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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2022/03/08 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 24th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i March 8, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 9:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individual registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Dwight Vicente: Comm. 453, comment. CHR. KIMBALL: Mr. Clerk, we're going to take things out of order and start with Communication 661, please. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 Comm. 661: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY THE OFFICE OF U.S. SENATOR BRIAN SCHATZ REGARDIG OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS From Council Chair Maile David, dated February 25, 2022. Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to close file on Comm. 661. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member David. MS. DAVID: Thank you so much. And this morning I see that our presenters are on Zoom. So I would like to first of all say, mahalo a nui to the presenters from Senator Schatz's Office and that's Mr. Joyce. He's the Appropriations Director and Economic Policy Advisor. We have also Trelaine Ito, who's the Deputy Appropriations Director; and Dale Hahn, who's the Senior Policy Advisor. And welcome everybody, and I really want to thank you for reaching out to myself and to Vice Chair Chung, and for your presentation this morning. I am making a note that we've discussed the time constraints for both sides here and as well as the Honorable Senator Schatz's Office. So your presentation will be followed by a brief question and answer period. And at that point, any information that you can provide us for Council Members to contact you directly for personal one-on-one regarding your presentation, would be appreciated. So go ahead, introduce your group and we're excited to hear from you. (Note: At this time, Senator Schatz's Office Senior Policy Advisor Dale Hahn, Appropriations Director Robert Joyce, and Deputy Appropriations Director Trelaine Ito, came forward to provide a slide presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or online by navigating to the Council's video archives from the County's homepage at www.hawaiicounty.gov. A copy of the slide presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 661.1.) MR. JOYCE: Council Members, I know the slides have been provided to you all through our contact information here, so we stand by for any questions. MS. DAVID: Thank you so much. That concludes the presentation. And at this point, I know where I can reach you folks, so I'm going to yield to my fellow Council Members for questions. Thank you everyone so much. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair David. And yes, I reiterate,thank you to the presenters for being here today. We appreciate your time. Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead. Page 2 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair Kimball. And mahalo nui, Council Chair, for making this presentation from Senator Schatz's Office happen. Aloha Dale, great to see you again. Trelaine, it's so nice to see you. We've corresponded during the pandemic. So it's really nice to put a face to the incredible voice. Thank you all so much for all of the hard work you do to keep our counties and communities informed. We're really impressed with your ability to push out information that's happening on the Federal level in real time and in language that anybody can really understand. Because we know the Federal Government is so famous for making things very confusing for us. I just had a few questions for you. The first is related to the CDS (Congressionally Directed Spending) funding. Just curious aboutI'm sorry if you mentioned this earlier, it was a lot of information. Is there funding available that's earmarked for each of the counties? Do projects get scored more if they're touching multiple arenas? So for instance, if a project is supporting the resiliency of infrastructure as well as addressing, you know, climate change mitigation issues and energy, are more points awarded to it? MR. JOYCE: Good question, Council Member. So there are not funds set aside for individual counties. The Senator can submit projects, you know, within the State that fit the requirements of the accounts that we just went through. And we can share more rules and kind of eligibility around those accounts with you all. And in terms of points and scoring, the way to think about it is, you know, it's a project that would be helpful where we can kind of demonstrate some positive intended outcomes and likely outcomes of the project, and it fits the requirements of the accounts. That's kind of the two main things to think about. And then, you know, of course additional factors like community support and the like are helpful in moving a project forward. And then another part of it is kind of left up to the Federal legislative process, which has some pitfalls that we mentioned earlier. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for that, Robert. Follow-up question, do the projects have to be currently in existence? Is this an opportunity to scale up or are you also entertaining new project ideas so long as all parties involved have demonstrated success in other arenas? MR. JOYCE: So both, right? So some accounts require, you know, listing of the project in an existing plan. So then that would be an existing project that you're looking to either complete quicker with additional funding or expand on, etcetera. Or some other accounts that don't require prior listing in an existing plan are, you know, opportunities for new projects where there's demonstrative capacity. Page 3 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Very helpful. Thank you. Couple other questions. And let me know if I'm kind of veering off the scope of today's discussion. But our County and all counties, really, across the country have seen an unprecedented amount of funding available through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act), Build Back Better; now the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. What advice do you have for our County or just counties in the State of Hawaii to really put them in a position to be able to secure those funds so that we're not squandering this opportunity to truly address a lot of long-standing challenges that we have faced? MS. HAHN: Are you talking about capacity issues at the County level to apply for and to implement programs? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That was the third question I was going to have, Dale. But I'm just curious around,just the planning, right? We received as a County our ARPA allocation over a year ago. There were some preliminary plans and ideas floated from the Administration to the Council. I think we've all been really disciplined in not going and making any type of amendments to the appropriation bill. But I think we're all getting a little bit antsy on how we could possibly be sitting on these millions of dollars still, and really know clear strategy on how we might be putting these dollars to use. And so, are you seeing other counties that have successful plans or processes, committees set up to really insure that the money is going to be spent soon and appropriately? MS. HAHN: It think in Hawaii, the counties have approached this differently. I mean the funds that have been allocated to the counties are, you know, for you to make decisions. They were designed so that decisions would be made at the local level. So for example, Oahu, Honolulu County, has stood up an office to help coordinate between the different departments. Maui, I understand, has hired consultants to help them with that, as has Kaua`i. I mean every county looks like it's approaching it differently according to what their needs are. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for that, Dale. And then the last question, you kind of hinted to this one. It is about capacity. I think we're seeing local governments really struggle across the country to really come to a point where they're able to really design a project or program. And then from there, apply for the funding, pool together the right partners to collaborate. And then, should they be awarded, operationalize and implement that. What can your office, what can the Federal government do to provide, you know, resources to support capacity building of counties? And is there an opportunity for, you know, counties, Council Members specifically and members of the Administration, to talk story with your office or with the delegation around ways in which we can Page 4 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 be better supported? As Federal legislation, the NOFOs (Notice of Funding Opportunity) are being crafted. Just want to make sure the County's perspectives and challenges are elevated to the Federal level. MS. HAHN: And we were happy to, you know, consult with you, but we ourselves don't have that capacity to write grants. We can put you in touch with agencies that offer technical assistance. Sometimes that's helpful, especially if there is a NOFO actually out there. Part of the process also includes TA (Technical Assistance) to potential applicants. So on a case-by-case basis, I would just say, you know, contact our office and see if we can assist on a case- by-case basis. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's helpful. Yeah, that's really generous. Not so much help for applying for grants, but as the language for legislation is being passed and the different federal requirements and restrictions, you know, are being crafted,just you know, keeping in mind some of the struggles that the counties face so that it's not an incredible burden for us to be putting these dollars to use in our community. MS. HAHN: Yeah especially, you know, your mana`o on languages is always helpful. Because that is one area that, you know,we do address in the appropriations process is, you know, report language. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much for your time and for being available. I really appreciate it. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Dale, so good to see you again. I really wanted to build off of where Council Member Kierkiewicz left, which was the capacity piece and building that vocabulary or vernacular. Because what we've experienced down here at the County level is oftentimes what's described here at a County or local level really doesn't match up nicely with the Federal language and its appropriation. So help me with that a little bit, Dale, or your team. How do we kind of get with you guys early so that we can begin to refine and/or build a better vocabulary or vernacular around these appropriations so that the money can truly reach our local communities? MS. HAHN: I'm going to let Robert and Trelaine explain the process that we use, you know, going through the appropriations process, including report language. Page 5 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MR. JOYCE: Yeah, so thank you, Dale. Thank you, Council Member. The way to engage is to, you know, it's helpful to come to us and kind of state the need, the intended outcome that we're looking for here, and then we can be helpful in trying to find, you know, which route is the right way forward, right. So is this something in report language that could be helpful. And in that case, we may be able to work with you to find what would make that intended outcome possible. In other cases, you know, it may be that there is a Federal grant that's out there. It seems like it should be helpful, but you know, it's just so competitive because the funding is low and there may be, you know,the best way forward is not to necessarily change anything in the program, but which is often tough to do anyway; but to try to increase the funding a little bit. Or maybe there's an agency that offers grants but their technical assistance is less accessible, so maybe the right thing is to get in touch with that agency and find ways to improve that aspect of it. Trelaine, did you want to add anything? MR. ITO: The only thing I'll add, and Dale mentioned this earlier, but one of the points of having the congressional directed spending request is to bypass some of the—you know, I'm sure you folks can see as a burdensome process with a normal Federal grant-making process. The CDS request, you know, really should target those projects or those nonprofit or local agencies that typically can't get Federal funding, or it has been difficult in the past to receive Federal funding, through the normal grant-making process, either because of alignment with the language or just because it's, you know, it just takes a lot of work. So, you folks should really think about, you know, what are those types of projects? And then we can help you align with the right account to make sure that you're folks as they request fits into, you know, the particularities of CDS requests. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. And I'm going to be mindful of the time you have and what we have here scheduled. But if it's okay with you, I would love to circle back around with this team, if that's okay. Because there was some mention of tribal monies, which we know tends to be a little clunky around our Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and its relationship with the Department of Interior, but how it's also set up. And so, if it's okay with you, I would love to circle back around with you about that particular issue and how we can leverage or possibly leverage some of those monies. And follow-up with an Infrastructure Coordinator. I think you touched upon it a little bit, Dale, but I also know there's funding available in the Build Back and the ARPA funds for an Infrastructure Coordinator and I would love to see how City and County of Honolulu is doing it. Because I think we do need a traffic controller when it comes to these funds Page 6 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 and how they're coming down, whether it's for infrastructure or roads, or water, or feasibility studies. I would love to see how we could best leverage that position for, you know, us here at Hawaii County. With that Chair, I'll yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Just before I recognize Council Member Richards, I just want to get a sense of who else is going to have questions,just because time limited. Okay, one more for you. So, you know, keep it five minutes or so,please. Thank you. Go ahead, Council Member Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thanks Dale. I think I just had an "aha" moment and this is the way I think we've all been trying to get through this. So, if I'm understanding just for clarification, probably the most efficient way to do this is, send the office a quick summary of what we're trying to accomplish. And then you can help guide us to make the application so we don't stumble through those unknown areas. Is that what I'm hearing? MS. HAHN: Yeah, I think that would be appropriate. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, alright. Because I think would save a ton of time as we're trying to find program, borrowing Councilwoman Lee Loy's terminology of clunky, if we can avoid some of that. So, thank you Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Council Member David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. I have just one question. My interest basically, and thank you for that, on the watershed flood prevention projects. Because in my rural district, in fact, this whole island, we have been really inundated with those issues. So who would I contact? Is it you, Ms. Hahn to get more information on projects that I intend to work with the Soil and Conservation people for my district? MS. HAHN: Yeah, you can certainly start with me, and I'll refer to you to the correct person if I can't help you, or Robert or Trelaine. I mean we're a team, and we all do the same kind of work. MS. DAVID: That's great. Thank you so much. And again, thank you so much for being here this morning. I yield. MS. HAHN: Thank you very much. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Anyone else? Alright, thank you. I just have a couple of quick questions. And thank you, Council Member Richards for just providing the advice to just direct them to you, but these are quick. If there Page 7 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 are projects that we have that we're interested in seeking funding for that, as Council Member Kierkiewicz touched, multiple areas. Based on your experiences, do you recommend focusing on a particular account, or should we just, you know, silver buckshot and try to get money from any account that might be applicable? MR. JOYCE: It's easiest to convey and advocate for projects that kind of fit neatly within an account bucket, but there's different ways to approach them, right? You know, if it's a kind of a made-up example, if we're putting solar panels on a school, right, one way to go about that is the education fields. And the other way to go about that are energy fields. And if you look at the projects that are in the released Senate bill from last year that the Congress is working on this week actually, there's examples of both, right? So there's multiple ways to go about it from most projects, certainly. But in terms of, you know, developing a pipeline of projects, I think it's most helpful to start with, you know,the opportunities available. And then look at what you're trying to do. Or, you know, look at what you're trying to do and if it's not clear, which account is best. You know, reach out. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. In particular, I'm looking at a new facility in my district that could potentially be used as a shelter. There are currently no hardened shelters within the district. So I see it being applicable both to the Mitigation Fund, which I understand is pretty highly competitive, but also potentially the Rural Development Fund. My question there would be, you know, there's the requirement to contact the Rural Development Office to see if it would be eligible. Would you recommend facilitating that connection through your office or should we be reaching out directly? MS. HAHN: I mean RD (Rural Development) Office in our State is in Hilo. So it's convenient for you, and a new director has just been named, Chris Kanazawa is returning to the office. So in terms of determining eligibility, I would just, you know, ask the RD Office in Hilo. CHR. KIMBALL: Just walk next door. Just trying to determine the best protocol most likely for success. Again, thank you for your presentation today. Really appreciate your time, especially since I know it's a little later in the day over there. With that,the motion on the floor is to close file on Comm. 661. We'll go ahead and take the vote. All of those in favor. Page 8 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 Vote on Comm. 661: The motion to close file on Comm. 661 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kimball—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Chung and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Alright. Thank you again. I really appreciate you time. On behalf of Council, we are just thankful to have the support of Senator Schatz in all our endeavors. Mr. Clerk, we can move on to Comm. 453 please. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 453: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING ITS PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 SESSION OF THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated October 11, 2021. Postponed: December 8, 2021; and January 5, 18, and February 9, 2022 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kierkiewicz, seconded by Mr. Inaba, to close file on Communication 453.) CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. I'll pass it over to Council Member Kierkiewicz to reset the stage for us. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Chair. Aloha, Mr. Bader. Great to see you. If you could come forward, please. We really appreciate you taking the time to check in with us on a monthly basis to update us on what's happening with the Administration's legislative priorities this session. I think we had an assignment for you last time. Thank you so much for transmitting the list of bills you folks are tracking (see Comm. 453.1), but I think we wanted to just explore a bit more, the Administration's stance on these bills and the various topics and the implications for our district and our island community. We don't have a lot of time together. So just hoping for some high-level remarks so that we can engage in more of a dialogue today. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Steven Bader, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 9 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MR. BADER: Good morning everybody. Steve Bader, Executive Assistant and Legislative Liaison out of the Mayor's Office. In the interest of time, I know it'sactually I sent a longer list than I had last time. So last time, I think we had 25 bills that were really prioritized, and that has gone to over 40 bills. So I won't go through all of them. I'll just kind of pick some of the bills and then, you know, move through as quickly as possible in the interest of time. We're at the halfway point at the Legislature. The first crossover of bills are going to be Thursday, I believe. And so, after that happens and hearings are scheduled, then things are going to be moving pretty fast. But at least we reached the halfway point. The County is collectively between the departments, so probably tracking between 200 and 250 bills. We have some departments that are really active, because there's a lot of bills that they're following closely. An example being DEM (Department of Environmental Management), which is right now tracking 22 bills. But at one time, you know, it was probably about 50 or 60 bills. The list, and I think you guys got the list. I'll try to go through this in front of you. I'll just go page-by-page, but kind of skip through some and leave it open for questions. At the top of the list on the first page, SB (Senate Bill) 3363 is the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant, the appropriation bill for General Obligation Bonds. That bill did not get heard in WAM (Ways and Means), but we're treating it as a CIP (Capital Improvement Projects). The County did get a letter directly to Ways and Means about including it in their budget package. And we've had preliminary discussions on the how side to make sure we can get it in their package. So the request was for $50 million of State funds which we'll use to leverage out Federal dollars and help supplement our own bond requests, which you guys are going to be seeing in our budget process. So even though it's dead on paper, it's actually alive as far as our request. There are a couple bills under there. I'm not going to go through them real extensively. But bills that are being tracked with DEM, Cesspool Compliance Pilot Project. Extended Producer Responsibility is something we support. That's moved through. And then the next three bills are Abandoned Vehicle junkyard-type bills. They're apackage, 1412, HB (House Bill) 1413, HB1414. They were introduced by Representative Ilagan. These have moved quickly. It's got a lot of support. There's support on the Senate side, so we're expect that to be moving right through. I think these are also bills that are supported Statewide. Page 10 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 S132922, SD2 (Senate Bill, Senate Draft) is a bill that came up on our radar over the last few weeks. Actually from the beginning. But we've been paying really close attention to it over the last two weeks, making sure that it gets the kind of support it needs on the House side. And that's, to allow up to one house per quarter acre in rural districts if it fits our General Plans. There's a lot of support for this bill. S133324, Housing Subdivisions; Road Repair and Maintenance; Assessments. That bill had changed. It got amended as it was going through its process on the Senate side. And it's establishing a working group to deal with issues that we know is there in our subdivisions, especially those where it gets contentious within those homeowner associations, or those groups that don't have any formal structures. So that's an important bill. We have not taken a position on it. It's going to change likely, as it moves over on the House side. So we're monitoring that bill closely. It has implications for us. The following page, HB1788 HD2 (House Draft), Waiakea Peninsula; Redevelopment; Revolving Fund. That bill also changed as it was working through its process on the House. We are supportive of making sure that we have the kind of development that's responsive to what the community wants. And we are closely watching that bill. It puts some things in place I think that's important. One, although it's not, it doesn't deal with this concept of creating a special authority for that area. It does create a way for us to communicate directly with DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) from a stronger position than we've had before. HB 1840 HD2. This bill is something that the mayors have been discussing, so it's a HCOM (Hawai`i Council of Mayors) have put some eyes on this bill. District Boundary Amendments, fifteen to fifty acres, opening up more options for affordable housing. So this is something that has the attention of the other county mayors. So we're supportive in general. The reason why there's a comment on review, is that it's another one of those bills that is probably going to change as it gets through session. And we want to make sure we have a clear understanding of what the impacts are going to be, but we're supportive of the intent. HB 1403 HD 1, PMAR (Puna Makai Alternative Route). We are, of course, supportive. We have support with review because there's a lot of, I think, issues related to that with the route; what the routing is going to be. What kind of commitments would that put the County in? The Mayor has a meeting set up with Chair Luke on the House side and with Rep. Ilagan to kind of further discuss this bill. We know it's important. We've had a lot of feedback from upper Puna area about the needs for access on upper Puna also. So even though that's a separate issue from this one, because this one is real specific to finding a makai route below 130. We've been paying attention to what the community has Page 11 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 been saying and we'd like to use this as a springboard to discuss that with our delegation and with Chair Luke. Let me skip down here a little bit. Down towards the bottom of the page, S133133, Public Lands; Disposition by Negotiation. Now, the reason why we're monitoring this