Senators Hooser and Tokuda Named to the Legislator in Residence Program
The Public Policy Center of the College of Social Sciences is delighted to announce the appointment of Senator Gary Hooser (D) and Senator Jill Tokuda (D) to the 2007 Legislator in Residence Program (LIR).
Senator Gary Hooser is currently the Majority Leader of the Senate, Vice-Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee, and a member of the committees on Human Services & Public Housing, Transportation & International Affairs, and Ways & Means. Senator Hooser ’s focus this semester will be on developing further his work on the protocols for effective public advocacy and also in promoting world peace. He has met with the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Public Policy Center faculty to explore a project during the semester. He will be working with the SMIP on a panel presentation for the International Day of Peace in September.
Senator Jill Tokuda, representing the 24th Senatorial District (Kaneohe, Kailua, & Enchanted Lake), is Chair of the committee on Agriculture & Hawaiian Affairs; Vice-Chair of the committees on Water & Land and Education; and is a member of the Ways and Means Committee. She will be exploring issues and policies for sustaining and promoting agriculture as a viable part of Hawaii’s sustainable economy, including but not limited to, how to ensure the active use of agricultural lands; the role of traditional practices in land and natural resource management; and “growing” a skilled workforce for our diverse agricultural industry.
The LIR Program was initiated by the Public Policy Center of the College of Social Sciences to further the collaboration between policy makers and the academic community—faculty, staff, and students. The program provides a learning environment for policy makers to work with faculty and students to explore significant issues that face the community. In exchange, faculty and students benefit by working with legislators to learn how these issues can be transformed into policy.