Senator Sam Slom talks with Rep. Colleen Meyer who worked in his Hawaii State Senate office this session.She was in the State Hawaii State House of Representatives from 1995-2008, and was a member of Kahaluu Neighborhood Board #29 from 1992-1995. Elise Anderson is a graduate of Princeton University AB, English Language & Literature and has worked in the legislature for a few years.

During the budget bill discussion Senator Slom stated that he saved the state $118,037 by not using his legislative allowance since being elected to the Senate in 1996. This symbolic check was presented to “the keiki” and future taxpayers of Hawaii.

Floor Action: April 30, 2013 – Session Day #59 & May 2, 2013 – Session Day #60: Adjournment Siné Di

By State Senator Sam Slom – as published in the Kuliouou Neighborhood Board Report #2 – May 2, 2013.

The Hawaii State Legislature ended the 2013 Session today with more than 180 bills passing out of the House and the Senate on Tuesday, April 30. Several bills that the House and Senate agreed on before and during the conference committee process were voted on last week and have been enrolled to the Governor’s office for final action. The Governor has enacted 71 bills into law so far. He has 45 additional working days between now and mid July in which to decide on the remaining bills.

In final reading votes taken on April 30, I voted “no” on the following bills:

SB 2 HD1: Simulated firearms – Amends the offenses of terroristic threatening in the first degree and robbery in the first degree to include the use of simulated firearms.

SB 1084 CD1:  Constitution amendment to permit the appropriation of public funds for private early childhood education programs.

SB 1070 CD1: Mortgage servers – fees.

SB 1071 CD1: Financial institutions, fees.

SB 1171 HD2: Authorizes “phased review” of certain projects by the DLNR’s State Preservation Division – re: iwi along rail route.

HB 848 CD1: Redefining small employers with employees of 50 or less for consistency with new federal health insurance laws.

SB 1214 CD1: Ban on wheel boots – will put wheel boot firm out of business; the wheel booting firm was not given adequate opportunity to testify on the bill during the process.

HB 785 CD1: Allows Hawaii Roll Call Commission to certify native Hawaiians.

HB 622 CD1: Significantly weakens Hawaii’s journalism “shield law” – definition excludes “new media” and traditional print media with no paid subscription. While the conference draft passed in the Senate, the House passed an amended version of the bill which essentially killed the law with 2 different versions passed but neither concurring.

SB 978 CD1: Establishing that cruelty to animals in the second degree is a class C felony if the offense involves ten or more, rather than twenty-five, pet animals in any one instance.

SB 535 CD1: “Domestic workers bill of rights” – subjects domestic workers to same legal rights as other employees in non-domestic worker situations.

SB 655 CD1: Expedited partner therapy – sexually transmitted diseases; health professionals; prescription drugs.

SB 345 CD1: Raises fees related to portable electronics insurance licenses to $5,000 for the issuance of the initial portable electronics limited lines licenses and $2,500 per year for the initial or renewal term.

SB 997 CD1: State archives; electronic records.

SB 1087 CD1: Appropriation for the Green Infrastructure Loan Program.

SB 1194 CD1: Makes permanent the transient accommodation tax rate of 9.25 per cent.

HB 820 CD1: Salary increases for collective bargaining cost items. I voted against all collective bargaining cost item bills including HB 816, SB 907, SB 911, SB 895, HB 833, SB 909 and SB 902.

SB 593 CD1: Expands livestock feed subsidies to include milking goats, goats raised for meat, sheep, lambs, fish, and crustaceans.

SB 1133 CD1: Adds energy and dietary supplement beverage containers in the deposit beverage container tax program.

SB 69 CD1: What started out as a gun buy-back bill is now a gun registration bill that I continue to oppose.

SB 532 CD1: Requires employers to set up accommodations in the workplace for breastfeeding.

SB 237 CD1: Appropriation for pilot program to generate revenue through the lease of public school lands for public purposes.

SB 403 CD1: Bonds; loan program from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

SB 668 CD1: Transfers medical marijuana program from Dept. of Public Safety to Dept. of Health; establishes a new special fund.

