Superferry may be Scuttled by
EIS Requirement -- Bills Moving Along

The 2007 Hawaii State Legislature is a third over as we head into the "first lateral" deadline. Twenty days have passed; the Senate passed about 20 bills over to the House, with them sending us about 6 bills. To date, Governor Linda Lingle received one bill, SB 638 for her consideration. The bill appropriates funds to the Legislature and supporting agencies for this calendar year was vetoed by the Governor.

The reason for the veto: the budget was beyond the limit set by the constitution. A new bill, SB 25 was then introduced to address the limitation. While I voted "no" on the original budget bill, I voted in the affirmative on SB 25. This bill is up for third reading in the House. It should be on the Governor's desk by next week and may be signed into law as Act 1.

Here are some of the issues and bills generating public response.

Hawaii Superferry: There are two bills that will require Hawaii Superferry Inc. to file an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before they can start operations in July. An EIS is not required. SB 1276 which passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee will change all of that. This bill will require that Superferry do an EIS before operations can start. The requirement is designed to scuttle and possibly end the Superferry before it even starts. HB 702 was also written to thwart the Superferry. Both bills move on to subsequent committees before a floor vote will be taken on them. Opponents of Superferry include many environmentalists, and an alliance of shipping companies as well as the local airlines. I support Superferry as another interisland transport option for the public, business and tourists.

Physician Assisted Suicide appears to be dead this session after the House failed to pass a HB 675 earlier this month. The bill was killed in the Health Committee after a very lengthy public hearing on February 7. Two similar bills (SB 800, SB 1995) in the Senate have yet to be heard. I am not in support of "Death with Dignity".

Scrap Metal Dealers: Several bills have been introduced to implement tighter controls for scrap metal dealers and their customers. The bills are designed to address the issue of aluminum and copper metals theft. Bills heard in CPH were SB 226 (deferred) and SB 1229 (passed). I support legislation to curb copper theft which has already cost the state, private individuals and firms many thousands of dollars.

Organ Donation: I voted in favor of SB 704 which provides a tax deduction to individuals who donate organs. Passed Economic Development & Taxation (EDT) committee moves on to WAM.

Energy Resources Bill Bad: SB 644 which passed out of the EDT committee will require homeowners to install solar energy devices to heat water starting on January 1, 2009. The bill also increases limits for the renewable energy income tax credit for installed systems. I don't like forced mandates and voted against this bill.

Gasoline Tax: There is a bill that will repeal the general excise tax on gasoline. The bad thing about SB 1285 is that it would increase the separate fuel tax by a penny per gallon.

Car Rental Surcharge: SB 305 will make permanent the car rental vehicle tax of $3. The tax was to sunset this year, but this bill will mandate that it stay on forever. While this tax is aimed at tourists, legislators have forgotten that residents also rent cars when they go off-island.

Tax Deduction for Fire Sprinkler Retrofit: The Honolulu Fire Department spoke in favor of SB 1962 as it gives owners of multi-family dwellings an incentive to retrofit their buildings with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Many condo apartment owners oppose retrofit due to the tremendous cost. The tax deduction mentioned in SB 1962 only goes up to $5,000, which is only a small percentage of total cost per individual unit of each dwelling.

Repeal of the Smoking Ban in Adult Entertainment Facilities: SB 1970 offered the option for private, adult business establishments to be exempt from the sweeping "no smoking" law that went into effect in November 2006. Smokers and many bar owners staged a rally and march on February 9 with many showing up for the Senate Health Committee to testify in favor of SB 1970. The Health Committee deferred the bill. I introduced a similar bill this year.

Hawaiian Language superseding English? This will happen if SB 1052 becomes law. This bill mandates that all state letterheads and documents include both Hawaiian and English, with the Hawaiian placed on top of the English translation. It also creates a new Hawaiian language task force. Will increase cost for producing state documents.

Lastly we have been getting many emails opposing several bills that aim to restrict muffler noise and increase penalties on motorcycles, scooters and other vehicles. The biker community is up in arms about these bills: HB 1447, HB 1544, HB 1650, HB 443, HB 1585, SB 1238, SB 1684 and SB 1682.

The latest information on all legislation can be found at the Hawaii State Legislature website: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov