Welcome Business Hall of Fame Laureates

The State Senate was honored with the presence of the 2012 Junior Achievement of Hawaii Business Hall of Fame Laureate inductees at a floor presentation ceremony held in the senate chamber on Friday, March 9.

Inducted by Junior Achievement of Hawaii into the Hall of Fame for 2012 are: Ric Maiava and Debra Ching Maiava owners of Ken’s House of Pancakes (Hilo), Jay Kadowaki, of J. Kadowaki, Inc. and Daniel B. T. Lau, co-founder of Finance Factors, and and Ric Maiava, as shown in the photo with me above.

Also recognized during the floor session were Junior Achievement of Hawaii’s chair Carolyn Fujioka and JA President Diane Ward in addition to family and colleagues of the laureates. A presentation banquet was also held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, March 9

Just Say ‘No’ to a Hawaii State Bank

By State Senator Sam Slom

Among the hundreds of bills still alive at the Legislature are three House bills seeking to establish a State run bank in Hawaii.

This is not a new idea, but one that has majority House backing and support this Session. The first U.S. state run bank is a successful wholesale bank in North Dakota. Part of its success is due to its 100-year longevity, the agrarian nature of the state, and North Dakota’s positive business climate. None of which exists in Hawaii. Several other states are considering such a bank in these tough economic times, especially when they can’t access federal funds for state programs and subsidies.

Specifically, HB1840 HD3 establishes a task force to study the feasibility of a state bank; HB2103 HD2 directs the state DCCA to study and establish a state bank with deposits into the bank, and HB1033 HD1 establishes a “Clean Economy Bank,” to finance state green energy projects—that the private sector wouldn’t invest in.

Special interest groups, welfare agencies and FACE—Hawaii’s ACORN community organizers—all support a state run bank—funded by the taxpayers. They see it as a way of funding their schemes and programs that can’t come from the budget or general fund grants.

I oppose all of these bills.

Our state can’t fix potholes, educate our keiki or control spending; do we really think a state bank is an answer? Do we really believe having the Governor (with no banking experience) at the state bank’s CEO and the directors appointed by the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and labor unions, would be business and investment savvy?

This is just another way of hosing the taxpayers and looting the treasury. Just say no!

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Go the Hawaii State Legislature’s website @ capitol.hawaii.gov to get the latest update on these bills. Do a search by bill number under “bill status”.

More Than 500 Bills Survive First Crossover Cut-Off

Hawaii State Legislature kept more than 500 bills alive after the first crossover bill voting deadline passed on Thursday, March 8. The Senate passed 379 bills over to the House while that body passed 286 bills back to the Senate.

The usual cadre of bad bills that call for more taxes, cost, unfunded mandates, special funds, fees and attacks on your personal liberty and freedom continue to thrive.

As a general rule, I have been consistent in voting “no” against all new taxes and fees as well as voting “no” on the creation of new special funds.

Here is a synopsis on some of the bills that were voted for in the Senate on crossover week:

I voted against SB 2787 which will authorize HECO and other utilities to implement a surcharge to help it enforce “reliability standards and interconnection requirements”.

SB 2785 is the bill that authorizes the installation of the inter-island “high voltage electric transmission system” ($3 billion undersea cable) and related infrastructure (windmills). I voted “no”.

SB 2824: This bill applies the bottle recycling tax (6¢ per container) to dietary supplements. I voted “no” on this.

Likewise I also voted “no” on SB 2511, that taxes “single use check-out bags” at a rate that could be as high as 20¢ per bag.

SB 3017: I voted against this bill on applying the transient accommodations tax to complimentary accommodations. This bill expands the TAT and I voted “No!”

SB 2747: This bill mandates owners or managers of public parking places with a hundred parking spaces or more to have electric vehicle parking and at least one electric vehicle charging station. This takes away parking from users of conventional vehicles while still preserving space for ADA accessibility. There are not many electric vehicles. Another bill that merited a “no” vote.

Still another bill that I was poised to vote “no” on was SB 2822 which would have implemented a tax on electronics recycling. Instead the bill was amended so that a task force can look into the issue.

I voted “no” on SB 2226 which would implement a tax on purchases from made on the internet from merchants such as Amazon.com.

In keeping consistent with my “no new taxes” policy, I also voted against a new tax on tobacco products (SB 2422).

I was among six Senators who voted against SB 2592 that creates a children’s savings account under the Dept. of Budget & Finance.

The land trust bill (SB 2783) that conveys properties in Kaka’ako Makai valued at $200 million, over to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was also passed. I voted “no” on this bill that is supported by OHA as well as the Governor.

SB 2923: Voted against the ban on commercial opihi harvesting after the bill was amended on the floor.

No votes on bills that create new special funds include the following:

SB 2110: Preservation of Hawaii’s moving images (films). A new special fund is being created for this.

SB 2424: A new special fund is created for regulation of professional employer organizations (PEOs).

SB 2111: Establishment of the Hawaii film and digital media special fund.

SB 3050: Another film and digital media bill moves responsibilities of this industry form DBEDT to the Hawaii Tourism Authority and creates a new special fund for development.

