Last week the Senate passed its version of the state budget. Sen. Shan Tsutsui (Wailuku, Waihe`e, Kahului, Pa`ia) has detailed the proposed funding for Maui County in a press release that includes comments from the other two Maui County senators, Rosalyn Baker (South and West Maui) and J. Kalani English (East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i).
Two senators will hold a public meeting on Maui this week to discuss their priorities for the 2008 legislative session. Residents are encouraged to join Sen. J. Kalani English (Hana, East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Kaho`olawe) and Sen. Shan Tsutsui (Wailuku, Waihe`e, Kahului, Pa`ia) at Pa`ia School on Thursday, March 13 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Read the full press release from the office of Sen. Tsutsui.
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. 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.
By Sen. Will Espero
Attitudes that people are homeless because they lack personal responsibility hinder resolving the problem. But is this attitude accurate? Who are the homeless?
Former Military
Veterans who have risked their lives overseas in defense of our country and its allies make up 26 percent of those who sleep on the streets at night, though veterans are only 11 percent of our population. The trauma of being in the midst of intense danger day in and day out becomes too much to bear. The mental and emotional pain of war and severe sleep deprivation (another effect of war) take away veterans’ ability to function normally. These medical problems prevent veterans from being able to hold a steady job and function well on a regular basis.
The early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan causes some to worry that intense, prolonged and repeated deployments make newer veterans vulnerable to homelessness. Vietnam veterans, in contrast, did not unravel to the point of homelessness until about 10 years after returning home. Vietnam veterans faced social upheaval, job losses caused by manufacturing plants closing around the country and the memories of the horrors of the war. Lack of social and economic support and inadequate or unavailable mental health treatment all combined to create levels of stress that our military couldn’t cope with anymore. (more…)
State senators who represent Maui have introduced a bill package this session that incorporates the recommendations of the Maui Health Care Initiative Task Force, which was established by Act 219 and enacted in the 2007 session.
The Task Force was created to address problems brought to attention in 2004 with a Hawai`i Health Information Corporation study, “Maui Bed Needs Study, 2005–2025.” The study detailed the need for additional long term care and acute care beds. The bill package also addresses the community’s expressed desire for additional medical services on Maui and a greater say in the health planning process. (more…)
Sen. Hooser, Sen. English and Sen. Tsutsui sign Senate Bill 3213.
Last night at 5:10 p.m., Majority Caucus Leader and Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair Shan Tsutsui (4 - Wailuku, Waihe`e, Kahului, Pa`ia, Lower Pa`ia), filed a mass transit accountability bill that was co-introduced by Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser (7 - Kaua`i, Ni`ihau), Transportation and International Affairs Committee Chair J. Kalani English (6 - Hana, East and Upcountry Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i and Kaho`olawe) and Commerce, Consumer Protection and Affordable Housing Chair Russell Kokubun (2 - Waiakea Uka, Kalapana, Volcano, Kahuku). The bill was co-sponsored by Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.
Senate Bill 3213 requires the city and county of Honolulu to make a decision by June 30, 2008, on the technology of the fixed guideway system for the locally preferred alternative for a mass transit project, or the surcharge to fund the project shall be suspended effective July 1, 2008, for that county; requires the county by December 31, 2008, to award any related contracts for the technology of the fixed guideway system for the locally preferred alternative for a mass transit project, or return any unexpended moneys to the State for deposit into the state highway fund; authorizes expenditures from the fund, as deemed appropriate by the legislature, for transportation projects in the county for which the surcharge was collected.
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HONOLULU – Senator J. Kalani English, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, today called on the State Department of Transportation to include Hana Harbor in the State Harbors Modernization Plan. Governor Linda Lingle announced the plan in a news conference today, which Senator English attended.
By Hawaii State Senator J. Kalani English
Now that Maui Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza has lifted his earlier injunction preventing Hawai‘i Superferry from sailing into Kahului harbor, removing the final legal impediment to the ferry’s operation, some may question whether the vocal opposition to the ferry served any meaningful purpose. After all, there had long been a discussion in the community over whether the legislature would go into Special Session to allow the Superferry to operate while an environmental review is conducted. The bill’s passage by a vote of 20-5 in the Senate and 39-11 in the House of Representatives was almost anticlimactic. (more…)
Senator J. Kalani English, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and International Affairs, continued his push for easing Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels in a commentary to the Honolulu Star Bulletin. With rising energy prices and increased global competition for the world’s dwindling oil supply, legislators have made reforming Hawaii’s Energy policy a strong priority this session.
Click here for the full article from the 03-10-06 Honolulu Star Bulletin.
Senator J. Kalani English, Chair of the Senate Energy, Environment and International Affairs Committee, announced his plans for vigorously exploring alternative energy options to help ease Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels. Proposals range from fixing the renewable portfolio standard, to supporting net energy metering, to providing resources and incentives for research and development of alternative energy options.
