Kaho`olawe Island Reserve Commission Appropriation Bill (SB 2582) Update (2/17/16)

SB 2582: Appropriates funds to the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission for restoration and preservation projects. Requires submission of a financial self-sufficiency and sustainability plan to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the 2017 Regular Session.

It passed a joint committee hearing with HWN and WLA this afternoon, and will be moving on to WAM. It was passed unamended.

Photo: Sen. Maile Shimabukuro, Aulani Herrod, Master “G” Boise “B” (UH Intern), Flame Porter, Mike Naho’opi’i (KIRC)

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2582&year=2016

Update 2/17/16: Senator Shimabukuro’s 2016 Legislative Priorities

Aloha!

Listed below are some of the legislation I have either introduced or support. More items will be added to this list as the legislative session progresses. I will also continue to support Capital Improvement Project (CIP) requests for schools, our health center, roads and other areas.

TRANSPORTATION
Contraflow lane during afternoon rush hour from Piliokahi Ave. to Helelua St.

Extend Waianae Coast Emergency Access Road (WCEAR), from Helelua Street to Piliokahi Avenue.

Study regarding how best to utilize $233m in potential federal funding to widen Farrington Hwy from Kalaeloa to Hakimo Road.

EDUCATION
SB2590 / HB2569 – Air Conditioning for DOE schools, including Waianae Coast schools.

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Project to establish Na Kama Kai Waianae Ocean Recreation/Education Center.

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Hawaii Arts Alliance – Turnaround Arts Initiative. Hawaii Arts Alliance was selected to administer Turnaround Arts at three Oahu schools, 2 of which are on the Waianae Coast (Waianae Elementary and Kamaile Academy).

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Literacy Project & Bookmobile (Waianae)

SB2230 – Adds donations to private schools to the list of acceptable uses for campaign funds.

JUDICIARY
SB2165 – Automatic Voter Registration: Driver’s License; Identification Card; Opt-out. Requires that any person who is eligible to vote and applies for a new or renewed motor vehicle driver’s license, provisional license, instruction permit, or identification card shall be automatically registered to vote if that person is not already registered to vote; provided that the applicant did not affirmatively opt-out of automatic voter registration on the application form.

SB2315 / HB2585 – Exempts mothers who breastfeed or express breast milk from jury duty; provided that this exemption shall end when a mother is no longer breastfeeding or expressing breast milk.

SB2748 / HB2201 – Prohibits deferred acceptance of a guilty or no contest plea where the defendant has been charged with committing an offense against a family or household member.

SB3053 – Statute of Limitations; Civil Actions; Sexual Abuse of a Minor – Extends the period during which a victim of child sexual abuse may bring an otherwise time-barred civil action against the victim’s abuser or an entity with a duty of care.

HEALTH
Grant-in-Aid submitted by the Waianae Economic Development Council for a certified kitchen and community development capacity building.

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Dental Services Expansion.

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Life Foundation Kua‘ana Project – public education on AIDS and a wide array of services for transgender people throughout the islands.

SB2326 – Establishes licensure requirements for the practice of midwifery. Requires the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to adopt rules regulating the practice of midwifery.

SB2342 / HB1815 – Repeals the requirement that the director of labor and industrial relations issue guidelines on frequency of treatment and reasonable utilization of health care and services, and adopt updated medical fee schedules, pertaining to workers’ compensation.

HOUSING
Grant-in-Aid applicant: Corvette Center Ministries dba Zion Ipuka. Goal is to open a transitional center in Waianae and provide the homeless with a variety of services in order to serve as a bridge for them to transition back into the community.

SB2343 – Prohibits any county and the Hawaii public housing authority from limiting the number of tenants in the section 8 housing choice voucher program that may occupy a single tax map key property, regardless of the number of units comprising the TMK. Clarifies that in a TMK comprised of 3 units each unit may have one section 8 tenant.

SB3054 – Requires counties to include specific regulations for alternative housing in their building codes, and ordinances allowing alternative housing parks to be established.

HUMAN SERVICES
Grant-in-Aid applicant: Waianae Coast Community Foundation

Grant-in-Aid applicant: Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. Civil legal services for low-income residents throughout the state of Hawaii.

