by Senator Mike Gabbard
District 19
Through a single action, we have an opportunity to save the state money, protect our environment and avoid embarrassing mistakes like the Hawaii Superferry situation. We can accomplish all of this by giving the Hawaii Environmental Council (EC) the [...]
While the Hawai‘i House of Representatives recently announced that it will reduce the pay of permanent staff by five percent, the Senate has determined that savings realized through its Paperless Initiative will allow it to make similar budget cuts without affecting staff salaries.
Both the House and the Senate agreed [...]
DAGS recently sent out this Capitol Garage Traffic Safety Memo as a reminder to please drive safely in the Capitol parking garage. There have been several reports of speeding and near accidents in recent weeks due to drivers not following traffic codes.
For your safety, be sure to observe the following:
The [...]
The Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) Board of Trustees recently approved health benefit and life insurance plans. Open enrollment has been scheduled for November 2-30, 2009. However, due to worker confusion over health care choices, a special meeting has been called next Monday, November 23,2009, [...]
Call on Tourism Authority to restore funding to high-visibility efforts.
State Senators who oversee Hawai‘i’s tourism industry today called on the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority to reverse its decision to slash funding for high-visibility visitor programs. Senator Clarence Nishihara, chair of the Senate Tourism Committee, and Senator Donna [...]
Senator Gary Hooser discusses the use of the hurricane fund and other revenue sources to save school days in the following Honolulu Advertiser op-ed, “Legislature must act to save school days“:
October 12, 2009
Losing 17 days of classroom instruction [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Hawaii’s volcanoes put on a fantastic show for nature lovers, but its lava also creates a rich soil that gives locally grown food their distinctly delicious flavors. Agriculture in Hawaii suffers from memories of plantation days gone by. No longer simply [...]
The following op-ed by Senator Norman Sakamoto ran in yesterday’s Star Bulletin:
by Senator Sakamoto, District 15
December 29, 2009
With “Furlough Fridays” a reality, efforts toward a long-term solution are overdue. The time that some are now devoting to finger-pointing and affixing blame are [...]
In the spirit of the year’s scariest holiday, Senate staff held a Mini-Pumpkin Decorating Contest at the Capitol. Check out some of the entries:
And the winners are:
Most Scariest – “Senator Jack-O-Lantern” Most Creative – “Wana Li`ili`i” Senator’s Choice – “Wana Li`ili`i” Senate Staffer’s Choice – “Garfield” Special Effort Award [...]
Parents against furlough Fridays Rally at the Hawai‘i State Capitol, October 23, 2009.
Senate President Colleen Hanabusa today announced that a Special Committee of the Hawai‘i State Senate will convene to consider the options available to address the question of teacher furloughs.
“I am [...]
by Senator Espero
District 20
Legislator-in-Residence. I am enjoying my new role as Legislator-in-Residence at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The program was established in 2002 to provide opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between policymakers and the academic community. It allows lawmakers to explore significant issues [...]
Senator Mike Gabbard (District 19 – West Oahu), chair of the Senate’s Committee on Energy and the Environment, convened an info briefing to gather information on the operations of the state’s Environmental Council. The council has lost three members to resignation since April, and recently announced that it would defer [...]
The 16th Annual Children and Youth Day returns to the grounds of the Hawaii State Capitol, Washington Place, the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, the Hawaii State Public Library Grounds, Kalanimoku Building, Department of Health Miller Street Parking Lot, Punchbowl Street, and the Frank F. [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
The ability of Oahu’s ‘Olelo Community Television to effectively meet community access needs was the subject of a Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) hearing on September 15, 2009 at McKinley High School. ‘Olelo is the recipient of “Public, Education and Governmental (PEG)” access [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
You’ve probably heard or seen of the guns, rifles, or knives that have been brought by protestors who appear at the town hall meetings that President Obama and members of Congress are holding on the debate over health care reform. [...]
The Senate Committee on Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs (TIA) today conducted an info briefing to update the legislature on changes to the Hawai‘i Quest program. Chaired by Senator J. Kalani English, the committee also discussed the status of the amendment of the federal health bill that provides Medicaid eligibility [...]
On August 27, 2009, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa presented an update on 2009 Legislative Session to the West Hawaii Bar Association in Judge Ronald Ibarra’s courtroom in Kealakekua, Hawaii.
In the photo, from L to R: Mike Matsukawa, [...]
Chairman Daniel K. Inouye,
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
Aloha Chairman Inouye,
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to testify on behalf of the Hawaii State Legislature on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) stimulus funds on our State Budget.
At [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
“On the day of 9/11, the only people running UPSTAIRS in the burning towers to rescue people, were from the government.” Governor Ed Rendell
The government does many things very well, contrary to long-standing neoconservative efforts to have people think otherwise. As Hardball host Chris Matthews [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Fourteen thousand Americans lose their insurance coverage every day and the next could be you. Americans spend $5000-$6000 more on health care each year than do citizens in countries that have a national health service. Fifteen per cent of Americans, 46 [...]
The Senate Clerk’s Office have received several phone calls recently regarding the City and County of Honolulu ordinance banning the use of mobile electronic devices while driving. There appears to be some confusion regarding whether this is a state-wide ban. To clarify, the ordinance [...]
State Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, District 13, members of the Hawaii State Legislature, and The Office Depot Foundation are pleased to announce that the following schools and organizations have been chosen to receive backpacks containing essential school supplies as part of the Foundation’s Ninth [...]
