State House committee passes sports bills

The state House Committee on Finance unanimously passed on to the full body Tuesday night two competing bills for the creation of statewide panels coordinating sports.

One, HB 1847, would establish a comprehensive Sports and Entertainment Authority, while the other, HB 2229, would set up a sports task force.

The measures could be voted on next week.

HB 1847 would disband the Aloha Stadium Authority and transfer responsibility for the facility and the Kapolei Recreational Sports Complex to a volunteer 11-member authority and a salaried coordinator charged with retaining and securing events and developing the industry.

The bill originally called for $10 million in funding from a portion of the revenues from the hotel room tax, but the amount is being left open.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority also draws its funding from the tax. HTA president and CEO George D. Szigeti said he is “not opposed to the intent” of the bill.

Szigeti also said, “We have done sports for the past 20 years and we’ve done them very, very well.”

Szigeti cited last month’s Federation Cup tennis matches in Kona as an example. “We just had the Fed Cup for the first time in Hawaii and Venus Williams said it was the best Fed Cup she had ever, ever been to.”

HB 2229, meanwhile, seeks to create a 13-member task force within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The DBED director would chair the panel, which would meet once a quarter and make recommendations to the legislature.

Its membership would include the governor, mayors of the counties, comptroller, manager of Aloha Stadium, HTA CEO and other tourism figures, a Hawaiian cultural specialist and appointees of the House and Senate.