SB2344 / HB1816 – Requires the department of human services to disregard subsidies received directly by an applicant or recipient or payments made on behalf of or directly to an applicant or recipient of public assistance from the section 8 housing voucher program of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for purposes of qualifying for the supplemental nutrition assistance program.

CONSUMER PROTECTION AND COMMERCE
SB2745 / HB2203 – Requires financial institutions and mortgage servicers to provide written notice to borrowers regarding the status of their insurance coverage; obtain force-placed insurance subject to certain conditions; and terminate and refund any moneys to the borrower upon receipt of the confirmation of a borrower’s existing insurance coverage.

SB2345 / HB1817 – Permits owners in a planned community association or condominium to submit a payment plan within thirty days after receiving notice from an association regarding any delinquent assessments and provides owners with time to cure delinquent assessments. Permits a right to judicially foreclose a lien against any unit or apartment that arises solely from delinquent assessments, including fines, penalties, legal fees, or late fees, to be removed or amended from governing documents by a vote of at least sixty-seven per cent of owners.

SB3051 / HB1989 – Amends certain provisions relating to unfair or deceptive acts in the business of insurance. Repeals certain provisions relating to insurance contracts.

SB3052 – Requires all liability insurance policies to specify that when an examination of an injured party is requested by the insurance company, the selection of the examining doctor is made by mutual agreement. Authorizes the insurance commissioner or circuit court to select an independent medical examiner in the event a mutual agreement is not reached.

WATER AND LAND
SB2161 / HB2179 – Appropriates funds for the administration and operation of the aha moku advisory committee and for community outreach.

SB2163 / HB1933 – Land Use Violations: Allow for service of process of land use violation notices via posting on a searchable government website if reasonable attempts to serve by mail and in person are unsuccessful.

SB2993 / HB2714 – Appropriates funds for a basalt rebar market study.

SB2999 / HB2558 – Requires state agencies to participate in a carbon offset program to offset carbon emissions caused by their employees’ air travel. Requires DLNR to establish and administer a carbon offset program.

AGRICULTURE
SB2746 / HB2718 – Establishes and appropriates funds for the Korean natural farming pilot program to combat various agricultural pests in Hawaii.

SB2946 – Authorizes indigenous Hawaiian architecture on agricultural lands to be used for farm worker housing.

PUBLIC SAFETY
SB2164 – Extends criminal liability for certain acts of cruelty to dog owners who fail to report transfers of ownership of the dog. Extends criminal liability for certain acts of animal cruelty to the most recent registered owner and person who most recently registered microchip information. Requires person holding a dog license to provide notification if the ownership of the dog is transferred.

SB3050 / HB2671 – Requires chiefs of police and agencies of State and county government that have the power of arrest to report crime incident reports to the Attorney General. Counties shall be fined for noncompliance by county police departments.

HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS
SB3029 / HB1932 – Ensures the legislature fulfills its responsibility under article XII, section 1, of the state constitution by appropriating sufficient general funds for the administration and operating expenses of the department of Hawaiian home lands for fiscal year 2016-2017.

Resolution to designate the kalo leaf as the official state dish and to establish kalo leaf day/month.

SB2162 / HB2180 – Appropriates funds to establish long-term Hawaiian language resources and capacity building to train experts in the Hawaiian language field.

SB3059 – Allows any state or county agency to designate public and private lands under certain conditions for the construction of indigenous architecture.

LABOR
SB2215 / HB2161 – Appropriates funds for the hiring of six hearing officer positions and support staff within the department of labor and industrial relations’ disability compensation division and to provide the officers and staff with legal and medical training.

SB2346 / HB2125 – Expands the types of investment personnel that may be appointed by the ERS. Requires ERS to make direct payments to a spouse of a system member or retirant pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order.

SB2747 / HB2247 – Requires the State and counties to pay the approved travel costs of their officers and employees directly to vendors or by cash advance to the officer or employee, unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement.

SB2847 / HB2318 – Authorizes and requires the Employees’ Retirement System to make direct payment to a spouse or former spouse of a system member or retirant of all or a portion of the member’s or retirant’s retirement benefits pursuant to a “qualified domestic relations order.”