Legislature Overrides Vetoes on Last Days

More than 200 bills were voted on this week as the Hawaii State Legislature wound down on the last 2 days. Adjournment of the State Legislature happened today. Nearly a dozen veto overrides took place in the last 2 days..

The 2007 session will be characterized as a nasty, "do nothing session" which for the State Senate at least, focused mainly on personalities, reducing the powers of the executive branch, and rejecting Governor's nominees on allegations, unionism and anonymous testimony..

Public worker salary hikes drove the session, worthwhile bills such as comprehensive tax relief for all taxpayers have not passed. Governor Linda Lingle has already signed or let more than 45 bills become law. She has also vetoed more than a dozen of them too. The legislature voted on the following bills:.

SB 1004: This bill will allow psychologists to give out prescriptions. Psychiatrists, who have trained in the medical field, oppose this bill and so have I. The bill passed by a 13 to 12 vote in the Senate on Tuesday..

HB 162: This bill will requires the Child Support Enforcement Agency to impose an annual fee where no public assistance had been paid to the custodial parent and if collection for the case exceeds $500. A new tax by any name is still a tax..

HB 1133: This bill will allow for same day voter registration at the time of the election. I continue to oppose this bill because this will open the process up to fraud..

HB 500: The State Budget bill which nears $20 billion for each of the next 2 years passed will fund hundreds of programs as well as many public employee pay raises. A significant part of the $700 million state budget surplus has been spoken for and will go mostly to fund those raises..

HB 19: This bill requires developers to pay a school zone tax or provide land on which a new or expanded public school is built..

HB 1670 which sets up "The Ingenuity Company" opens a new revenue stream for labor unions whereby the collected profits derived from new inventions and innovations to be used for "training or health and safety" purposes..

SB 188: This bill amends the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act by requiring a small business impact statement to be submitted to the Small Business Regulatory Review Board as early as possible in the review process..

SB 1133: The $3 per day vehicle rental surcharge tax sunset date will be extended from August of this year to August of next year. When we rent cars we have to pay this tax..

SB 1026: This bad bill forces people who buy beverages in containers of 68 oz. to pay the 6 cent bottle bill tax..

WHAT ABOUT TAX RELIEF? The Hawaii State Constitution (Art. VII ß6) requires a tax refund or credit to taxpayers after 2 consecutive years of "tax surplus". The 2 bills up for vote will only provide for tax credits to those taxpayers who qualify at certain income levels..

SB 148: This bill will provides for a tax credit based on federal adjustable gross income favoring low-income taxpayers. Taxpayers making over the minimum will not get anything..

SB 1882 provides a food tax credit on GET, and is applicable only to taxpayers at certain income levels. The credit will apply to tax year 2008 and no relief is expected until 2009..

VETOED BILLS OVERRIDDEN: Overridden vetoes of bad bills included several labor bills that are hostile to employers including SB 1642 which requires union permission before management can move an employee. SB 14 which strips the Governor of her power to appoint University of Hawaii Board of Regent members was also overridden. The "National Popular Vote" for presidential elections (SB 1956) bill was also overridden in the Senate but failed to garner enough votes in the House. I opposed all of these bills and supported the Governor by not voting for the overrides.