SB 2506: In an effort to move the State ID functions from the attorney general’s office to the State Dept. of Transportation, a new special fund is being created to support this. The bill also complies with the nationally mandated Real I.D. Act of 2005.

SB 2348: This bill reinstates the State Educational Facilities Improvement Special Fund which was set to be repealed on July 1, 2013.

SB 2466: Establishes a long-term care facility special fund.

SB 2467: Establishes the Hospital Sustainability Program special fund and a new fee (tax).

Shovel Ready Projects: I voted “with reservations” on SB 2012, a Senate showcase bill that issues $500 million in general obligation bonds to fund repair and maintenance and/or capitol improvements to a number of state facilities. The bill is being met with a lukewarm reception in the House. The state should be doing repair and maintenance as part of its normal routine instead of waiting for such legislation.

Permanent Resident Bill Iced: The Senate recommitted my SB 212, a bill that was resurrected this year to define “permanent resident” for use in the next reapportionment coming in 2021. The bill had unanimous support in the Senate Judiciary & Labor committee but was killed on the senate floor after the chair motioned it back into committee. Some neighbor island legislators oppose counting military populations for reapportionment.

Libraries Bill: I voted “yes” to support the libraries bill (SB 2994) that allows private non-profit organizations to continue to support their local, public library (as they have for years) without being affiliated with the statewide Friends of the Library organization. During the hearing process for the bill, it was found that the head State Librarian failed to answer questions on why local friends had to join the larger group. SB 2994 is yet to be heard in the House Education committee.

For more information on all legislation look items up by bill number at www.capitol.hawaii.gov.

The day before the big crossover vote I meet with my staff and the Senate Minority Research office staff to review each and every bill on the order of the day for bill voting. The staff researches and writes digest on selected bills that we flag for possible questions or no votes the following day.

Special Committee on Accountability Investigates State Overpayments

Senator Slom and SCA-01 members Wil Espero and Ron Kouchi.

The Senate Committee on Accountability (SCA-01) convened this month at 4 hearings so far to question several department heads of various state agencies salary and wage overpayments as well as high rates of additional compensation paid to employees.

Senator Donna Mercado Kim chairs the committee which includes Senators Wil Espero (vice-chair), Clayton Hee, Les Ihara, Ronald Kouchi and I.

The salary overpayment issue is outlined in Senate Concurrent Resolutions 34 and 37, both of which seeks an audit into salary and wage overpayments.

Department heads were questioned by committee members about overpayments. The committee found that the overpayment problem stemmed from poor record keeping with workers getting more than what they were due. Old paper based systems of record keeping were also to blame.

More than $2 million in overpayments to public employees are documented. A half a million of that amount may be unrecoverable. The state would like to recoup $1.5 million of the overpayments.

The problem goes as far back to at least 1994.

SCR 34 points out that the State Department of Public Safety which has up to 2,400 workers, 100 workers had excessive overtime payments between 2009 and 2010. The resolution also states that some employees boost their overtime hours through a practice known as “pension spiking” near the end of their careers.

Library Bill Awaits Hearing in House

Senator Slom meet with the women who run the non-profit Friend of Aina Haina Library group who want to remain independent from the bigger Friends of the Library organization that is trying to force them to affiliate with them.

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An amended version of SB 2994 SD2, a bill which I introduced to help the Friends of the Aina Haina Library fundraising group passed out of the Senate on March 6 during the 3rd reading crossover vote. The revised bill allows private non-profit organizations such as the Friends of the Aina Haina Library to continue to operate on behalf of the libraries they support. They and other private non-profit entities who support local libraries will continue to have book sales and other fund raising activities without much intervention from the larger, statewide Friends of the Library organization.

SB 2994 passed with its first set of amendments on February 17 in the Senate Education Committee.

During the Education Committee hearing State Librarian Richard Burns did not answer questions regarding why the local friends group had to join the main organization. Questions regarding responsibilities, exclusions, a “memo of understanding” and local governance were also asked but not fully answered. The bill has generated a lot of email and support.

The bill now awaits a hearing in the House Education Committee.

Bill Will Repeal Ethanol Requirement

SB 2339 which will repeal the requirement that gasoline contain 10% ethanol, passed out of the Senate by a 23 – 2 vote on March 6. When the ethanol requirement was established several years ago I voted in opposition to it due to the cost and the negative effect the blended gasoline had on various types of vehicles and engines. For SB 2339 I voted in favor of repealing the law and was a primary co-sponsor to the bill with Senators English, Chun-Oakland, Kidani, and Tsutsui. The bill went to the House where is passed out of the Transportation Committee. It has to clear 2 more committees in the House.

Transportation Experts Visit Honolulu

Transportation experts John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute, Wendell Cox of Demographica, Adrian Moore of the Reason Public Policy Institute and Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute were in town on Feb. 28 and 29 to participate in 2 forums on transit alternatives. Attending those forums were informed taxpayers who want to find out more about alternatives and how much the current proposal will cost. Meanwhile rail transit supporters staged loud and angry protests, especially at the Kapolei presentation where speakers were shouted at and down. The experts visited my office on February 29.