Prior to the April 30 floor session, a bill that I also vote against was:

SB 1193 HD1: The bill repeals the General Excise Tax exemption for goods sold to common or foreign carriers.

Despite my “no” votes, all of the bills listed above passed and have since been enrolled to the Governor for further action. The Governor will have to option to sign the bill into law, let it pass without signature or veto it. A 45 working day period commenced after the bills were sent to the Governor in order for him to take action.

Dead For This Session: Finally on the last day of the regular session, SB 946 “Relating to the Unfunded Liabilities of the State and Counties” failed to pass in a floor vote at the Senate. I voted “No” on this bill as well as 19 of my other Senate colleagues. In the end the bill failed to pass with 4 ayes and 20 no’s, 1 excused.

Also dead on the last day was HB 31 which passed out of the House but was recommitted in the Senate back to conference committee. The bill makes it a disorderly conduct offense to lie down at a bus stop shelter. I noted that this was a “home rule” issue that the county should address, and not the state.

Several other bills did not make it out of conference committee and have died. They were covered in the previous post below. Final bill updates are online at www.capitol.hawaii.gov.

Senator Sam Slom talks about the Journalism Shield Law and bill in the latest edition of “A Better Day”. Guests include Gerald Kato of the University of Hawaii School of Communication and Stirling Morita, President of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

Hawaii’s shield law will lapse after the sunset date of June 30. The House and Senate passed two different versions of HB 622 which the original intent was to just delete the sunset date and continue the still current law as is.

The latest episode of “A Better Day” is also streaming on Olelo.net:

Links to previous episodes of “A Better Day”.

April 2013: http://youtu.be/-rcbzlXOiqw – Taxes; Lowell Kalapa

March 2013: http://youtu.be/CqmX-KfqBBA – Sen. Dela Cruz

February 2013: http://youtu.be/zftkUg74QGc – Noelani & Matt; 2013 Session

January 2013: http://youtu.be/wXqx1Myq8dI – Paul Harleman; Budget

December 2012: http://youtu.be/Izps5dpGUyg – Linda Smith

November 2012: http://youtu.be/o0kd54JV9r8 – Sen. Donna Mercado Kim

September 2012: http://youtu.be/hk5SavyyxDw – Charles Djou

August 2012: http://youtu.be/-K7dz38htg8 – Kailua Bay w/ Sen. Fred Hemmings

July 2012: http://youtu.be/3iLnmiv9UEw – Rep. Gene Ward & Sen. Fred Hemmings.

April 26 – Floor Action: Session Day #58 – The big news of the evening was that a number of bills failed to pass out of conference committee on this the last day of the conference committee process. All conference committee hearings stopped by 6:00 p.m. Among the bills that were declared dead by this time were the minimum wage increase bill (SB 331), the definition of “permanent resident” bill (SB 286) which could have counted the military, their dependents and student populations for Hawaii’s redistricting process (like it is done in most states), HB 634 the “employer successor bill”, the voter registration bill at absentee ballot polling places (HB 321), a cesspool tax bill (HB 903), and SB 880 which would have strengthened Hawaii’s law somewhat against sexual assault of a minor. In addition to the bills that died, more than 180 bills were made ready for final reading votes that occurred on April 30.

Senator Slom opposed the dead bills mentioned above except for SB 880  and SB 286, which he introduced at the beginning of session.

April 25 – Floor Action: Session Day #57 - Session was held at 6:30 pm that night. It was also the last day to deck non-fiscal bills and ready them for final reading. Conference committees were still busy. On the Senate floor 10 bills passed final reading votes with Senator Slom voting in favor of all 10 along with the unanimous majority.

April 24 – Floor Action: Session Day #56 - A number of resolutions passed as week as SB 1083 on transportation for school children.

More than 350 bills were put into conference committee after the House and Senate voted to “disagree” on all of them shortly after they passed the Second Crossover deadline earlier this month. Dozens of other bills have been “agreed” to by both houses (meaning amendments made in each house were amicable to the other). Those bills were voted in final reading in both the House and Senate, after which they went up to the Governor’s office for final approval.

Senator Slom was assigned to 236 conference committee bills. The Conference Committee process started last week and continues until tomorrow, April 26. Passage of most bills depended on the vote of the state budget, HB 200, which cleared conference committee last night (April 24).

April 23, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #55: Senator Slom voted against SB 1193 SD1 HD1 on the Senate floor today. The bill repeals the GET exemption for goods sold to common or foreign carriers; ships, airplanes engaged in interstate or foreign commerce for consumption outside the state. The measure presents a tax increase for the cruse and airline industries.

Conference committees for the State Budget bill (HB 200), the Judiciary Budget (HB 197) and the budget for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (HB 222) passed their respective bills last night. Senator Slom voted in the affirmative on all 3 budget bills – he approved HB 200 with a “WR” vote despite the budget bills many shortcomings.

Top photo: Senator Slom was a member of the conference committee that voted on the State Budget bill.

Previous Days’ Reports

April 22, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #54: The Senate advised and consented (23 to 2) to the nomination of Barry Mizuno to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents. Senators Slom and Ruderman were the 2 senators voting in opposition to the nominee. The Senate also confirmed several other individuals to a number of boards and commissions, passed several House Concurrent Resolutions and one bill (SB 883) on Final Reading. Senator Slom voted against SB 883 which funds pay raises for State Law Enforcement officers.

Senator Slom’s bill, SB 286 “Relating to Reapportionment” was deferred once again by the conference committee. Ditto for HB 622, which aims to protect journalists – deferred one more day.

About 2 dozen people showed up to protest against SB 1171 “Authorizes the phased review of certain projects by the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Division to ensure consistency between state and federal law. Removes language that provided the Governor with the option to request the Hawaii Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to report in cases where an agency, officer, or other person is dissatisfied with a decision of the Hawaii Historic Places Review Board.” — For example if this bill was law today, the rail project could move ahead without a full archeological review for the entire route. Environmental and Hawaiian cultural groups oppose the bill. See photos below:

Photos on the SB 1171 protest taken by Noelani Bonifacio.

April 19, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #53: SB 1193 on GE Tax exemptions has been deferred again for one day. Senator Slom will be voting “no” on this bill.

Eugene Bal III was advised and consented to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents (GM 711) as well as Randolph Moore (GM 713, GM 714). U.H. Regent nominee Barry Mizuno’s advise and consent action has been deferred one day.

Several other individuals were also confirmed to a number of boards and commissions. The Senate also passed SB 516 HD1 on final reading vote, 23 to 0 with Senator Slom voting in the affirmative.

April 18, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #52: State Senator Sam Slom presented the “moment of contemplation” shortly before the session started. His speech is attached to the video below:

Part of Senator Slom’s quote from the following:

“Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty six men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.”

– From “The Price They Paid“See Senator Slom’s “Moment of

Contemplation” talk at the beginning of the April 18 Floor Session (Video Archive Link). MS Silverlight plug-in required to view video link.

During the official business a number of individuals were confirmed to various boards and commissions. House Resolutions were also adopted. (HCRs)

April 17, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #51: A number of individuals were confirmed to boards and commissions, and 3 bills passed final reading. Senator Slom voted in favor of all three of them. See link to order of the day.

April 16, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #50: Fifteen bills were passed on final reading votes with Senator Slom voting in favor along with the majority on all of them except for SB 1079 HD1. That bill relates to the implementation of the “Obamacare” socialized health plan, which the Senator opposes.

Apri 15, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #49: Federal income taxes were due on April 15. It was also the same day of the terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon in Massachusetts that overshadowed most of what happened that day. In the State Senate, 2 individuals were advised and consented to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority and to the Endangered Species Recovery Committee. SB 30 “Relating to Campaign Spending” was also approved in a final reading vote, 23 to 0, Senator Slom voting in the affirmative.

Apri 12, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #48: A large number of Senate Concurrent Resolutions and Senate Resolutions were adopted. April 12 was the first crossover deadline for Senate and House Concurrent Resolutions.

