HI HB2186

Directs the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to seek all available federal assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide workforce development, training, and retraining programs for sugar workers affected by the cessation of sugar production on Maui.

Requires the department to pursue grant funding opportunities from the federal Employment and Training Administration and authorizes use of state matching funds to meet grant eligibility requirements.

Mandates coordination between the department's Maui workforce development office and the Maui County Office of Economic Development to implement assistance programs.

Appropriates funds from general state revenues for fiscal year 2016-2017 for worker training, retraining, and dislocated worker assistance programs, with funds usable as matching or leverage funds for federal grants.

Takes effect on July 1, 2016; addresses anticipated layoffs of approximately 675 sugar workers beginning in March 2016 affecting 36,000 acres of Maui farmland transitioning to diversified agriculture.