bill closely, is that it does make an amendment to allow for direct negotiation by DLNR on Commercial, Industrial, and Hotel/Resort purposes. Making them eligible. And so, if the land division is specifically engaged and has the ability to do direct negotiation, which the DLNR is supportive of, it could improve competition and it could make, I guess, the leases more beneficial as far as income. On the other hand, it could lock in leases for longer periods of time without the kind of competition it needs. So there's a lot of testimony for and against this bill. So where we're sitting on it is we're keeping an eye on it. It's another one of the bills that the mayors are looking at. This comes out of HCOM, taking a close look at that. We haven't taken a position. We know it's another bill that's going to go through a process and be changed. Now,these next set of bills, starting with SB2068 SD2, Pasture Leases; Land Transfers. That and the bills under it, I'm going to kind of take it as a group. And the three under there are HB1657, 1658, and 1659. The reason being that these all deal with transfer of lands between DLNR and the Department of Ag. On the Senate side, S132068, that bill is a little bit more complex, and in a way, sort of covers all of the areas that these package of bills on the House side do. They're not exactly the same, but they're fairly close. And if you look at the three bills under the House. It's broken down into reforestation efforts. HB1658 talks about easements. And HB 1659 talks about how they extend existing pasture leases for up to 65 years. So, both bills deal with that transfer. I mean, both SB2068 and those three bills deal with that. But one has it in one comprehensive bill. The other is approaching it as a package. Under that HB 1705 HD 1,that is the bill that Rep. Todd put together for our small farmers and ornamental growers allowing them to extend their leases. And it was specific for leases for 25 acres or less. And it says, "Located in a county with a population of less than 500,000." So it really just applies to the Big Island and well, the neighbor islands, primarily. CHR. KIMBALL: Mr. Bader, we have to begin Planning at 10:30, so what I'm going to suggest is maybe as far as this overview portion, maybe five more minutes, and then I want to get to questions from the Council Members. MR. BADER: Sure. Okay, let me kind of look for some big ones that we can talk through a little bit. So I can let you guys know what we're looking at. Page 12 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 Kona Hospital Bill, there's no problem. Lots of support for that, which is 1638. Let me move down the backend of this. We have Lifeguard Liabilities—has lots of support,that's a HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties) bill. We've got Game Management bills, HB1872 and Senate Bill 3299. They're pretty identical. They're not companion bills, but they're worded fairly closely. And so,that's moving along. Let me move back down here. SB3359 SD2. That is the Native Hawaiian Rehab Fund. We're of course supportive of that bill. We put a support review on it because we know that bill also is going to be changing as it gets through. The main thing for Hawaii County is that it brings $112 million of development. And so, with most of it going into La`i `Opua, 400 lots, $70 million; water system in Ka`u, $40 million; and then $2 million for Honomu Ag lots. There's also some supplemental bills, I mean a supplemental report that you may have gotten. I hope you got it, because we caught it late that it wasn't in the main—and I'll just say this, that we have a mix of climate bills on there HB 1800, HB2493. We have mental health bills that we are tracking to allow for greater access to mental health, especially S132829, which has an associate level that they're proposing for people while they're trying to get full licensure, which is very important for access. And there's a cesspool conversion and some broadband bills that we're following. What I don't have here because we're kind of waiting for the House and the Senate to kind of figure this out. It's the minimum wage bill which will have an impact on us, County-wide. Both bills passed. They're going to opposite chambers. There's going to be a lot of negotiations as that goes through. So I guess I'll end there and take questions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Steve. I just want to underscore the importance of connecting with members of the Council on a lot of these measures. I have a little bit of concern where you are noting that the Admin is supporting specific bills. For instance, Geothermal Royalties and putting a cap on what comes to the County. PGV(Puna Geothermal Venture) operates in Puna on Hawaii Island, and have ordinances that allow for funding to go through a Relocation Fund, as well as the Community Benefits Fund. And I have a little bit of heartburn about caps being put on this. And so, please reach out. I mean even with the PMAR discussion, no one from the Administration has reached out to my office. And we're talking about putting in a road in a subdivision where people live. I don't know if they want a highway in their front yard, right? And so, I understand the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but I just really encourage the Admin to do their homework and engage all parties in the discussion. I do think a lot of these bills warrant a Page 13 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 conversation, but let's not take hard stances without really understanding the full picture and the implications. And so, I'll leave it there. I think coming forward, because I think we'd like to see you again in April when things really start to shake out and we get a little bit closer to conference. Rather than just this list of bills, maybe organizing by topic. There are priorities related to housing, infrastructure, sustainability, agriculture. And then organizing the bills in that fashion. That way there's some methodology to how all of this is presented to us, and we have a better sense of everything that you're tracking related to those issues. MR. BADER: Sure. We'll be able to do that. And then the thing with PMAR in particular. You know, we are supportive of getting that dialogue started. And we're very open and we'll engage—I'll make sure Admin engages you. And we've been taking a lot of calls from the community primarily on this issue. So we will do that, and it's important. But the Mayor feels that we should start that dialogue. And I think basically is to get that moving. Not committing to any particular route, and let's see if we can discuss this. So noted. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right, it's exploring. And please include Council Member Sue Lee Loy in those discussions, because District 3 now includes parts of Hawaiian Paradise Park. And she also is a strong advocate for the Hawaiian Homestead Community. And I appreciate everybody that stepped forward to advocate for, you know, amendment to the PMAR bill to exclude all DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands). I thought that was excellent and very wise. The other thing, the private subdivisions. We have to have a conversation on this. I have concerns about State Legislators creating policy in a vacuum. No one has reached out to our office to talk story about this. I don't think anybody has reached out to Matt or Maile. I could be wrong. But I just feel that, if the County is going to be saddled with unfunded mandates to oversee these subdivisions, we have to be part of the discussion that allows us to ensure that we can adequately enforce this, right? MR. BADER: Yes, we agree. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I mean no disrespect, but I believe that, you know, Senator Joy San Buenaventura had introduced legislation to change which statute governs private subdivisions. And now it's the Condo Law. That is very confusing for our community. And so, again, we have to make sure County and State are really in sync talking story with one another, because the implications, they're felt by us, our constituents, the residents. Page 14 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MR. BADER: And that, in visiting with our delegation, that is the message that the Mayor wanted me to make sure that our delegation understands, is that we need to be discussing this. And there is, you know, there iswe get a lot of feedback at the Capitol about while we're not supporting or opposing certain things. And what we tell them is that we'd like to have a conversation with you before you start crafting the bills. And so, we're open to it. We're open to working with them to amend bills that we're having problems with. But that is the same message that we've been putting forth. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's great. And I think we just have to start early. You know, talking about what should be in legislation should it happen during session. It's got to happen before session even convenes. So looking at September, October to really talk story about intention and language in bills. Anyway, as always, we appreciate you, and we are all here to be a resource. Reach out any time. Thank you, Steve. MR. BADER: Looking forward to coming back and updating too. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sounds great. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thanks Steve, appreciate it. And I'm going to echo some of the concerns that were raised by Ms. Kierkiewicz. A couple of things I did want to touch on, you made reference to Senate Bill 3133, Senate Draft 1. On that one, you referenced the competitive bid provision. And without digging too deep into it, I think it's really important regardless. I talk a lot about agriculture but it's not all about agriculture. It's about some of our other ongoing businesses here. And having the ability to extend the lease. This is where we run into the problem, there is this concept that we need to always go to open bid. But when you have an ongoing business that is stable and really good for the community, we need to support the fact that we should be able to extend that lease without a whole lot of hakaka. So I'm just echoing my concern for this because I see this time and time again. It's happened here in Hilo most recently, and we see it in the agriculture community all the time. So I'm echoing the concern on that. That we need to be able—even though it's available a lot of the time, people circumvent that. From this Administration, I would ask that we encourage continuing leases on ongoing well-established businesses that are good for the community. Jumping over to the Senate Bill 2068. I submitted testimony in full support of this. And this goes back to Act 90, which is 19 years old now. And for the Council, this has to do with converting the leases from DLNR to the Department Page 15 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 of Ag for agriculture leases ongoing. And this has been contentious obviously if it's ongoing for 20 years. I fully support that transfer going over. Now, I'm very happy with a hybrid of supporting input from DLNR on some of these lands. But the mission of DLNR and the mission of the Department of Agriculture are very, very different. And if we are truly interested in promoting Big Island and the State as a whole, but agriculture going forward, we have to actually come up to the plate and support it rather than relegating it to the background. So again, and I agree, I mean there's so many nuances in all these bills and they change all the time, and I got that. But that being said, supporting agriculture for the long-term so we can get the long-term leases. And most people think that a five-year lease is a long lease. For agriculture it's nothing. We should be talking 20 years; we should be talking 30 years. And this is where we run into that. And back to my comments about Senate Bill 3133 concerning extending those leases. If we have a good land stewardship, which is what DLNR is very concerned about, and it's been proven for generations by a land lessee, reauthorize them. Enough said on that. Chair, I yield. MR. BADER: Well, I think we're seeing the same thing. And the reason why those bills in particular come up on our priority list, is we know it has major impact for us. And we've heard from our Ag community, and we want to make sure that what's put in place, you know, works for everybody. You know,the bill dealing with our small farms, I think, is another example where family farms want to continue on. And we want Ag to support those farms so they can stay multi-generational. MR. RICHARDS: Exactly. Chair,just quick comment? CHR. KIMBALL: Sure, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, exactly. And that's what we're talking about. If we make it so onerous and difficult for a small family farm to continue, then we wonder why we lost them. We need to support them and set good policy. Because agriculture is not the problem. Public policy is the problem. That's what takes agriculture out. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Okay Steve, thank you for the update. I had two questions for you. So you know, that bill by Ilagan to Page 16 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 do the PMAR route. You know, I talked to him briefly and he was like, "Oh no, it's not specific to a makai route." But looking at this bill, it is yeah? MR. BADER: It is. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I mean I have an issue with that because I'd like to see upper Puna connectivity as well. I so support the bill, but you know, my general approach to him was, look, we've got to look at Puna as a whole, not just the bottom portion of 130. So, I'm glad you guys are discussing upper Puna connectivity. Thank you. And I met briefly with the Mayor and discussed that point, too. So I'm glad that's kind of being kicked around at least. My second question, I reached out to our State reps this week, and I kind of just sent them all a note basically. California just released businesses who got RRF (Restaurant Revitalization Fund) grants, PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) grants; all that kind of grants, from having to pay tax on that. And the State of Hawaii has chosen to tax all small businesses whatever grant income they receive as an income source. So the money that was used to help businesses get past being forced to close their doors during COVID are now being taxed on the backend as part of their income. And I don't agree with it. California said we're going to exempt businesses from paying that tax. A lot of other states have done the same thing. We may be late in the game. I texted everyone that I know, including Josh Green. I said, "Hey what is going on with this? Why are you guys taxing businesses as an income source for grant funding that was used to bail them out?" So anything that the Office of the Mayor can do to push the Governor's Office. I think he's probably the only one who can help right now because of where we are in the Legislative session. Anything you can do to help the small business community. Work with the Chambers of Commerce. I just think it'll be very important to take that on. And DLNR leases, you know, in the past I've looked over the leases. The DLNR Leasing Program. I have experience in leases and what it costs to pay for a lease, you know,privately. I've never done a DLNR lease or a State lease. I would say that the State Leasing Program needs to be looked a little bit more closely at the value of the land that they're leasing. I think they could do much more in bringing in more income. And I would say that in regards to the DHHL and the Hawaiian Homes programs are based on a percentage of the DLNR lease income. And so the two kind of correlate together in that manner. So it'sI don't know, I'm kind of making a statement and I'm kind of giving you some, you know, my opinion. But I think Page 17 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 they need to really up some of their pricing that they do for those leases. Albeit 30-year leases, but still they could be drafted a little bit better. MR. BADER: Yeah, I think some of the bills that are being proposed are trying to get at that. And so, what we're doing and I think the mayors are doing is really kind of tracking that. And you know, how the bill ends up at the end of session with the feedback, I mean, these bills are all amendable. And as Council Member Richards says, you know, it's real fast. I mean, you blink and the thing changes, you know. But the good thing is that there is access points. And if we work closely with our delegation over there, I think we can be able to get stuff in. But I agree with you, you know, we need to get better value in a more streamlined way of doing things. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And I really appreciate it. I talked to one senator, and they told me, "Look we cannot just gut and replace bills anymore." I was like, it was a reminder that legislation passed. I actually liked that, that they cannot just gut and replace entire bills to something completely different. But yeah, thank you Steve, appreciate the update. Thank you, Chair. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. You know, I just had to sit back and listen. I think I kind of stand in the same space with the rest of my colleagues, you know, that we're tracking a lot of this legislation and thinking two things. One, how does it impact our constituency; but two, how applicable is it? Because here at the County level, we're going to have to execute, right? And as Council Member Kierkiewicz talked about, unfunded mandates, you know some of the subdivision requirements. It's all going to fall on us. And I really would just continue to encourage the Administration to engage us. You know, I've had my own discussions with a lot of the authors of these bills, so they understand the position that my constituents are elevating, which is why we see some of those edits coming out and emerging. It would be nice that the Administration, and you know, other Council Members kind of stood in sync with a lot of these bills that are moving forward. That's my only comment. And you know, how things impact one another, especially with all of our leases, this idea of highest and best use, I just personally think that DLNR is trying to do two things. Be a landlord, right, but preserve, you know, aquariums and terrariums, right? So they're having what I feel is an identity crisis, which then impacts the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which has a very different mission and charge. Page 18 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 And you know,just to hone in on what was mentioned today. I watched that particular subdivision bill in the Finance Committee. And to hear Oahu members have no clue of the infrastructure needs we have on this island and just in one particular area of Puna. It really was frightening. It was frightening that they just cannot understand the ruralness of our communities. And then they tack in amendments that's completely—it creates more challenges for us. And I just want to help elevate that a little bit. And maybe educate a little bit, because, you know, we need help. And we had a discussion earlier this morning with Senator Schatz's Office about opportunities for funding. We just need to put ourselves in the best position. So those are my comments. MR. BADER: Yeah, I agree and support those comments. And I know that the last time I was before you in this committee, the Mayor sent out an email to everybody, saying that there's a bill, you know, that if you think has impacted your districts, please let us know. So after coming out of that, we had a discussion. He said it'll be really good if they know that we're open. So he sent that email out. I think the very next day,just to let you know. And then sometimes things happen I think more organically, but it all comes together. Like, when I saw Council Member Lee Loy over at the Tanoue's Farm in support of the bill to extend leases, you know, for very small ornamental growers and farmers. And Rep. Todd was there, and Rep. Onishi was there, and Sylvia Luke was there; and you got there, and I got there. And there was a nice, you know, convergence of people to really support that effort. And I was glad to see that Chair Luke was there, because we're going to need that push to get that bill. You know, it moved over but at the same time, we need her influence to make sure on the Senate side that it gets the kind of traction it needs. So we can come together like that, and I think that's the best way we can do it. