this appropriation into the EBRF is necessary in order to build a healthy balance and thereby improve the State's ability to cope with this unforeseen circumstance.

Your Committee notes that S.B. No. 12 is a companion measure to H.B. No. 12 which your Committee had reported out earlier in an unamended form, and the contents of these bills are identical. On October 23, 2001, both the Senate and the House held an extensive public hearing on S.B. No. 12 and H.B. No. 12, at which time many citizens and organizations testified on these measures.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 12 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.