House Republicans support taro security and purity task force, decision to line-item veto funding because of tight economic times.

“While the purpose of the taro security and purity task force is a good one, the decision to line-item veto the funding for the task force because of the challenging budget outlook ahead is also a prudent one,” said House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan. 

Senate Bill 2915 establishes the taro security and purity task force within the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  The task force is made up of various representatives from the public and private sector, as well as taro farmers.  Senate Bill 2915 also appropriates $325,000 for the purposes of the task force, and must be matched by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs before release.

“We are all aware of how important this issue is to the community by the volume of testimony we received during the session.  Establishing the task force will allow those interested parties who are able to volunteer their time to help us move forward on the issues surrounding taro,” continued Representative Finnegan. 

Senate Bill 2915 was line-item vetoed earlier today.  The line-item veto only affects the appropriation portion of the bill.

“I’m proud to be able to show that Republicans are serious about protecting our `aina,” said House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan. 

House Bill 3177 increases the maximum penalty for violations within the conservation district from $2,000 a day to $15,000 a day, and authorizes the board of land and natural resources to assess fines based on damages to natural resources within the conservation district and other factors deemed appropriate by the board while protecting native Hawaiian gathering rights.

House Bill 3178 increases the fines for violations on public lands, allows DLNR to recoup administrative costs and expenses in enforcing public lands laws, and allows DLNR to fine the perpetrator for the value of the natural resource damaged.  The bill also doubles the fine for encroachment on public lands

“Over the years we have seen numerous wrongdoings within the conservation district and our public lands, including illegal harvesting of resources, illegal grading, or outright illegal construction, activities that destroy our coral reefs, our beaches, our forests, our entire ecosystem,” said Representative Cynthia Thielen.  “Hopefully, these increased fines pose a greater disincentive for these violations and protects these precious resources.”

“I applaud DLNR for taking a big step towards better enforcement of violations of Hawaii’s conservation district and public lands laws”, said Curtis Muraoka,  Co-Director of West Hawaii Explorations Academy. “Prevention and enforcement go hand in hand to protect our environment.  Better enforcement will only help bolster our award winning prevention programs like ‘Reef Teach’ and ‘Aloha Kai’.”

This first-ever high level conference on “Expanding the Role of Women in Cross-Cultural Dialogue” was sponsored by Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyeh Foundation and the UN’s Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) as well as UNESCO.  Representative Gene ward was asked to attend at the expense of the United Nations.

As tensions increase between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, the world is looking for good news between Muslim and non-Muslim countries and there are many reasons to find it in Azerbaijan.

Not only do Muslims, Jews, and Christians live in peace here, they actually like each other.  Situated just 2 hours north of Baghdad and Tehran, Azerbaijan sits on the path of the ancient “Silk Road” and is becoming a new crossroad as one of the safest places in the world for dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim nations.  It’s ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity is rivaled by few places in the world and is a showcase of progressive Muslim women’s rights.

This is why over 50 countries sent 250 diplomats, scholars, and elected officials (comprised mostly of Muslim women) to the capitol city of Baku to take stock of where they were and where they want to be while the world is becoming increasingly described as a ‘clash of civilizations’ between Muslim and non-Muslim nations.

Contrary to stereo-typed expectations, women from Saudi Arabia wore only head scarves while their counterparts from Pakistan were totally covered from head to toe.  The Saudi women spoke with enthusiasm about their soon to be acquired right to drive a car, though were much quieter about ever getting the right to vote. The first-ever elected female mayor of a Moroccan city however felt Muslim women’s right were changing and changing fast all over the world.

A few American academics were invited but Hawaii had the single largest delegation from the US.  Representative Ward sat on the International Relations Committee in the State Legislature, and the head of the University of Hawaii’s International Education Program Ass’t Vice Chancellor, Dr. Jenny Samaan, and Representative Ward were invited to represent Hawaii’s cultural and ethnic diversity.  (But, Representative Ward had bragging rights over women’s political participation in Hawaii as many delegates were surprised to learn that my Republican Caucus was 85% female!)

The Office of the President and First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva spoke of how Muslim women in her country were free to dress as cosmopolitan as they wished, and were becoming educated and sophisticated leaders at home and abroad.  She reinforced her points by a surprise panel of five other First Ladies, though mostly from countries without substantial Muslims populations.

