Hawaii-2024-HB1925-Amended

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Act 100, Session Laws of Hawaii 1978, established the Hawaii State Planning Act to guide future long-range development of the State. The Hawaii State Planning Act is comprised of thirteen functional plans focusing on a wide range of state objectives such as agriculture, education, housing, energy, tourism, and transportation. As a broad framework, the Hawaii state plan establishes standards and policies to guide activities, programs, and policies made by county and state agencies.

In 1983, the State initiated its first comprehensive review of the Hawaii state plan. The review, completed in 1985, resulted in the enactment of legislation to refine and address goals, policies, and objectives of part I and priority guidelines in part III of the Hawaii State Planning Act. Since 1985, the State has experienced significant economic, physical, social, and technological changes that have enhanced and constrained opportunities for the State. Therefore, some findings and recommendations made to the Hawaii state plan in the initial review may not reflect the State's current needs, goals, and long-range objectives for the twenty-first century.

In light of these circumstances, in 2018, the office of planning and sustainable development completed phase I of the comprehensive review of the Hawaii State Planning Act. The work completed in phase I yielded findings and recommendations that provide a foundation and scope of a recommended phase II update, including an approach to align current and emerging conditions and issues to enhance the effectiveness of planning, the needs of Hawaii's people, and the future trajectory of the State. As critical work on the phase I update has been completed, and due to the pressing challenges facing the State and its residents, the State is poised to now conduct phase II to update the Hawaii state plan, consistent with critical data, and to formulate long-term goals and opportunities for greater community engagement to provide a path toward future economic and sustainable success.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Establish the Hawaii State Planning Act phase II task force; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established the Hawaii State Planning Act phase II task force to be placed within the office of planning and sustainable development for administrative purposes only.

(b) The task force shall:

(1) Create a two-year plan to examine the issues established in subsection (c), clarify and articulate findings, develop metrics and benchmarks to measure progress, and develop a final report that describes how the State is addressing the findings set forth in the phase I update completed in 2018;

(2) Incorporate into the plan how it will coordinate with other groups, agencies, and programs within and outside the State to achieve alignment of plans and their implementation;

(3) Incorporate into the plan how it will coordinate with the counties to achieve alignment of plans and their implementation; and

(4) Consider and incorporate into the plan equity concerns, including economic and accessibility impacts to low-income communities.

(1) The findings of the original Hawaii State Planning Act, including any amendments necessary for relevancy;

(2) Re-establishment and formulation of a list of long-range objectives and focus areas for functional plans that place greater emphasis on plan formulation and program coordination to integrate state and county activities, including but not limited to an evaluation of the latest state and county comprehensive economic development strategies;

(3) Definitions in section 226-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that may require amendments;

(4) Principles and values considered integral to the State, including tests for current relevancy and necessary amendments;

(5) Consistency of state goals established pursuant to section 226-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, in relation to departments, counties, and the general public;

(6) The ability of the Hawaii state plan to provide a relevant, multi-disciplinary planning system and direction to encourage and facilitate cooperation among various entities, including between the State and the counties; and

(7) Objectives and policies established pursuant to sections 225-5 through 225-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that are out-of-date and require updates to conform with current and long-range goals, which may be achieved by:

(A) Convening sub-working groups to reconsider and update the objectives and policies;

(B) Simplifying and reducing the number of policies;

(D) Reorienting functional plans to emphasize coordination between state agencies and the counties to ensure that functional plans focus on depth and specificity.

(d) The task force shall appoint a coordinator, who shall be exempt from chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

(e) The task force shall be composed of the following members:

(1) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development, or the director's designee, who shall serve as chairperson;

(2) The superintendent of education, or the superintendent's designee;

(3) The chairperson of the board of trustees of the office of Hawaiian affairs, or the chairperson's designee;

(4) A representative from the university of Hawaii economic research organization;

(5) Co-chairs of the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission, or their designees;

(6) The planning director of each county, or their respective designees;

(7) The chairperson of each county economic development board, or their respective designees; and

(8) Other relevant stakeholders, to include non-profit, academia, business, and Native Hawaiian representatives, to be invited by the task force and its chairperson.

(f) The task force shall submit annual reports of the task force's progress, completed actions, and findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2026 and 2027.

(g) The task force shall cease to exist on June 30, 2027.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $225,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the administration costs of the Hawaii State Planning Act phase II task force established in section 2 of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of planning and sustainable development for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $75,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the establishment of one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) coordinator position, who shall be exempt from chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to support the Hawaii State Planning Act phase II task force established in section 2 of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of planning and sustainable development for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1925
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1
		C.D. 1