Action Taken on Many Bills in Final Legislative Days

More than 200 bills are being voted on this week as the Hawaii State Legislature winds down on its last 2 days. The anticipated and scheduled adjournment of the State Legislature is still set for this Thursday, May 3rd, despite many bills not being voted upon until that day. Any one of those bills could be amended on the floor, which would probably force the legislature into an extension because of the 48-hour notice requirement.

The 2007 session can 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 (see Peter Young story on other side).

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. What's left for the legislature to vote on are the following:

SB 1004: This bill would allow psychologists to give out prescriptions. Psychiatrists, who have trained in the medical field, oppose this bill and so have I.

HB 1130: This bill amends definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" for use of internet services, and revises campaign spending reporting deadlines. A separate bill to mandate public funded elections died in conference committee this year.

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.

HB 791: This bill will create an exemption for boaters and owners of small gasoline engined tools from the 10% ethanol fuel requirement. It was recently revealed that ethanol causes severe problems to boat engines and small tools.

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". Two bills 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.