Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23, March 9, 1999
Legislative Session Crossover
:Crossover means sending bills from one house to the other. The deadline for a bill to pass the originating house was March 7th. The budget crossover deadline is today, March 9th.
HB 1879 - Clean Elections Pilot Program.
Establishes a pilot program for the city and county of Honolulu council elections of 2002 providing for public funding for candidates who voluntarily abide by specified contribution and expenditure limits.
HB 2245 - Hawaii Tourism Authority EIS Exemption
Partially exempts the Hawaii tourism authority from the environmental impact statement law. This bill was enacted in response to the litigation filed by the Sierra Club which challenged HTA marketing, research, and planning efforts that could increase tourism and might have some indirect impact on the environment.
HB 2739 - Correctional Facilities
Authorizes the Governor to negotiate for the development of a private correctional facility in Hilo to accommodate 1700 medium and minimum security prisoners.
HB 2741 - Privately Operated Correctional Facilities
Allows the governor to contract for private sector operation of correctional facilities. Establishes criteria necessary for an acceptable contract for privatized operation of a correctional facility.
HB 2959 - Hawaii Television and Film Development
Creates the Hawaii television and film development board, the Hawaii television and film development special fund, and the Hawaii television and film development loan guarantee program. Appropriates funds. This is the "Baywatch Bailout" bill. I voted against this bill.
HB 1157 - Medical Use of Marijuana
Allows for the acquisition, possession, cultivation, distribution, transportation, administration, and use of marijuana for medical purposes. I voted against this bill.
HB 2984 - Minimum Wage
Raises the minimum wage to $5.75 and the tip credit to twenty-two cents on Jan. 1, 2003.
HB 2518 - Civil Service Reform
This is a watered-down version of the bill submitted by the Governor, but may do some good. The Republican Caucus submitted a floor amendment to this bill that would have substituted the Governor's original bill for the amendment version. This amendment was defeated.
HB 1875 - Educational Accountability
Mandates that DOE implement the educational accountability system for Hawaii's public schools that focuses on student learning of the statewide standards and includes student accountability; school or collective professional accountability of rewards, assistance, and sanctions; individual professional accountability; and public accounting for other significant partners to the education process.
HB 1947 - Shark Finning
Requires sharks to be landed whole. I voted against this bill because it does not go far enough - it does not require using more than just the fins of a shark.
HB 2391 - Parent Community Network Center
Appropriates funds to evenly implement the parent-community networking center program by funding a complete center for each school, providing a coordinator for each departmental school district, and providing a parent facilitator for each school.
Prison at Barbers Point?
:On February 8th, myself and Representative Nestor Garcia, Chair of the House Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee, met with various community groups from the surrounding areas regarding some recent suggestions that a new correctional facility be located at "Barbers Point." As can be expected, most people are not enthused about a prison in their community. Representative Garcia was open to community input and wanted to avoid some of the recent disputes regarding where to locate a new a prison. He is not interested in cramming a prison down the throat of any neighborhood.
My position, and his, is that we should spend taxpayer dollars to build prisons in Hawaii, not on the mainland. The crucial issue is where to locate them and working with the community concerned. According to Representative Garcia, the real need is for minimum security drug treatment facilities where inmates can get the help they need to get off drugs before they become career criminals.
I do not think Ewa, Kapolei, or Kalaeloa (Barbers Point) are realistic possible locations for a correctional facility or minimum-security treatment facility. HB 2739, discussed above, authorizes construction of a prison on the Big Island.
Campbell High School Safety
:The second meeting on safety at Campbell was held February 29th. This is in response to the February 2 incident, and various plans are underway to alleviate the situation.
Voice of the Majority
:Each Saturday morning at 7 a.m. I host a radio show on KWAI called "The Voice of the Majority." Listen to 1080 on the am dial and feel free to call 524-1080 and talk to me on the air.