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, you know,just reflecting on that particular meeting, what was also elevated is, those farmers, they're successful. And if that is the model of success, the ability to open up more State lands rather than just keep fighting over these parcels that are on the books,that's the innovative thought that's emerging out of these small group discussions. And you know, there was a lot of value right, Steve, in that conversation, that they don't need much. They just want, as Mr. Richards says, this idea of a long-term lease, so they can create a business plan. Because we know things just don't magically grow, it takes time. But that's what I found incredibly valuable with that conversation is support them, but support the next generation of farmers. MR. BADER: Yes, and that particular bill, there was an early discussion, I think in October that Rep. Todd and I got invited to with them, which started the ball rolling with that bill. So we had discussions way ahead of time. And you know, Page 19 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 the bill was able to get through the House. So now, we've just got to make sure we can support it on the Senate side. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Yes, and it's that partnership. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Council Member Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just a quick follow-up comment springboarding off of what Ms. Lee Loy just said. It's not the lease, it's the economy that the little businesses generate. Employment, tax basis, a future, next generation, all that. That's what we need to focus on. That's where I believe government comes in. We've got to stand that up so then that generates the economy that then supports the tax bases so we can afford to do wastewater, roads, take care of Heather's bridges, all of that. So definitely in that direction. But we need to support that to support the economy. I yield. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Richards. Anyone else. Alright. Thank you again, Mr. Bader, for taking the time to be here with us today. I'm just going to throw on my HSAC hat real quickly. I know you've been privied to the emails back and forth with the Chief of Police and Prosecutor Wahjen about 1448. And just for my colleagues, this is an HSAC bill. It has to do with a specific surcharge that would be imposed by County ordinance within specific areas added parking violations. And so, it's a tool. It's a revenue generator, yes, but it's also a tool that we can use to address areas where there is particularly hazardous parking situations where are people are violating the no-parking signs. And a $35 fine is really not enough. Now in the conversations that you've been privy to via email, you know the Police Chief has some concerns. So does the Prosecutor. It has passed though through the House and will be heard in the Senate. And I hope work with the two of them to work on that language so that it's in a position that they're comfortable. But again, want to request the Administration's support. Again, it's an important tool. I think that we as a Council need in our toolbox to deal with some of these situations. The other one is the chop-shop bill, which I believe was on your list in the past. So I didn't see it there, but it has passed the Senate. That's Senate Bill 2048. MR. BADER: Yeah, I'll look for it. CHR. KIMBALL: Okay. Page 20 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 MR. BADER: It might have just slipped off the list. We're revising this thing constantly. You know so, okay, let me look at that. CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah. I think we can all agree that that's an important piece of legislation. And then I'll just take my HSAC hat off here and back to Council Member. I just want to, you know, I think Sue's story about, you know, the two of you meeting up and being able to have a conversation just kind of highlights I think something we've all touched on. Is that, we have expertise, connections that are valuable contributions to this process. And so just as a way to encourage the Administration to look at us as partners in this process and people that are there to provide information. And you know, we can also advocate if there are things that are pertinent to our districts. So you know, we'll do our best to reach out and I think we would all appreciate that coming from the Administration. MR. BADER: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think that that's where the value is in being able to move, you know, any piece of legislation if we have all of us talking and working together; getting our best thoughts together. I know you and I had a lot of contact prior to Session, too. And those are helpful, you know, even if those bills didn't make it, the discussions on those bills resulted in this GO (General Obligation Bond) request that's going to, you know, we're working through CIP now. So that's all based on those discussions. So, I appreciate it. I know the Mayor does too. CHR. KIMBALL: Well, as Council Member Lee Loy mentioned, a lot of times, the great ideas come out of those conversations. That's where the innovation happens. So appreciate that. I'm going to pass it to Council Member Kierkiewicz here. Do you want to postpone this again, or do you want to put forth a new communication in April? Vote on Motion Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to postpone Comm. 453 to to Postpone: April 5, 2022. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried (Approved) by the following voice vote. Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kimball—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, David, and Villegas —3. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: With that, I'll take a motion to adjourn. Page 21 GOREDC-24 March 8,2022 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 10:24 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair Kimball—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung, David, and Villegas—3. Excused: None. CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you very much. We are adjourned. Approved: i/c75 62Heather L. Kim a 1, Chair (Date) Government Operatio s, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 22