The Senate Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Senator Russell Kokubun will hold a series of info briefings to address recent proposed changes by the Lingle administration and discuss the potential impact these changes will have on the State.
Governor Lingle last week announced her plans to layoff approximately 80 percent [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Next year I will be introducing a bill to prevent strip searches of students in school because of the invasive and traumatic experience it can be for young girls. That’s a subject that the United States Supreme Court has had to wrest with recently. Justice [...]
The Maui News recently published the following op-ed by Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser on the state’s “economic vitality and long-term sustainability”:
by Senator Gary Hooser
District 7
On August 2, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on “This Week with Stephanopoulos” cautiously affirmed what Newsweek announced on its [...]
Following the historic election and inauguration of our first African-American president, the nation watched today as Judge Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed to the highest court in the nation. Sotomayor will be the first Latina in history to take the oath as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
It is [...]
The Hawaii Department of Public Safety announced last week that it is closing the Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island. Senator Espero yesterday submitted the following letter to the governor, as well as Big Island newspapers, urging her to consider other options:
Dear Governor Lingle,
I am writing to express my [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Photo courtesy of the USS Hawaii
With the motto, Kupale ‘Aina – “defending the land”— the USS Hawaii is coming home, to be welcomed just in time for our state’s 50th anniversary. Governor Linda Lingle, who sponsored the submarine as the [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Photo courtesy of NASA
Youngsters visiting the National Air and Space Museum will see the Apollo 11 command module that took Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Aldrin, Jr., to the [...]
The Senate and House yesterday convened a special session for the purpose of overturning the Governor’s vetoes. Last week, the Governor had transmitted to the legislature a list of 65 potential vetoes of which she vetoed 53. The legislature, by a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers, have overturned the following 34 [...]
Photo courtesy of the Ewa Beach Library
Senator Will Espero and other Ewa Beach residents will testify tomorrow at the Board of Education meeting on the proposed closure of Ewa Beach Public and School Library.
Ewa Beach Library serves the growing Ewa community. Like its sister [...]
The Blood Bank of Hawaii is back at the State Capitol for the second time this year. Senators Russell Kokubun and Colleen Hanabusa are sponsoring the State Capitol Blood Drive on Thursday, July 16, 2009 in Room 016. They need 30 more appointments to reach their total goal of 25 pints.
Appointments are [...]
Out of 3,523 bills introduced this session, the legislature successfully passed 251. As of today, 171 bills of those bills have been signed into law. Here is a list of all Acts passed this year.
Last week, the governor transmitted to the legislature a list of 65 potential measures [...]
Manoa Public Library, located at 2716 Woodlawn Drive, will close its doors for the last time at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2009. They will hold a “Book Brigade” on Saturday, August 1, 2009 to make way for a new, larger, environmentally-friendly “green” library [...]
Senator Mike Gabbard, District 19, submitted the following oped to the Honolulu Advertiser on June 15, 2009. As chair of the Energy and Environment Committe, he, along with Mark Duda, President of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association, wrote:
Bill would help expand solar power use
[...]
Civil unions in the State of Hawaii met a bitter end this session. In February, 2009, HB 444 Relating to Civil Unions was heard by the Judiciary and Government Operations Committee in a marathon hearing that lasted over 16 hours and received approximately 1,400 submitted testimony. After impassioned testimony from both proponents [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
The recent announcement by the FBI that Kapolei will be the site of one of the largest law enforcement complexes in the Asia-Pacific regions is heartening news for a state with a troubled economy. While the new FBI complex is expected [...]
If you’ve passed by the State Capitol lately, you may have noticed the Capitol building looking a little bare.
The Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) has taken down the state seals above the mauka and makai entrances of the building for maintenance. According to Russ Saito, Director of DAGS, [...]
by Senator Michelle Kidani
District 17
Of all the public responses I witnessed in my first session as a State Senator, I do not think any surprised me as much as the reaction to the House and Senate’s passage of a concurrent resolution declaring September 24, 2009 [...]
by Senator Donna Mercado Kim
District 14
Given our state’s current economic condition and the challenges we face in stretching our budget dollars to meet our community’s on-going needs, it should be clear that good management practices are not just desirable, but a fiscal and social necessity. [...]
by Senator Mike Gabbard
District 19
We’re in a war with a nasty virus, the swine flu, but look out for other viruses that may be popping their head up in the near future. As in all wars, every theater or front requires a different strategy. [...]
Out of 3,523 bills introduced this session, 251 bills successfully passed the legislature. Those bills that passed face a final judgment before they are signed into law: an approval or a veto by the governor. If the governor intends to veto a bill, the governor is required to notify the legislature of her intent to [...]
by Senator Will Espero
District 20
Space—Freedom to Explore. Our five year mission: to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Okay, trekkies, time to get excited. Flying in space could be five to six years away from being reality here in Hawaii. Tourism is the chief [...]
Senators Russell Kokubun and Dwight Takamine, and Representatives Jerry Chang and Clift Tsuji will share the results of the 2009 Legislative Session with the community at a joint community meeting on Thursday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s UCB Room 100 auditorium. The legislators’ goal [...]
The Hawai‘i State Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to extend the current legislative session by two days, permitting overrides of Governor Lingle’s vetoes of fiscal bills before the start of the fiscal year on July 1, 2009. The session was scheduled to adjourn on Thursday, May 7.
The extension [...]
