Senate Majority Caucus

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. 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.

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…)

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…)

(Left to right) Sen. Carol Fukunaga, Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and Sen. Rosalyn Baker toured the UH campus this month.

Sen. Shan Tsutsui recently organized a group of senators to visit the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and see firsthand the campus’ much-needed improvements. Many UH-related initiatives were introduced this session, and Sen. Tsutsui recognizes with an essay in the Honolulu Advertiser that in order to improve conditions, a balance must be maintained between the UH Board of Regents and the legislature.

Senators got a firsthand look at the repairs needed for UH’s athletic facilities.

By Honolulu Advertiser Writer Sean Hao 

State officials violated procurement law with the recent selection of a manager for an $8.7 million hydrogen technology investment fund, according to the state Procurement Office.

The contract was awarded to H2 Energy LLC in early August even though it was the lowest-ranked choice of an evaluation committee that reviewed three qualifying proposals. Procurement office administrator Aaron Fujioka, speaking at a four-hour state Senate committee hearing on the matter yesterday, said the decision to go with H2 Energy was not in compliance with state procurement law.  Continue Reading.

This article was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Wednesday, September 5, 2007.

By Honolulu Advertiser Writer Sean Hao

The state’s recent selection of a manager for an $8.7 million hydrogen technology investment fund is being challenged by a losing bidder. Continue Reading

This article appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser on September 3, 2007.

By Hawaii State Senator Donna Kim

The recent commentary by Ken Harding (”Chronically broken elevators inexcusable,” May 24, 2007) did not tell the whole story, and left an (more…)