The First Lady of Poland, Maria Kaczynska, for example, stressed that her country’s women were always role models of tolerance and cultural diversity even under the trying times of the many wars in Europe.  South Africa’s First Lady, Zanele Mbeki said the strength of her female role models stood out while living under the suppressive system of apartheid.  Testimonies of the perseverance and potential of women were mentioned by the First Ladies of Latvia, Angola, Argentina, but it was the speech of the First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry, that connected most with the crowd when she said as a young nurse she was the first to report sexual abuse that was widespread in her small Texas town but nobody would every talk about or admit existed. 

Azerbaijan clearly had bragging rights for its Muslim women who could chose their own husbands, be free from female circumcision, travel alone to wherever they want, drive a car, and most importantly vote.  Azerbaijan after all was the first Muslim country to allow women to vote (1918), and was ahead of the US’s women suffrage (1920).   

Diplomacy aside, a chorus of Muslim women stressed time and again that there was nothing wrong with their religion but there was something wrong with their male-dominated traditions and misinterpretations of the Koran that allowed such practices to exist.  Outmoded interpretations for the education of women in Saudi Arabia was a case in point.  Sixty percent of its college graduates were women but only 5% of the Saudi workforce was female.  Compared to Hawaii, where over 65-70% of women have joined the workforce, the brainpower lost by Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia is incalculable.

The event ended with a “Baku Declaration” setting forth a call to all of the world’s governments to provide education and dialogue as the major ingredients for increasing understanding between East and West, Male and Female, Muslim and non-Muslim. 

The war on terror is not about a war between civilizations, but an internal war taking place in both the Muslim and non-Muslim nations of the world, especially where the command and control of one gender refuses to be equal with the other.  The identity of Muslim men rather than Islam is a pivotal question for the future.

Hawaii’s Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities along with the East-West Center and University of Hawaii clearly can play a role in these on-going dialogues in a world that is eager to understand each other.  

“We need to think of victims first.  Drunk driving kills.  House Bill 2847 would put drunk drivers back on the street,” said Representative Lynn Finnegan. 

House Bill 2847 would expand the conditions allowed for a conditional license permit to include cases where a drunk driver must drive to school or vocational training, must drive to get personal medical or dental care, or to assist in the care of another person who is unable to drive.  It also clarifies when a conditional license permit is permissible for certain commercial drivers.

“I have asked the Governor to veto this bill.  Every exception to our license revocation laws weakens it,” said Representative Cynthia Thielen.  “What is the sense of implementing an ignition interlock program or mandating tougher penalties for driving under the influence if we enact giant loopholes like this?”

Last Friday, Governor Lingle signed the ignition interlock bill as Act 171.  However, this Act will not prevent unnecessary DUI deaths for two years.

According to statistics provided by the State Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Office, in 2007 there were 6,345 cases of driving under the influence, and administrative license revocation cases processed.  1,146 were repeat offenders.  2,424 hearings for conditional license permits were concluded, and 990 conditional license permits were granted at hearings, or 40.8% of all hearings ended up in a conditional license permit being issued.

All House Republicans and four House Democrats voted against the bill.  The Governor has until June 23^rd to notify the Legislature of bills she intends to veto.

 “There are grave health consequences to a leaving a child in a car unattended for a long period of time” said Representative Lynn Finnegan.  “A 2003 CDC study found that during July 2000 to June 2001 an estimated 9,160 non-fatal injuries and 78 fatal injuries occurred in children 14 and younger as a result of being left unattended in or around motor vehicles not in traffic.  At least other twelve states have found this problem serious enough to adopt similar language and it is time that Hawaii joins them. I thank Governor Lingle for signing this important bill.”

The Governor signed Senate Bill 2245, an important bill for the safety of our children.  The bill will make it violation of the statewide traffic to leave a child under the age of unattended in a motor vehicle for 5 minutes or longer.  The legislation will additionally insure the safety of children by requiring the driver’s exam to specifically test the applicant’s knowledge of the traffic code regarding leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle

This legislation will also ensure the safety of our young children by granting law enforcement officers, firefighters, or rescue team personnel the ability to use whatever means that are necessary to protect the child and remove the child from the motor vehicle if the official believes the unattended child is in physical danger.

“This part of the bill will be very helpful to ensure the safety of our keiki,” said Representative Corinne Ching.  “There is no greater punishment than the loss of a child, and as a parent of a young child, I sympathize with parents who have considered leaving children in their car because the errand will only take a few seconds. 

