Tuesday, December 22, 2009

New Report on Impact of DBEDT layoffs

The legislature’s economic development committee chairs, Representative Angus McKelvey, and Senator Carol Fukunaga announced today that a new report on the potential impact of the state layoffs at the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) is now available on the capitol website for public viewing. The report can be found here.

The House Committee on Economic Development, Business and Military Affairs , and the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technology, held public informational briefings during the interim to discuss the rationale of the layoffs, the impact to Hawaii’s economy, Hawaii’s business community, and the general public.

The new report covers layoffs within and impacts to the following programs: Small Business Advocate, Land Use Division, Coastal Zone Management, and the DBEDT Library.

In their concluding recommendations, the committee report states that the layoffs within these programs will cause irreparable harm to the economy and its businesses, and it urges the legislature to reject the abolishment of key positions during the 2010 legislative session.

The committees strongly disagreed with the decisions made by the Department, state that the Department has lost its credibility with regard to all economic policies, and that the current DBEDT Director will have to assume responsibility for the deficiencies that will result from these actions.


Contact:
Senator Carol Fukunaga – 808-586-6890
Representative Angus McKelvey – 808-586-6160

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