STAND. COM. REP. NO. 928

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 865

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 865, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Board of Education and the Department of Education to facilitate the redevelopment of public school lands in order to generate income to improve public school facilities and infrastructure.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Governor, Board of Education, Department of Education, Office of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Hui for Excellence in Education, Windward Ahupua‘a Alliance, and two individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Puna Pono Alliance and twenty-seven individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

 

     Prior to holding a hearing on this measure, your Committee made available for public review a proposed S.D. 1, which deleted the contents of this measure and inserted the language of S.B. No. 237, S.D. 2, which establishes a three-year pilot program for the lease of public school land and facilities to generate revenue to build and retrofit twenty-first century schools and create more school-centered communities.  The proposed S.D. 1 also establishes the school facilities special fund within chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, into which all proceeds generated from the lease of public school lands shall be deposited.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the proposed S.D. 1 from the Department of Education, Hawaii Community Development Authority, Office of the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, The Pacific Resource Partnership, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, General Contractors Association of Hawaii, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Sierra Club Hawai‘i Chapter.  Your Committee received comments on the proposed S.D. 1 from the Governor, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

 

Your Committee finds that many school facilities are in dire need of repair, maintenance, and improvement of systems and infrastructure to meet twenty-first century challenges in technology and education.  The proposed S.D. 1 establishes a pilot program as one option to capture revenues from currently unused or underutilized public school lands that may yield much-needed revenues for Hawaii's schools after redevelopment.

 

Your Committee further finds that a community-based policy and planning approach will be critical to the success of the pilot program.  A three-year pilot program will serve as "proof in concept" to test and evaluate development, design, and financial models, while giving communities the opportunity to provide input and to better understand the concept of community-centered twenty-first century schools.

 

Your Committee notes the concerns raised by the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu and requests that should any of the pilot program's projects involve county land that will be redeveloped for non-school purposes, that the Board of Education and Department of Education consult with the affected county.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the language in the proposed S.D. 1 and further amending the measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 865, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 865, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

		____________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair