Senate Majority Caucus

This scanned photo, showing a ship docked at Nawiliwili Harbor, was submitted with testimony in support of Senate Bill 2526.

A bill that aims to reduce cruise ship emissions at a Kaua`i harbor is moving through the state Senate. Senate Bill 2526, introduced by Sen. Gary Hooser (D-Kaua`i, Ni`ihau), addresses health problems and pollution that Niumalu-area residents attribute to cruise ships’ bunker fuel burning near Nawiliwili Harbor.

Rep. James Tokioka (D-Lihue, Koloa) introduced a similar House Bill 2919, but the House committees on Transportation and Tourism and Culture deferred action on the measure, effectively killing the House version for this session.

Environmental groups and many Kaua`i residents had sent written testimony in support of the legislation, asking for a timely solution to what they described as a tangible black residue covering their homes and dangerous fumes around the harbor.

Kaua`i resident Carl Berg testified on Senate Bill 2526. Pictured are Sen. Gordon Trimble, Sen. Gary Hooser, the bill’s introducer, and Sen. Ron Menor, chair of the Senate Energy and Environment committee.

Carl Berg, a resident of Nawiliwili Bay, environmental scientist and former Department of Health employee, said he did not think the DOH’s past tests were accurate because the tests measured only ambient air and did not sample the harbor’s most-polluted areas.

“This is not acceptable. We smell it, we see it, it’s on our windows and we’re getting sick,” he said last Thursday. (more…)

Senate majority party members are working this session to guarantee proper government spending. Senate Bills 2824, 2825, 2826 and 2827, which are included in the Senate majority party bill package and seek to improve the state’s procurement practices, have passed through their committee hearings and will now move toward a floor vote and review by the state House of Representatives.

Senate Vice President Donna Mercado Kim (D-Moanalua, `Aiea, Fort Shafter, Kalihi Valley, Halawa Valley), who introduced the four bills, is also chairing a newly-created special Senate committee that is investigating a decision by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) to award a $8.7 million contract for a hydrogen renewable energy program.

On Sept. 25, 2007, DBEDT Director Ted Liu was directed by the state Procurement Office to rescind his selection for the contract. Liu had awarded the contract to H2 Energy LLC, though the company had been the lowest-ranking of three bidders in a procurement evaluation.

Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D-Waipahu, Pearl City, Crestview), vice chair of the new investigative committee, said that the committee was established to ascertain the facts of the contract decision and to maintain the public’s trust in government procurement.

Nishihara also chairs the Senate Tourism and Government Operations Committee, which was assigned to review the procurement legislation and passed all four majority package bills.

“The Senate will not hesitate to investigate practices that might not be in the public’s best interest. … State procurement should be open and equitable,” Nishihara said.

Sen. Jill Tokuda introduced two bills this session to to promote outreach and educational programs regarding the endangered Hawaiian monk seal species. Senate Bill 2464 designates the seal as the state mammal and Senate Bill 2465 designates the third Saturday in April as Hawaiian Monk Seal Day. The bills received testimony in unanimous support from over 50 parties. Students from five schools attended the bills’ hearing, including those from St. Andrews Priory School, pictured above.

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of only two native mammals in Hawai`i. (Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

 
Sen. Norman Sakamoto, Education Committee chair, discusses legislation with committee member Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland during a session recess.

The Senate Education Committee received referrals for 90 bills this session. Over the past few weeks, the committee held public hearings and determined which of the 90 bills would best serve Hawai`i’s education system. Bills are now being heard by their final committees before they will be voted for on the Senate floor and passed to the House of Representatives. Education Committee highlights so far this session include:

Addressing the Teacher Shortage
Each year, the state of Hawai`i hires around 1,600 new teachers. However, approximately 50 percent of those teachers leave their jobs within five years. Teachers from the baby boomer generation have also started to retire, further expanding the state’s teacher shortage. The Education Committee passed Senate Bill 3252 earlier this month, which proposes a multi-faceted program to increase the number of education graduates in the state and aims to keep them in the profession once they begin teaching with more professional support. The bill also passed its last Senate committee, Ways and Means, last Friday.

Student Input
On Feb. 11, the Education Committee invited high school students to testify on bills of high interest to them. The committee expected around 20 students, but over 60 attended. Students overflowed the room and followed the proceedings on a television monitor outside. They testified on legislation concerning alternative energy, physical education, recycling and fine arts in their schools. Students from outer islands remained to testify until they had to leave for the airport.

Securing Educational Funding
Senate Bill 3251, introduced by Education Committee Chair Norman Sakamoto, originally proposed a 1 percent general excise tax increase for education funding and tax relief for low-income families. Sen. Sakamoto and the committee gathered lots of information and held many meetings to develop the language of the bill. The committee amended the bill to create a task force that will first determine how much money is needed to fund specific educational programs instead. The bill passed its final committee hearing last Friday.

E-Books
School textbooks typically cost between $60 and $90. Because of a textbook shortage in many Hawai`i schools, Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and Education Committee Vice Chair Jill Tokuda introduced Senate Bill 2254 this session, aiming to reduce both the textbook shortage and the weight in children’s backpacks with e-books. E-books are text documents published in digital format that can be read on laptops, pocket computers and e-book reading devices. According to the bill, one gigabyte of storage space in an e-book can contain 200 illustrated reference books, 350 legal volumes or about 2,500 novels of 600 pages. The bill directs the Department of Education to conduct a study that considers substituting e-books for textbooks. The Senate Education Committee voted to pass the bill last Friday.

 
Because of the first decking deadline Friday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee is hearing a larger number of bills than normal this week. This morning’s agenda contained 59 bills. Pictured from left to right are Sens. Tokuda, English, Hooser, committee Vice Chair Tsutsui, committee Chair Baker, and Sens. Kim, Fukunaga and Menor.

By Sen. Donna Mercado Kim
Originally written for The Honolulu Advertiser, appearing Feb. 19, 2008

Ongoing problems in this administration have raised serious questions about the adequacy of our state procurement laws and how those laws are being applied. In a February, 2006 Honolulu Advertiser article, “Lingle aides bypass procurement process,” we learned how the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) attempted to circumvent procurement laws by using a non-profit organization to handle large donations solicited by DBEDT to fund the administration’s trade missions to China and Korea.

Then again in September, 2007, the Advertiser reported “Hawai‘i firm got $7.3 million in non-bid work,” unearthing a scheme where employees of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands awarded millions of dollars in non-bid contracts to a company with which the DHHL employees had a previous relationship; those actions potentially violated a new procurement statute enacted by Gov. Lingle to combat cronyism and ensure a fair and impartial procurement process.

Now new examples have surfaced surrounding DBEDT and its granting of a contract to manage the state’s Hydrogen Investment Capital Fund. We can accept no further delay in providing Hawai‘i’s taxpayers with a close look at our procurement laws to determine if they are providing the selectivity and fairness they are meant to assure. (more…)

Big Island legislators Sen. Russell Kokubun and Sen. Lorraine Inouye will host “Legislators Listen” community meetings this Saturday and March 15. The events are also sponsored by seven Big Island representatives from the state House and will meet meet at various locations across the island. The legislators welcome community input.

Saturday, Feb. 23
8 to 9 a.m.–Laupahoehoe, Laupahoehoe High School Band Room
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Honoka`a, North Hawai`i Education and Research Center
11 a.m. to noon–Waimea, North Hawai`i Community Hospital Conference Room
1 to 2 p.m.–North Kohala, Kohala Intergenerational Center
3 to 4 p.m.–Waikoloa, Waikoloa Village Golf Course Community Center
5 to 6 p.m.–Kealakekua, Kona Hospital Conference Room 2

Saturday, March 15
7:30 to 8:30 a.m.–Hilo, UH-Hilo, UCB 123
9 to 10 a.m.–Kea`au, Kea`au Elementary School Cafeteria
10:30 to 11:30 a.m.–Pahoa, Pahoa High School Cafeteria
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.–Volcano, Cooper Center
2:30 to 3:30 p.m.–Pahala, Ka`u Hospital Conference Room
4:30 to 5:30 p.m.–HOVE, Kahuku Park 

By Sen. Will Espero 

Up to now, we have looked at the energy independence/global warming question as a matter of “we can’t afford to.” The more appropriate viewpoint is — we cannot afford not to. We must make the transition to independence from fossil fuels for the economic security and well-being of Hawai`i.

Since 2002, gasoline prices have increased 266 percent, in Hawai`i going from $1.27 to $3.38 per gallon for regular grade. These gas hikes gave Exxon the largest annual profit of a U.S. company last year, at nearly $41 billion, with other oil companies also posting comparably high profits. In the last year alone, sharp hikes in oil prices translated to a 25 percent hike in electricity and gas bills for local consumers. Besides this direct cost, the high cost of fuel is passed on along the chain of commerce, leading to increased product costs and operational expenses, which lower a business’ profitability and raise consumer prices. (more…)

Article by Sen. Mike Gabbard, originally published in MidWeek on Feb. 20, 2008

Aloha! I hope you and your family are well.

You may have noticed that more and more of our supermarkets are carrying organic foods. My family and I have been eating organic foods for many years. We appreciate the benefit of eating healthy foods that are free of toxic substances like conventional pesticides. We also like the idea of supporting organic farmers whose agricultural methods promote sustainability, enhance soil health and preserve our natural environment.

What you may be surprised to learn is that over the past decade, sales of organic products have shown an annual increase of at least 20 percent, making organics the fastest-growing sector of agriculture in the United States. For example, in 2005 retail sales of organic foods and beverages totalled $12.8 billion.

You also may not be aware that all organic foods on supermarket shelves bearing the organic label have to meet USDA certification standards first established in 2002. In Hawai`i, the principal certifier for organic farms is the Hawai`i Organic Farmers Association (HOFA). (more…)

The Senate will not meet again in session until Feb. 28, and in the meantime will hold additional hearings to prepare legislation for the first decking on Feb. 29.

Senators will not be relaxing during the scheduled recesses this week and next. In fact, because of the “first decking” next week, many senators and their staff spent last weekend and Monday’s holiday at the Capitol like any normal session day.

The decking date on Feb.29 is the deadline for all committees to file reports in compliance with the mandatory 48-hour waiting period before a bill’s third reading, passage and crossing over to the House of Representatives. While the original concept of the recesses was to allow the senators to return to their districts and meet with constituents, years ago because of time constraints, committees began to schedule hearings during recesses as well.

Senators still attend to their communities in the evenings and weekends, but the scheduled recesses now provide them with additional time to move their legislation through the committees and toward a floor vote before the end of February.

Because most bills require fund appropriations, the Ways and Means Committee, which includes 12 of Hawai`i’s 25 senators, will hear the most bills of any committee between now and the decking deadline. According to the Legislative Information Systems Office, 581 bills that were referred to Ways and Means moved through their initial committee hearings. The Ways and Means Committee has until the decking deadline to decide which bills to hear and pass for a floor vote. Last year, the committee passed 442 bills.

 
Sen. J. Kalani English introduced Senate Bill 2034, which would fund generators to power Maui homes using energy from ocean waves.

Senate Bill 2034 could send Maui waves straight for generators with enough power for 1,600 homes. The bill, introduced on Jan. 16 by Sen. J. Kalani English (D- East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Kaho`olawe), appropriates $20 million in revenue bonds for the Austrailian-based renewable energy company Oceanlinx to build two wave-powered turbine generators about a half-mile off Pauwela Point on Maui’s north shore.

Generators that look similar to this one would be placed about a half mile from Pauwela Point. Photo courtesy of Oceanlinx.

English, whose district includes Pauwela Point, said he was concerned with the initial idea because he thought the turbines might be intrusive to the coastal view or to the popular surfing area known as Jaws, but soon realized there would be no problem. (more…)

Sen. Mike Gabbard is sponsoring an 11-week competition between senators’ offices to raise a goal of $5,000 and 1,500 pounds of food for Hawai`i Foodbank. Gabbard raised $510 today in just one hour by hosting a salad bar fundraiser in his office.

Senators and their staff paid $5 for the fundraiser plates, which were quickly bought out. At left is Sen. Clayton Hee.

In an effort to avoid tragedies like today’s school shooting in Illinois, state senators adopted Senate Bill 2902 yesterday.

The bill requires the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace at University of Hawai`i-Manoa to expand its staff, research and operations.

“We live in an era that will be remembered for the war in Iraq and violence in our schools and neighborhoods, as in the case of the Virginia Polytechnic and State University killings,” Senate Education Committee Chair Norman Sakamoto said in a report dated Feb. 12. “The legislature continues in its dedication to promoting peace and peace education in Hawai`i through supporting peace education programs.”

This afternoon, a gunman killed five students, wounded 16 others and then killed himself at Northern Illinois University. The incident was the fourth shooting at a U.S. school within one week.

“We are living in unsettled times and it is essential that our students learn how to recognize and address conflict before it leads to tragic consequences,” Matsunaga Institute for Peace’s Interim Director Carole Petersen said today.

Petersen said that the institute’s graduates will go on to be professional mediators or will apply their conflict resolution skills to careers in education, social services, government or business.

Senate Bill 2902 also provides $10,000 for Hawai`i case studies in peacemaking in the 2008-2009 school year and for planning an international conflict resolution conference in the Asia Pacific Region.

Sen. J. Kalani English (D- Hana, East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Kaho`olawe) asked the federal government this week to conduct training for the Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) requirement in more locations.

English, chair of the Senate Transportation and International Affairs Committee, said workers could incur costs up to $1,000 if they have to travel from Moloka`i or Lana`i to obtain TWIC cards. The Department of Homeland Security requires workers to have a card to pick up cargo, but the training needed to obtain one is offered only on O`ahu and Maui.

“I was informed by a flood of communications last month that the company implementing the TWIC program in Hawai`i refuses to set up a TWIC processing facility on Moloka`i or Lana`i, forcing customers … to travel to another island to enroll,” English told Kip Hawley of the Federal Transportation Security Administration.

English requested that the TSA, at the very least, operate the program on Moloka`i and Lana`i on a periodic basis.

Sen. Mike Gabbard (D-Waikele, Village Park, Royal Kunia, Makakilo, Kapolei, Kalaeloa, Honokai Hale, Portions of Waipahu and Ko `Olina) introduced two bills this session that would better-inform Hawai`i’s produce consumers.

Senate Bill 3232 prohibits the sale or distribution of any genetically-engineered whole food intended for human consumption that does not have a label conspicuously affixed identifying it as genetically-engineered. The bill contains definitions for “genetically-engineered crop,” “modern biotechnology” and “genetically-engineered whole food.”

Companion bill no. 3233 requires the Department of Agriculture to notify the public of the location of field tests and the production of genetically-engineered plants.

Nina Wu of Honolulu Star-Bulletin recently wrote about the bills.

“These bills are about consumer choice. … People have a right to know what food they put in their bodies and what is happening on our lands and they should be informed,” Gabbard told Star-Bulletin.