Senate Majority Caucus

by Senator Will Espero
District 20

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is underway.  Millions of viewers around the world, including those in Hawaii, are experiencing the thrill of competition among elite athletes from around the globe.  Small state that we are, both in size and population, Hawaii has itself produced its share of champions, a fact that should inspire our young people and their parents and coaches.

Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s first offering for 2010 is coincidentally, the true story of Olympic swimming champions from Puunene, Maui.  On the opening night for “The Three Year Swim Club,” Hawaii Olympian Bill Smith proudly showed his two gold medals to the audience.  More than 150 original “Swimming Club” members, their families and friends attended the performance.  Albeit, swimming is a summer Olympic, not a winter one, but the play reminds us of the incredible achievements that can happen with hard work, encouragement, a spirit of belonging, and focus on a goal.

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

The number of children in foster care has nearly doubled in the last 20 years.  There is a growing recognition that many of these children can remain safely at home and avoid the trauma of separation from their home and community, if given sufficient intervention and support.  Most children who are in foster care are there because of abuse or neglect and are removed from their families to ensure their own safety and well-being. 

Casey Family Programs has a goal of safely decreasing by 50% by 2020 the almost half a million children in foster care in the U.S.  They sponsored the National Governors Association Policy Academy and selected six states to participate:  Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.  The National Academy helps states to devise strategies to improve long-term outcomes for vulnerable children, thereby reducing the number of children in foster care, shortening the length of stay, and reducing returns to foster care. 

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

Hawaii’s volcanoes put on a fantastic show for nature lovers, but its lava also creates a rich soil that gives locally grown food their distinctly delicious flavors.  Agriculture in Hawaii suffers from memories of plantation days gone by.  No longer simply sugar and pineapple, our farmers deserve a fresh start of support.  There are several reasons why fostering our farms makes good sense.  The biggest is it helps the economy.  The more we can produce our own food, the less money we need to export outside our cash circle, which helps to keep a positive state balance sheet overall.  The meals we eat will be fresher, more nutritious, and tastier when we buy and eat locally grown food.  Expanding our farmer’s marketplace locally and elsewhere means more jobs will be created, and diversify and strengthen our economic base. 

Fostering this industry means making sure that we expend the energy to promote it, and make sure the requisite infrastructure and industrial side supply chain are in place.  It will take a coordinated effort between the private and public sectors. 

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

Legislator-in-Residence. I am enjoying my new role as Legislator-in-Residence at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The program was established in 2002 to provide opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between policymakers and the academic community. It allows lawmakers to explore significant issues facing the community and for faculty and students to learn how these issues can be transformed into policy. My goals are to create a West Oahu historical corridor: Pearl Harbor, Ewa Field, Honouliuli Internment Camp, Ewa Villages, and Fort Barrette. I also hope to address re-entry programs and inmate rehabilitation.

Hale O Ulu. Child and Family Services operates Hale O Ulu, a private, secondary alternative school for at-risk youth on Fort Weaver Road. These students are recommended from the state public school system. Students receive academic instruction, counseling, and family life education. This fall I am volunteering at Hale O Ulu, instructing students on current events, critical thinking, and government.

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

The ability of Oahu’s ‘Olelo Community Television to effectively meet community access needs was the subject of a Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) hearing on September 15, 2009 at McKinley High School. ‘Olelo is the recipient of “Public, Education and Governmental (PEG)” access fees collected by Oceanic Time Warner Cable. The DCCA expects to issue a decision by October 23, 2009.

Oceanic Time Warner is currently negotiating a new agreement with the DCCA for a franchise that will allow it to continue to offer cable services on Oahu for the next ten or more years, beginning January 1, 2010. At stake is how ‘Olelo is funded and supported. The public demand for community television on Oahu is at an all-time high. In its 20 years, ‘Olelo has broadcast a total of more than more than 50,000 hours of original local programming. This year ‘Olelo will air more than 6,300 hours of programming on six channels.