But this law will help make it clear that the risk is not worth the consequence.” 

“As a parent, I’d much rather pay the fine than find my child hurt,” concluded Representative Lynn Finnegan.

By Representative Lynn Finnegan, Minority Leader

I was recently asked what I would consider to be some highlights of this session.  I thought about the authorization to purchase Turtle Bay.  This was an “out of the box” idea that would preserve our land, our Hawai`i. I also thought about funding the harbor modernization plan.  This collaborative plan of the users of state harbors is necessary to meet the growing needs of our state as 98 percent of all goods and materials imported into Hawai`i come through the harbors.  I also thought about the legislation mandating ignition interlock systems for DUI offenders.  It was an idea that the Administration, Republicans and Democrats all introduced and agreed upon.  As passed, these changes will take years, and should instead be implemented much sooner.

Last year, the Legislature collaborated with the Governor on her initiatives to chart a course for our future – developing science, technology, engineering and math skills (STEM), and investing in the creative arts, such as the Music Enterprise Learning Experience (MELE).  This year, no such collaboration was evident as funding to expand these successful programs was eliminated from the legislature’s final version of the state budget.

2008 is a time when the cost of living in Hawai`i is increasing rapidly.  According to statistics released by the Governor’s Office in February, average expenses for a family of four living on Oahu have increased in a number of areas since 2002.  For the year ending 2007, water and sewer rates have increased by almost 42%, gas prices have increased 87% even accounting for a 1/6th decrease in consumption, electricity rates have jumped approximately 84%, and property taxes have increased by a similar percentage.  But even without the statistics, we know our costs of living have increased.

If there was ever a time to provide meaningful tax relief for our citizens, this was it.  The Governor proposed $102 million in tax relief targeted to seniors, families with dependent children and those who provide dependent care.  House Republicans introduced measures to eliminate taxes on food, and were supportive of the Governor’s tax relief proposals.  The only tax relief the legislature passed was a $1 tax rebate that a taxpayer can claim on their 2008 state tax return . . . in 2009.

Medical liability insurance increased an average of 90% from 2002 to 2006 for life saving specialists.  This issue garnered much discussion in the early part of the session, and it is clear from the experience of other states, such as Texas, that reducing the cost of insurance for doctors will reduce the amount of doctors leaving Hawai`i.  We have lost 30% of our orthopedic surgeons.  There are only two left on the west side of the Big Island.  There is only one OB/GYN to service an area from Kahuku to Kaneohe.  Moloka`i has none.  Maui is the only neighbor island with a neurosurgeon.  There are some nights where Oahu has no neurosurgeon on call.  And the reform that doctors and the public openly pleaded for, was killed in the House Judiciary Committee. 

 While some of these ideas were Republican ideas, some were Democrat ideas or bi-partisan initiatives.  But these good ideas did not make the cut.  Some would say you can always reintroduce these ideas next year.  But what we put off for next year hurts the people of Hawai`i today.  Not only does it hit them in their wallets, it may cost someone’s life or limb, as was the case in an emergency situation in Maui earlier this year.

As I reflect on what could have been, I am reminded of the importance of our role as the Minority.  We owe it to the people of Hawai`i to ensure that the public is heard above the overwhelming political opinion of the Majority.  As a legislature, we are responsible for creating public policy that improves the quality of life today, and as one body, we fell short of our duty.

The House of Representatives Republican Caucus went on the record with the Speaker of the House, Representative Calvin Say, opposing spending cuts proposed for out State’s Temporary Assistance for Needy families (TANF) block grant. 

Under a budget plan by the Democrat Majority, the House Finance Committee, from $22 to $27 million in TANF funding would be directed to a reserve account. “These federal dollars could only be used for cash assistance payments to welfare families,” said Representative Lynn Finnegan.  These people want a hand-up not a hand-down,” continued Representative Finnegan

“If the cuts occur, a significant percentage of our TANF block would sit idle and DHS would be forced to halt funding for a wide variety of community-based programs that are successful in reducing or preventing family poverty, connecting parents to employment and providing help for at-risk children and youth,” explained Representative Finnegan.

It is important to understand that Hawaii maintains on of the largest TANF reserves in the nation.  This is a sharp contrast to about half of the other States, which keep zero or only negligible amounts of TANF dollars in reserve.  These States realize that it is fiscally sound and socially responsible to put the federal money to work right now by supporting programs that help citizens lead better lives.

“In the unlikely event that Hawaii’s TANF reserve needs additional funds at some point, DHS can scale back or cancel its community-based programs with just 30 days notice; TANF receipts do not want to receive welfare they want to be self reliant,” concluded Representative Finnegan.

Representative Colleen Meyer discusses the card check House Bill 2974 and the reasons Govenor Lingle should veto the bill.

Here we go again.  Private businesses could find it a lot more difficult to operate in the future if House Bill 2974 becomes law. The Senate has passed House Bill 2974 known as the “Card Check Bill” and it is headed to the Governor’s Office for her signature. Under this bill, workers will no longer be able to determine if they want to be represented by a union through an election process using secret ballots.  The “Card Check” bill will give unions the ability to pick off employees one at a time.  They will intimidate workers into signing individual cards indicating they would like to join a union. Unfortunately, some hardworking employees will sign the petitions, not because they are in favor of a union shop, but because of persistent union requests, peer pressure tactics or simply not wanting to be harassed anymore. When the Union organizers have collected enough signed petitions to equal 50% plus one of the company’s employees, the union will inform the employer that they are the legitimate negotiating entity for the company’s employees and the company will have no recourse.  The “Card Check” bill does not level the playing field, as unions are fond of saying, it gives them the upper-hand. 

Under current law, if  30% of employees of a company sign a petition stating they are interested in joining a union, The National Labor Relations Board will arrange for an election and the employers will have time to make their case and listen to the employees’ concerns.  The issue to join a union or not will then be decided by a secret ballot. If a majority of employees vote in favor of union representation, then the company is required to recognize the union as the official negotiating entity.  However, if House Bill 2974 becomes law, the secret ballot goes out the window.

The timing for this bill could not be worse.  The cost of living in Hawaii is skyrocketing while our economy is slowing down.  On Thursday, ATA Airlines ceased operations.  This past Monday, Aloha Airlines laid off 1,900 employees, last week Molokai Ranch laid off over 120 employees, NCL is reducing its cruise ship fleet in Hawaii from three ships to one, and even attractions like Sea Life Park have recently laid off employees.

This bill sends a strong message to businesses that Hawaii is not a business friendly place. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Hawaii ranked 45^th out of 50 states in economic outlook and we ranked 50^th out of 50 on the sales tax burden levied on our citizens.  The Alliance for Worker Freedom gave Hawaii an “F” in its 2007 National Report Card. 

Instead of passing legislation that will scare off potential businesses, we should look into labor reform, such as Right-to-Work legislation.  Statistically, almost half of the states in the country (22 in total) have Right to Work laws, while only six states have card check laws.  A Right to Work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join a union individually, not as a collective group. Right to Work laws protect the freedom of private AND public sector employees to keep and hold jobs without being required to pay union dues.

2008 is an election year and the Democrats want to “curry favor” with the unions to receive their support in the upcoming contests.  It is also convenient that the Legislature passed this bill early, so when the Governor vetoes this bill, the Democrat super majority will be able to override the Governor’s veto during the regular session and avoid the criticism that often is raised when the Legislature calls a special session.

Over the past two decades, union membership has declined nationally, but not so in Hawaii, where 24.7% of our workforce is unionized. That’s the highest percentage in the country.  If you compare Right to Work states with those that have “Card Check” laws, the Right to Work states are outperforming the Card Check states.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the states that have the highest percentage increase in Gross Domestic Product over the last few years are states with Right to Work Laws.  Those states that have “Card Check” laws or high union membership do not perform well at all.  Michigan ranked 48^th of 50 and New Jersey was ranked 36^th.  It is a shame that the Majority Party is putting “political points” and union interest before the economic well being of the people of Hawaii.  I urge the voters of Hawaii to contact their state representatives and senators and tell them not to override the Governor’s veto.

Representative Colleen Meyer discusses the Electoral College with Representative Gene Ward.
The Electoral College has been serving American politics for more than 200 years. But recently, due to a close election for the U.S. Presidency, some people at both the local and national level have been advocating a change in the way we elect our Presidents.So here we go again! House leadership has again introduced a bill (HB 3013) that will take away the advantage that a small state like Hawaii has over big states. It was introduced by the same person who chairs the Judiciary Committee (Rep. Tommy Waters). It has already passed a second reading with the Republican caucus voting “no,” but it has one more floor vote before it goes over to the Senate and Governor Lingle for signature.