The Hawaii State Legislature has set up a joint House-Senate Committee to examine the state's land-use plan and recommend imporvements. The resolution proposing the committee was drafted by Tom Dinell, Chair of the American Planning Association's state land-use planning committee and funder of the University of Hawaii's graduate program in urban and regional planning.

Initiative supporters are boasting of its improvements to the 1961 land-use system that would be of economic benefit to the state. However, none of the reform proposals advanced in the last 10 years have succeeded, as the emphasis has been placed on regulation rather than effective planning. The question, according to Dinell, is whether a braod coalition of interest groups can make a difference this time.

The joint committee will report to the 1998 legisl;ature with recommendations for legislation or a progress report. LASN will keep youinformed of the initiative's status.