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

You’ve probably heard or seen of the guns, rifles, or knives that have been brought by protestors who appear at the town hall meetings that President Obama and members of Congress are holding on the debate over health care reform. Heated discussion is one thing, but guns at public meetings or events may cross the line, in my opinion. To paraphrase Hardball host Chris Matthews, to bring guns to a public meeting is a statement that it is your view that government is the enemy.

Why do we need to do something about health care? One in 14 women and girls have no health insurance at all and another 1 in 21 had to buy insurance on their own through individual plans. Three-fourths of people pushed into bankruptcy by medical problems had insurance but their policies denied paying for services needed – just the opposite of what you’d expect when you pay those premiums. Statistically, you probably know someone in either category. That’s just the start. The denial of care patients need is linked to unsettling reports that the average salary of CEOs of major health care companies is $14 million a year.

Statistics like these are just some of what lawmakers both locally and at the national level have heard from many people who needed help when their insurance coverage was cancelled or required treatment was denied. While Hawaii in 1974 resolved the issue with the Prepaid Health Care Act, Congress is now addressing the enormous problem of shrinking access to medical care and spiking insurance premiums. The $2 trillion a year health care industry represents 16% of our GDP, and comes out to over $7000 per citizen.

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

“On the day of 9/11, the only people running UPSTAIRS in the burning towers to rescue people, were from the government.” Governor Ed Rendell

The government does many things very well, contrary to long-standing neoconservative efforts to have people think otherwise. As Hardball host Chris Matthews reminded us, when the issue of fluoridating water to prevent cavities was debated, those who were against it argued vehemently that fluoride was a chemical used for mind control. As silly as that was, that irrationality has resurfaced in the vocal citizens whose shouting and threats of violence at town hall meetings across the country are preventing rational discussion of the critical issue of access to affordable care.

What should be a civil, intelligent debate on how we can resolve the rocketing costs and improving access to needed medical care, has been usurped by misrepresentation and distortion from corporations with a great deal to lose. MSNBC recently reported statistics that explain why these corporations do not want reform. Under the “free market” approach of the Bush administration, health industry profits rose from $2 billion in 2000 to more than $12 billion in 2007. There was a 24% increase in uninsured persons as tens of thousands saw their policies canceled, from 35 million to more than 46 million. Premiums escalated significantly and covered persons saw their benefits decline. Health company CEOs earned an average $11 million each. One CEO took home over $100,000 an hour, and each of the 9 bedrooms in his three mansions cost about $87,000. (This same “free market/no government regulation” approach under the previous administration, ironically, resulted in the largest government intervention in history: the $700 billion bailout of our financial institutions.)

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by Senator Will Espero
District 20

Fourteen thousand Americans lose their insurance coverage every day and the next could be you. Americans spend $5000-$6000 more on health care each year than do citizens in countries that have a national health service. Fifteen per cent of Americans, 46 million, have no coverage at all. Tens of thousands of persons have had their coverage canceled – many denials resulting in death — because insurance companies search medical records to find reasons to cancel policies when patients actually need treatment. Under the current system, choice is curbed and care is restricted: treatment must be by a “participating provider,” a “covered benefit,” “medically necessary” as determined by the utilization review department, and under a “cap.”

The model adopted by Congress will be an American plan, ensuring freedom of choice. It will be easier to buy and pay for insurance and get the care you need. Under the plans in Congress, insurance companies will no longer be able to cancel your insurance in case of a crisis at a time when you are most vulnerable and most frightened. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny eligibility for pre-existing conditions or place an arbitrary cap on the care you need in a given year or over a lifetime. Finally routine, preventive care will be provided because it’s the most affordable way to keep people healthy. It will not be a government takeover. Individual choice will be retained. If you like your plan, you can keep it; if you like your doctor, you can keep him or her. Government will not meddle in your health care but neither will the insurance company bureaucrats who profit by denying you care and canceling your policy when you need it after you have paid thousands when you didn’t need it.

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