Bill Text: HI HR26 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 26 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Recognizing aerospace as a strategic and timely growth industry.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-04-07 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR26 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HR26-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	26
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

recognizing aerospace as a strategic and timely growth industry for hawaii and requesting the state administration to take proactive, coordinated, and sustained action to fully realize the significant scientific, educational, and commercial benefits the aerospace industry can bring to the state.

WHEREAS, over the past half-century, aerospace has played a pivotal role in both expanding and diversifying the national economy by forging new inroads to scientific discovery, advancing national engineering and manufacturing expertise, pioneering innovations in communications and computer technologies, enhancing surveillance of our home planet, and enabling better understanding of both weather systems and climate change; and

WHEREAS, aerospace has also spurred spinoffs of commercial products that have significantly enhanced quality of life, provided rich educational and training opportunities for K-12 and college students nationwide, and expanded means and venues for the exploration and development of space; and

WHEREAS, today, the aerospace industry holds equal if not greater potential than it ever has for enabling future innovation in science and technology, enhancing aviation and global security, promoting STEM education to help grow a technologically proficient workforce, improving healthcare diagnostics and delivery worldwide, forging renewable energy systems for application worldwide, and advancing remote sensing and management of critical global resources; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's strategic mid-Pacific, near-equatorial location, substantial telemetry, space surveillance, and other related infrastructure, Moon- and Mars-like terrain, resident expertise in a broad range of aerospace-related technologies, and long-standing ties with space-faring nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, comprise strategic assets and capabilities that can be leveraged to help realize humankind's full potential in space, and in so doing engage the State as a major contributor to and beneficiary of global space enterprise; and

WHEREAS, historically, Hawaii has played a seminal role in developing the nation's space program, beginning with astronaut training for the Apollo lunar missions and the development of world-class observatories on the Big Island and leading to a variety of nationally-funded programs in planetary geosciences, satellite communications, space-based remote sensing and environmental monitoring, deep space surveillance, and other aerospace-related activities sponsored by the University of Hawaii, the U.S. military, and numerous aerospace-related companies statewide; and

WHEREAS, today, Hawaii continues to support national space efforts through a wide range of aerospace-related activities on all major islands including the Mauna Kea Science Reserve on Hawaii Island, which is the world's premier astronomical observing site; the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Observatory, which supports the nation's most sophisticated deep space surveillance complex; the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy and Hawaii Institute for Geophysics and Planetology on Oahu, which have pioneered both basic and applied research in diverse space-related fields; and the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, which provides the world's largest multi-environment test and evaluation range for aerospace technologies; and

WHEREAS, local aerospace companies, founded and grown in Hawaii, are equipped with both the technical talent and state of-the-art infrastructure to develop next-generation electro optic technologies, space surveillance and defense systems, command and control networks, and other resources and capabilities that can be adapted for both military and civilian aerospace applications; and

WHEREAS, major national aerospace corporations already established in Hawaii are looking to expand their operation in the islands as a bridge to Asia-Pacific markets, especially in the development and delivery of advanced systems for aviation maintenance and training, air traffic control, satellite communications, and deep space tracking, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other federal agencies and aerospace corporations nationwide are working to develop next-generation aviation technologies to enhance the safety and efficiency of future air travel; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's abundant open air space, trans-Pacific and inter-island air routes, and extensive civilian and military aviation infrastructure make it an ideal test site to demonstrate and validate next-generation technologies; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's unique location, geography, and technological assets are also ideally suited to support the launch of next-generation commercial spacecraft including spaceplanes to carry small satellites, experimental payloads, and tourists to space, to monitor and manage man-made and natural disasters, and to develop and test space-based power systems to capture sunlight as a renewable energy resource for both interplanetary spacecraft and Earth-based applications; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing global concurrence that multinational collaboration can help reduce the costs and enhance the benefits of both human and robotic missions to space and that Hawaii, by virtue of its strategic location and assets, is ideally situated to help lead as a catalyst for multinational space partnerships; and

WHEREAS, in order to realize this new vision, considerable resources will need to be devoted to the development, testing, and evaluation of new technologies to enable long-term missions to space; the training of scientists, engineers, and astronauts to help design and implement these missions; the development of multinational partnerships that can synergize resources and reduce costs for future space missions; and generation of the enthusiasm to educate and engage the general public in these efforts; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's favorable location, geography, international connectivity, and other strategic assets and capabilities are ideally suited to address all of these challenges; and

WHEREAS, the State must promote strategic growth industries that can attract substantial federal and private sector investments, support high-paying and sustainable technology-based employment opportunities for local residents, develop creative means to inspire and train students in STEM-related fields, and enable pioneering research and commercial development programs at universities and businesses statewide to diversify and expand Hawaii's economy; and

WHEREAS, aerospace is demonstrably a dynamic growth industry that has advanced and can continue to support all of these goals in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, aerospace thrives in Hawaii because of the State's favorable location and intrinsic resources, and therefore is a growth industry that will not be exported from the State as it matures; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has already established extensive working relationships throughout the global aerospace community that can be leveraged to grow an aerospace industry statewide; and

WHEREAS, all of the assets, capabilities, and advantages that predispose aerospace as a dynamic growth industry for Hawaii show that modest upfront investments in this sector will bring substantial and sustainable scientific, educational and commercial returns to the State; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016 that the Legislature recognizes aerospace as a strategic and timely growth industry for Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State administration is requested to take proactive, coordinated, and sustained action to fully realize the significant scientific, educational, and commercial benefits the aerospace industry can bring to the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in support of this effort, the State should make aerospace a high priority for innovation and development in the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Aerospace Development, as established under section 201-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, should promote and help advance such activities and programs on behalf of the State, to include coordination with the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory on Oahu, the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance facility on Maui, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems on Hawaii Island, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other state-based, national, and international agencies and organizations, both public and private, as appropriate; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in furtherance of this goal, the Office of Aerospace Development is requested to prepare for review and consideration by the State administration and Legislature, a strategic plan for aerospace development in Hawaii that will explore possibilities and options for expanding and diversifying this sector statewide, identify specific goals and plausible outcomes over a five-year period, and recommend specific methodologies and policies to help achieve these goals and outcomes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this strategic plan be completed in advance of the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, with copies delivered to the State administration and Legislature for consideration by no later than Thursday, September 1, 2016; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the President of the University of Hawaii, the Superintendent of Education, the Adjutant General, the Commander of the United States Pacific Command, the Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, the Commander of the Pacific Air Forces, the Commanding General of the United States Army Pacific, and the Commander of the United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.