April 11, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #47: The Senate passed House Bills that were amended on the Senate Floor on Session Day #46. These included HB 1187 (FA #9); HB 252 (FA #10, FA #13); HB 269 SD2 (FA #11) and HB 399 SD2 (FA #12).

HB 269: “Proposes to amend the state constitution to require candidates for the state senate or house of representatives to be a resident of the legislative district from which the person is a candidate for not less than twelve consecutive months prior to the next general election, except in the year of the first general election following reapportionment when the candidate shall be required to be a resident of the legislative district for not less than one month prior to the deadline for filing nomination papers.” – While Senator Slom voted in favor of the bill, that vote was “with reservations” as did 8 others. The vote on this third reading bill as 23 to 2.

HB 399: Senator Slom voted “no” on this bill that requires “private employers to allow employees to take paid leaves of absence for organ, bone marrow, or peripheral blood stem cell donation. Requires employers to restore an employee returning from leave to the same or equivalent position.”

1. Current Budget Drafts – Biennial Appropriations for the Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015.

Table 1: 1. Current Budget Drafts – Biennial Appropriations for the Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015.

2. Graphical Representation of each Budget Draft

3. Potential Impact on Taxpayers

During the next two weeks, as part of the conference committee process, the House Finance committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee will attempt to reconcile the differences of their respective State Operating Budget drafts. In addition to the budget, the current conference committee discussions also address some very important proposals. These important legislative proposals such as collective bargaining, early childhood education and mandatory contributions for the state employee’s health insurance fund, forebodes the average taxpayer in Hawai’i to evaluate how these measures impact their Hawai’i and the Hawai’i of future generations.

The following table highlights what the additional tax burden would be for each average family in Hawai’i under each respective budget draft:

This table highlights what will happen if the state would pay for the annual required contribution for the state employee’s health insurance fund, the additional payroll for collective bargaining, and the future long-term costs for early childhood education.  These payouts highlight what the potential fiscal burden would be for each family in Hawai’i. This comes to an additional $646 or $1,195 in taxes per family in order to sustain the operating expenditures under both the House and Senate budget draft.

It is clear that Hawaii’s current path is unsustainable. The only budget that does not rely on any future tax and fee increases, in order to sustain current operating expenditures, is the Senate Minority Alternative Budget. Even with adjustments for collective bargaining and early childhood education, the Senate Minority Alternative Budget leaves the state treasury with a general-fund surplus of $463.4 million. This surplus could be used to lower the tax burden for Hawaii’s’ struggling taxpayers with as much as $1,040 per family.

Notes

[1] Annual Required Contribution to pay off the unfunded liability for the state employee health insurance fund: $500 million.

[2] Additional estimated biennial costs for collective bargaining: $177 million.

[3] Estimated long term annual operating costs for early childhood education: $100 million.

Feeding Pigeons May Become Illegal: More below….

Tuesday, April 9, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #46: The second crossover voting day kicked off to a late start after a lengthy recess motioned the majority to meet in a closed door caucus session before they voted on floor amended bills and third reading bills placed on the “ordinary calendar”. Voting on the ordinary calendar bills started at 11:45am, nearly an hour and a half after the session officially started that morning (10:00 am).

The entire session can be viewed online at the Senate’s video archive:

http://olelo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=34029

Third reading bills that Senator Slom voted “no” on:

HB 800 SD2: Emergency appropriation to the DBEDT from the energy security special fund.

HB 858 SD1: Hawaii growth initiative; HSDC

HB 914 SD2: Appropriation for the Obesity Prevention Council

HB 471 SD1: Starlight reserve; extension of advisory committee.

HB 1207 SD1: Dept. of Human Services compliance – affordable care act.

HB 619 SD1: Feral birds nuisance (bird poop bill)

HB 785 SD1: Hawaiian roll call – placing people on the roll without a vote.

HB 32 SD1: Ballot placement, arrangement of names.

HB 816 SD1: Collective bargaining salary increase – Senator Slom voted “no” on all salary increase bills for public union workers.

