Gov. Josh Green created a new state Marine Affairs office amid another round of bill signings on Monday.
Among the seven bills Green signed into law Monday was Senate Bill 2907, which consolidates various ocean-related duties and responsibilities within a new Office of Marine Affairs to be administered by the Hawai‘i Technology Development Corp.
The bill is aimed at managing the state’s “blue economy” — the various industries that rely on the ocean and aquatic resources — and creating a central framework for the state’s oceanic policies.
Consequently, the Office of Marine Affairs is tasked with developing a statewide marine affairs strategy governing subjects from ecosystem management and shoreline resilience to fisheries management and marine tourism.
Previous ocean-related powers and responsibilities held by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism — which primarily required DBEDT to collaborate with various other state agencies to help develop their own ocean-related plans — have been revoked.
“We have been told for years and years we have to diversity our economy, but we have to do it right,” Green said during the bill signing Monday. “We have to do it in a way that fits our state.”
Sen. Glenn Wakai, co-introducer of the bill, said he hopes the new office will be able to address the state’s status as a net importer of fish — he said the state imports two thirds of all the fish consumed in Hawai‘i.
While the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity has aquaculture programs to promote local seafood production, Wakai said only about 2% of DAB’s resources are dedicated to ocean affairs.
Wakai added that the Office of Marine Affairs could also improve swimming education among keiki to reduce the rate of drowning fatalities among children.
SB 2907 was one of several economic development measures Green signed Monday. Along with a bill creating new tax incentives for motion pictures filmed in Hawai‘i, those bills included:
• SB 2360 expands the state’s Enterprise Zone program — which partners with counties to provide tax credits to businesses within specific areas — to include additional industries within those zones, such as a local manufacturer’s retail space, medical product development and sale, aerospace technology development, IT services and more.
The bill also extends the tax credits available to businesses for an additional two years: where previously the tax credit began at 80% for a business’ first year of operation and attenuated each year until bottoming out at 20% in the seventh year, the bill now extends that 20% credit through a business’ eighth and ninth years.
• House Bill 2583 establishes a micro-loan program within DBEDT that allows qualified people or businesses to apply for small loans of no more than $50,000, as defined by federal law. The bill also allocates $1.5 million for the program and establishes a special fund that will continue to support it.
• SB 2599 renames the Stadium Development District to the Hālawa Community Development District and creates a special fund to manage developments within that district.
• SB 3320 increases standards within the state Agribusiness Development Corp.’s Food and Product Innovation Network — a program helping local food producers to scale up their operations — to require compliance with various food safety laws, establish specific key performance indicators, and coordinate Hawai‘i-specific branding across products.
• HB 1576 requires DBEDT to provide public notice whenever it grants filming permits to a film crew, or whenever a film production qualifies for the film tax credit.
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