Hawaii-2018-HCR215-Introduced

WHEREAS, the coffee industry is currently experiencing a significant labor crisis, and the need for harvest labor is immediate; and

WHEREAS, an indirect impact of the labor shortage is an explosion of coffee berry borer populations because unharvested cherries act as a reservoir for coffee berry borer beetles that lie dormant while waiting to infest the subsequent crop; and

WHEREAS, at the Hawaii Agriculture Conference 2017, a panel discussion among local, state, and federal lawmakers, various agencies, and key industry stakeholders identified two immediate needs -- expanding the labor pool and improving availability of affordable housing for laborers; and

WHEREAS, the homeless population and at risk veterans are two demographic groups that could benefit from employment while helping to alleviate the immediate pressure on agriculture; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, is requested to convene an agriculture labor task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include:

(1) The Chairperson of the House of Representatives standing committee whose purview includes agriculture, or the Chairperson's designee;

(2) The Chairperson of the Senate standing committee whose purview includes agriculture, or the Chairperson's designee;

(3) The Chairperson of the House of Representatives standing committee whose purview includes labor, or the Chairperson's designee;

(4) The Chairperson of the Senate standing committee whose purview includes labor, or the Chairperson's designee;

(5) A representative of the United States Department of Labor;

(6) The Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture;

(7) The Director of Labor and Industrial Relations;

(8) A representative of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources;

(9) A representative of the State Department of Education;

(10) A representative of each county planning department;

(11) A representative of the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center;

(12) A representative of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.;

(13) A representative of the Hawaii Coffee Association;

(14) A representative of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau;

(15) A representative of the Hawaii Farmers Union United;

(16) A labor law specialist invited by the task force members; and

(17) Others to be determined by the task force members; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to select a chairperson from among its members; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of Labor; Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture; Director of Labor and Industrial Relations; Superintendent of Education; Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Director of the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu; Director of the Planning Department of the County of Maui; Director of the Planning Department of the County of Hawaii; Director of the Planning Department of the County of Kauai; Executive Director of the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center; President of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; President of the Hawaii Coffee Association; President of the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; and President of the Hawaii Farmers Union United.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Agriculture Labor Task Force; Department of Agriculture; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	215
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII