Senate Majority Caucus

Demonstrators gathered at the Capitol Friday to rally for Aloha Airlines. Many stood along Beretania Street holding signs that asked passing cars to honk in support.

The carrier, which has serviced Hawai`i for over 60 years, declared bankruptcy on March 20. Jonathan Aoki (left) and Claire Sugawa were among the children participating in the rally. Aoki’s mother, Carolyn, is an Aloha employee.

Officials delivered speeches at the rally pledging their best efforts to help the airline stay in business. Sen. Rosalyn Baker, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, told the crowd that she flies Aloha to and from her district on Maui every week. Though Aloha announced it will halt all of its passenger operations effective today, the Senate is still considering two bills that would help the carrier. HB2860 exempts airlines from paying taxes on fuel sold from a foreign-trade zone for interisland air transportation. The bill passed a vote by the entire Senate this morning and legislators from the House and Senate will now meet in a conference committee to smooth out its details. HB509 would provide state loan guarantees for Hawai`i’s air carriers, and the Ways and Means Committee has scheduled decision making on HB509 for tomorrow.

Sen. Clarence Nishihara and Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland spoke with the rally’s organizer, pilot Randall Cummings, after the event Friday. “Hang in there,” Nishihara told the crowd in his speech. “…hopefully for another 60 years.”

 
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.

“It is the Task Force’s hope that this approach will guide all of us as we collectively determine the preferred long-term future of our state,” Sen. Russell Kokubun said.

Hawai`i has a new map for its future. This afternoon, state officials and legislators launched the Hawai`i 2050 Sustainability Plan, which calls each individual to act in the best interest of the state’s economy, environment, social well-being and culture.

“The informed and responsible person can determine what proucts and services are purchased, what kind of energy is used, how much water is consumed and how the environment is managed,” the plan says.

Charts and tables in the plan are based on more than 10,500 resident responses and give a detailed analysis of Hawai`i’s current conditions. 

The plan names these benchmarks to be completed by 2020:

1. Increase affordable housing opportunities for households up to 140 percent of median income
2. Strengthen public education
3. Reduce reliance on fossil fuels
4. Increase recycling, reuse and waste reduction strategies
5. Develop a more diverse and resilient economy
6. Create a sustainability ethic
7. Increase production and consumption of local foods and products, particulary agriculture
8. Provide access to long-term care and elderly housing
9. Preserve and perpetuate the Kanaka Maoli and island cultrual values

Senate Bill 2833 also passed review by the Senate’s Commerce, Consumer Protection and Affordable Housing Committee this morning. The bill names a number of issues that the Sustainability Plan will deal with, including Hawai`i’s deterioration of public infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, a threatened island ecosystem and vulnerability in a global energy market. The goal of the bill is to establish a council that will implement and evaluate the progress of the 2050 plan.

Sen. Russell Kokubun (D- Waiakea Uka, Kalapana, Volcano, Kahuku) introduced SB2833, which is part of the Senate Majority bill package. Kokubun also chairs the Sustainability Task Force, which includes Sens. Gabbard, Menor, Tokuda and formerly included Sens. Chun Oakland, Hooser and Hemmings.

Maxamina Catian helps a child in the Keiki Steps early education demonstration to build with blocks.

Senators stressed the need for early childhood education this morning with visits to the annual Champions for Children event and a press conference discussing bills related to children and education. Organizations like Child & Family Service, YMCA and Head Start hosted educational booths at the Capitol, and the Keiki Steps program provided an example of a play-and-learn preschool group.

Among the bills introduced this session is Senate Bill 2878, which establishes a similar Keiki First Steps Program to educate children from ages 0 to 5. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D- Kalihi, Moanalua Gardens, Salt Lake, Aliamanu, Foster Village, Hickam, Pearl Harbor, Pearl Ridge,`Aiea), says that early learning systems will produce long-term benefits for children that include school success, reduced crime, reduced dropout rates and increased workforce productivity.

Sen. Will Espero visits with a representative from the PATCH child care agency at the Champions for Children event.

According to the bill, Hawai`i’s children need support and guidance starting at birth to reach their full potential as citizens. A comprehensive early learning system provides quality opportunities for young children. (more…)

by Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland and Rep. Dennis Arakaki, co-convenors of the Hawaii State Legislature’s Keiki Caucus

One of the key responsibilities of Hawaii’s lawmakers is caring for the children of our island home, ensuring that they grow up in the kind of environment that will allow them to take their place as leaders of the futrue. That responsibilitiy extends to a number of areas, including education, child welfare, youth development, and health care. The 1994 state legislature and Governor John Waihee, officially established the Keiki Caucus in recognition of our responsibility toward generations to come.

Caucus members include Hawaii State Senators and Representatives and a community resource group of children and youth advocates and providers, who have been critical each year in assisting the Caucus with identifying priority areas for children and youth in Hawaii. The Keiki Caucus’s vision is that all Hawaii’s children should be healthy, safe, and ready to learn and succeed. Toward that goal, this year’s Keiki Caucus Package of 42 bills addresses such issues as substance abuse, education, youth development, child welfare, child safety, childcare, health, and self-sufficiency. Between May and December of 2004, the Keiki Caucus Resource Group reviewed a variety of measures, assigniing priorities to those most urgently needed.

Substance abuse continues to be a major problem with Hawaii’s youth. One bill proposes to restore full funding for the Healthy Hawaii Initiative for fiscal year 2004-2005 from the Tobacco Settlement Fund. It further authorizes the appropriation of money for Healthy Start Hawaii from general funds. Another bill appropriates funds for high schools, middle/intermediate schools, and elementary schools for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. Another bill gives the Department of Health funding to ensure that parents with children under the age of nineteen are allowed the option of taking part in residential substance abuse treatment programs. Another bill provides for parity of insurance payments for substance abuse and mental health benefits — to treat them the same as physical conditions.

Education is a priority issue this legislative session, and a number of Keiki Caucus measures are aimed at helping young people make the most of educational opportunities. One measure provides for additional career counselors at public high schools. Another appropriates funds for full-time student activity coordinators. Yet another bill appropriates $1.8 million for the Department of Education to purchase new textbooks and provide a sufficient number of textbooks for every student enrolled in public schools.

The Keiki Caucus worked to provide fun, meaningful and interesting opportunities for children and youth to explore their potential; pursue career, educational, cultural, and recreational interests, and, at the same time, address the problem of young people getting into trouble during non-school hours. Funds are being requested for after-school, before school, weekend, and holiday programs that offer healthy alternatives to gangs and drugs. Child safety is addressed through a package of bills aimed at chld welfare and the problem of abuse and neglect within families. Citizens will be allowed to check off a space on their income tax forms that delivers funds to the Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund, a domestic violence prevention special fund, and spouse and chld abuse special accounts. Another requires members of the clergy to report cases of child abuse to the police or the Department of Human Services.

Adolescent health is a growing concern, and childhood obesity is on the rise. One of the bills in the Keiki Caucus Package proposes to establish a school nutrition advisory council and establish nutrition standards fo food and beverages sold in schools. Another bill appropriates funds to provide full-time physical education positions in the Department of Education to imporve physical education programs and promote healthier living. Also relating to the health of Hawaii’s young people is a bill that appropriates $200,000 to the department of Health for a 24-hour Hawaii poison hotline.

A measure to promote economic self-sufficiency for youth and their families provides for an annual adjustment to the state minimum wage based upon federal cost of living allowance increases.

This is the thime to understand that the issues that affect young people affect us all. These issues are central to our quality of life. We owe the children of Hawaii, and ourselves, our very best effort.