Bills Transmitted to House
State senators voted yesterday to pass 308 bills to the House of Representatives. A normal Senate session usually lasts about 30 minutes, but yesterday’s session lasted about five hours because of debate on approximately 140 bills, which were all approved by a majority.
Bills of interest that passed during yesterday’s session included:
• Senate Bill 2081, which enacts certain procedures for pardons and requires the governor to give a minimum of 30 days public notice for intended pardons. Twenty one votes were for the bill, seven with reservations, and four votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2174, which allows two or more members of a board to discuss official board business to enable them to perform their duties. Twenty one votes were for the bill, two with reservations, and three votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2204, which clarifies the state’s campaign spending law to say there shall be no limit on contributions or expenditures to the corporation or company noncandidate committee and makes other campaign spending-related clarifications. Eighteen votes were for the bill, eight with reservations, and seven votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2555, which creates a state Department of Planning and Sustainability by combining the Office of Planning, Commission on Water Resource Management, Energy Resources Coordinator responsibilities, Land Use Commission, Office of Environmental Quality Control and the Hawai`i Community Development Authority. Twenty two votes were for the bill and two votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2630, which clarifies reporting requirements of the public utilities commission to more accurately reflect the information reported by oil producers, refiners, marketers, oil transporters, oil storers and oil retailers. Twenty two votes were for the bill and two votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2733, which resolves claims relating income from the lands of the public land trust for use by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs between 11/7/1978 and 7/1/2008 and fixes the minimum amount of income and proceeds from the lands to be paid to OHA at $15,100,000 for each fiscal year. Twenty three votes were for the bill and one vote was opposed.
• Senate Bill 2423, which directs the governor or the governor’s designee to acquire lands commonly known as Turtle Bay Hotel and Resort located in Kahuku, O`ahu. Twenty three votes were for the bill, eight with reservations, and two votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 2842, which phases out and bans the use of lighting products with lead and high mercury content, establishes a statewide lighting efficiency standard and directs the department of health to develop a statewide recycling program for mercury-containing compact fluorescent bulbs. Twenty three votes were for the bill, one with reservations, and two votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 3202, which proposes an amendment to the Hawai`i constitution to extend the mandatory retirement age for state justices and judges from 70 to 80. Nineteen votes were for the bill, six with reservations, and six votes were opposed.
• Senate Bill 3227, which expands the authority of the Aloha Tower development corporation to assist in the development of the statewide harbors modernization plan and authorizes the Department of Transportation to issue revenue bonds to finance improvements. Twenty four votes were for the bill, 11 with reservations, and one vote was opposed.