HB 680 SD1: Conveyance tax increase

HB 411 HD2: Emergency contraception – no conscience exemption.

HB 918 SD1: Employment training fund.

HB 1 SD2: Long term care – feasibility study

HB 321 SD2: Voter registration at absentee polling places.

HB 1481 SD2: Public financing of election campaigns

HB 115 SD2: U.H. repair & maintenance – special fund

HB 450 SD2: Hydrogen fueling stations

HB 634 SD2: Worker retention – requires new owners of firm to retain employees from previous owner. Nine senators including Slom voted against this bill.

HB 980 SD2: Bans use of electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle.

HB 487 SD2: livestock feed subsidy

HB 399 SD2 FA12: Comprehensive sex education (voted on the 47th day)

Action on other bills: Senator Slom voted in favor of the following bills.

HB 622 SD1: The latest draft of this bill turns the Hawaii’s exemplary shield law that protects journalists and other types of news gatherers into a less than desired for regulation that easily opens source material to law enforcement. Senator Slom voted “WR” on this to keep the bill alive in the hope that a new draft can lead to just dropping the sunset date and retaining the law as is. The photos above were taken at the Senate Judiciary hearing where some individuals supporting the shield law bill were grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair.

HB 668 SD2: Medical marijuana program – transfer of responsibilities, creation of a “revolving fund”; $35 medical marijuana registration fee. Slom voted WR.

Senator Slom also voted WR on the State Budget Bill (HB 200 SD1) which is undergoing further revisions as it winds through a series of conference committee hearings.

Both the Senate and House will have to agree or disagree on the amendments made to the bills that survived the last two crossovers. Those that each chamber agree on will go to “Final Reading” where they are voted on and passed up to the Governor for final action (sign into law, become law without signature, or vetoed). Those bills that the Senate and House don’t agree on the amended changes move on the conference committee where each side will try to find some common ground in order to amend the bill for final reading.

Conference Committees start in earnest this week and will go up to the last day before the week of final bill voting on April 30.

Senator Sam Slom and Paul Harleman from the Senate Minority Research Office talk about the Senate Minority Alternative Budget. More details about the alternative budget at this link: http://senateminority.wordpress.com/issues/budget/

April 5, 2013 : Floor Action – Session Day #45: The State Senate congratulated Hilo Hattie, the Hawaiian apparel retailer for achieving their milestone 50th anniversary. Recognized on the Senate floor were Felix Calvo, VP of Sales & Marketing, Terri Funakoshi, Executive VP of Merchandising and Mark Storfer, Executive VP and COO. Senator Sam Slom, Senate President Donna Mercado Kim and Senator Wil Espero are also pictured.

The Senate voted to confirm Danna Holck and Kali Fermantez to the Oahu Island Burial Council (GM 587, GM 588). Four resolutions were also adopted with Senator Slom voting against SCR 166 “Requesting the convening of a task force to study the sociaal, economic and religious impacts of enacting marriage equality in Hawaii.” Senators Baker and Thielen also voted “No”. Senators Ihara, Kidani and Kouchi voted “with reservations”.

Committee Report: The Senate Ways & Means committee voted to “hold” HB 903 which would have placed a tax on owners of “individual wastewater systems” (cesspools). The vote was 12 to 1 in favor of “holding” the bill. Senator Slom voted with the majority.

Senator Sam Slom and Senate Minority Budget Director Paul Harleman were on the Rick Hamada radio program early that morning to discuss the State Budget and the Senate Minority Alternative Budget.

April 4, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #44: A number of bills were up for third reading during the day’s floor session. Senator Slom voted “with reservations” on the state’s $23 billion State Budget bill (HB 200 SD1). During the long floor discussion, Senator Slom also made reference to the Senate Minority Alternative Budget proposal which reduces general fund spending by $300 million.

Senator Slom voted against HB 865 SD1 which will start a pilot program to lease public school lands for “public purposes”. The measure also creates a new “school facilities special fund”. Senator Slom votes against all and every new special fund.  The bill was passed 22 to 1.

