State senators visit Maui, Molokai to discuss projects, local issues | News, Sports, Jobs

Members of the state Senate Committee on Ways and Means tour Maui Nui Venison during the committee’s visit to Maui and Molokai late last month. Hawaii State Senate photos

From Upcountry Maui to Kalaupapa on Molokai, members of the state Senate Committee on Ways and Means visited multiple venues on the two islands from July 26 to 28 to learn about future projects in the area and discuss local issues.

“The Ways and Means Committee takes seriously our commitment to ensuring that funds appropriated each session are being spent expeditiously and producing the intended results for people of Hawaii. On these site visits, we take the opportunity to learn, inquire, discuss, and determine how best to push forward vital initiatives that will need our legislative support and State resources,” Ways and Means Chairman Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz of Oahu said in a news release.

State officials and community members delivered presentations on their plans for a range of both the governor’s and Senate’s priorities, including economic and workforce development, investments in infrastructure, the coalescing of a food innovation network and the future of Kahoolawe and Kalaupapa.

Representatives from Maui Nui Venison; the Department of Education; the University of Hawaii Maui College Food Innovation Center; and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism provided the committee with insights and plans for how each of their programs, businesses and agencies are attempting to cultivate components of a new statewide food and product innovation network led by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. With resources and support from the Legislature, various stakeholders will contribute to the build-out of a food and value-added product ecosystem to increase made-in-Hawaii exports and food security, while decreasing food imports by providing the infrastructure, facilities and support services to process and consume locally grown agricultural goods, the news release said.

State Sen. Lynn DeCoite of Molokai discusses the challenges of addressing the axis deer crisis in Maui County. To the left is state Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran of Maui. Both are members of the state Senate Committee on Ways and Means which toured Maui and Molokai last month.

The future transition of Kalaupapa was also discussed in-depth between the Ways and Means Committee, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Department of Health, the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. National Park Service. The Kalaupapa Transition Interagency Working Group will convene on Friday to discuss issues that include the preservation and maintenance of more than 200 structures and the current and future governance for the County of Kalawao.

Other places the committee visited included DHHL homesteads on Molokai, Kulanihako’i High School in Kihei, Haggai Institute and the Kahului Airport.

Site visits across Oahu have been conducted throughout the legislative interim. The committee will visit Hawaii island in August and Kauai in September in preparation for the 2024 legislative session.

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