Slom also voted “no” on HB 919 (civil service exemptions – controlled substances), HB 527 (enlisted personnel, uniform maintenance allowance) and HB 1314 on beer labeling. All 3 bills were passed with Senator Slom being the only voting against them.

Later that afternoon the Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs (PSM) committee conducted an informational briefing focusing on recent prison escapes and policies implemented by the Dept. of Public Safety to prevent future prisoner escapes. Public Safety Director Ted Sakai was subjected to numerous questions put forth by the senate committee.

The “General” John Rogers memorial request resolution (SCR 137 / SR 97) passed out of the Senate PSM and TEC committees on April 4.

April 3, 2013: Floor Action – Session Day #43: The Senate Minority Caucus under the leadership of Senator Sam Slom unveiled the Senate Minority Alternative Biennium Budget for 2014 – 2015. See separate item on this topic.

Twelve bills unanimously passed third reading on Senate floor votes during session that day. Senator Slom voted with the majority on every measure.

The Senate Judiciary and Labor committee scuttled HB 622 and made it a very bad bill after it was amended in committee late last month. The current law which sunsets by the end of June shields reporters and other individuals from having to disclose their news sources and materials to the courts. The JDL committee has narrowed the scope of the law’s coverage with the latest draft (see separate item). Senator Slom voted “with reservations” on the SD1 version of HB 622 with the hope that the bill can be amended in conference committee.

The Senate Minority Alternative Budget: 2014 – 2015

Compiled from Senator Slom’s Kuliouou / Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board #2 Report, April 4, 2013.

The Hawaii Senate Minority Alternative Biennium Budget for the fiscal years 2014-2015 reflects a decrease of $1.6 billion in total funding in comparison with the proposed Executive Budget and $1 billion in comparison with the proposed budget by the House of Representatives. The budget bill (HB 200 SD1) passed third reading in the Senate on April 4,  24 – 0. Senator Slom voted “with reservations”.

See the video of the Senate floor session on the budget bill at this link: Senate Floor Session – April 4 - Approximately 90 minutes

The Senate Minority’s budget proposal provides a specific plan that will make Hawaii’s government less expensive, and more effective, for our state’s taxpayers and small businesses.

The budget accomplishes the following 4 objectives:

Does not rely on any current or future tax and fee increases to balance the budget.

Reduces the size and costs of government through a combination of budget reductions, program consolidations and policy reforms.

Provides a sustainable path to solve our problem with unfunded retirement benefit liabilities and to recapitalize our budget reserves.

Ieaves the state treasury with a projected general fund surplus of $741 million in FY 15 which could be used to lower the tax burden for our struggling taxpayers and small businesses.

Read more on our Senate Minority Alternative Budget Page.

Journalism Shield Law Amendment Turns Sour With Latest Draft

By State Senator Sam Slom

The latest draft of the Journalism Shield Law bill (HB 622 HD1 SD1) which was initially introduced to simply repeal the sunset date of the current law will become worst for journalists and just about anyone who publishes anything almost anywhere, including traditional paper media, broadcast and online.

New definitions for “journalist or newscaster”, “magazine” puts tighter limits on who and what qualifies as a journalist and a publication. The new law leaves out media that is published less than 4 times a year and does not cover media with unpaid circulation.

The essence of the current law protects source material used in news gathering by all news media including traditional and online news services and individuals.

The original shield law (Act 210) was enacted in 2008 and renewed with an extended sunset date to June 29 of 2013 in 2011 (Act 113). In 2011 the sunset date was extended with no problem. Not so this year.

Jeff Portnoy, a well known media attorney told a gathering of media professionals at my office that he would urge the Governor to veto the SD1 version of the bill if it passes in the current form.

While I voted “aye” with reservations on the latest draft, it is hoped that the bill can be amended in conference committee so that the original draft can be restored which is to simply delete the sunset date. The SD1 version of the bill is not posted online so far. Call my office if you would like a copy of HB 622 SD1.

Senator Slom meeting with media members after the JDL decision making hearing on April 3.