The Legislature meets for 60 days each year, and in that time more than 2000 bills are heard in nearly 1000 hearings, and thousands more votes are cast.  Facing such a tight time line, the Legislature in the past has made good efforts to give as much public notice as possible for upcoming hearings and bills to testify on.  However, that often amounts to 48 hours or less, and hearings are typically scheduled in the middle of the work day, which makes it difficult for the average person to make their voice heard.

One of the most important changes we can make, is making the legislative process more accessible to the public.  Last year I introduced House Bill 1448, which extends the maximum length of the legislative session from 60 to 90 days.  This is a first step we can take to extend the notice to the public for upcoming meetings from two to three days, and allow more time for debate and careful revision of bills throughout the process.  Ultimately, whether it is an extension of the current legislative session, or even moving to a whole new schedule, we should look at ways to open our legislature to the public.

In the meantime, I would also like to see our local papers and news organizations carry a daily or weekly schedule of upcoming hearings and the topics that will be debated.  Getting as many people aware of what is happening, and as many people the opportunity to participate, should be a priority.

This “pay to play” amendment suggests that to compete for a government contract, companies must make campaign donations to particular elected officials.  “Pay to play was an unseemly and immoral process that soiled the image of this House and politics in general,” said Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R – Kailua, Kaneohe).

In the 11^th hour, just before the House voted to move this bill forward, I introduced an amendment that stripped the controversial “pay to play” provision from this otherwise good campaign spending reform bill.  It is rare for a bill with so much momentum behind it to be amended so late in the process, and rarer still to successfully challenge the position of senior Legislators.  However, the move was a success, and the bill updating Hawaii’s patchwork of old campaign spending laws passed without this controversial provision attached.

Such a rare victory goes to show just how important it is to keep an eye on the relationships between special interests and our government, but more importantly, how even one person can stand up and make a difference every once in a while.

Taking Money Out of Politics

Right now, candidates spend a huge percentage of their time raising money from people whose interests are often directly opposed to those of the taxpayers and the public. This is blatant conflict of interest.  The special interests that write the biggest campaign checks tend to have the most access and most influence in politics, and this needs to change.

In 1978, Hawaii voters chose to create the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund and create a partial public funding system.  This system allows candidates to choose not to chase private campaign donations from various interests, and instead take a fixed amount of money from the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund.  The fund receives about $2.7 million every two years through accrued interest and through a voluntary $2  check off on state income tax forms.  Unfortunately, since 1978, elections have become so expensive that today public financing doesn’t provide enough money for candidates to be competitive.

If we can revamp the system to provide a comprehensive public funding option for elections, then we will give voters an option to elect candidates who are absolutely free from outside influence.  Overall, public funding increases voter turnout and candidate participation and it builds trust between taxpayers and legislators. In the long run, it creates an atmosphere of policy-making free from the corrosive influence of campaign contributors, and that is better for democracy, and better for all of us.  Find out more here.

At a business luncheon last year, I listened to producer Chris Lee (a good friend, but no relation) describe the future of Hawaii as a place where film students can pursue their passions for the visual arts at the UH West Oahu campus.  Lee has served in various capacities in the motion picture, television and video industries, including president of production at TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures, where he oversaw Academy Award-winning films as Jerry Maguire, Philadelphia, and As Good As It Gets.  He executive produced Superman Returns for Warner Brothers and Valkyrie for United Artists, and raised production funding for Batman Begins, Superman Returns, 300, and The Dark Knight.

An Iolani graduate, Lee believes that a digital-media development could bring hundreds of high paying, high quality jobs to West Oahu for those  born and bred in Hawaii, including for video game production, computer animation and digital media.  This is just part of Lee’s vision to transform West Oahu into the creative media hub of the Pacific Rim, and build an industry that is already creating thousands of new, high paying jobs in other such digital centers around the Pacific rim.

Following through on this vision is a priority I hope to push my colleagues to pursue next year.  It is one of the few golden opportunities Hawaii has to diversify our economy, and we must take advantage of it while the timing is right.

High Tech Incentives

States traditionally offers tax credits to incentivize investment or development in certain fields.  Hawaii has been the most generous state, giving out hundreds of millions of dollars in high-tech investment credits over the last ten years.  However, while these funds have come under fire for being too broad, and lacking transparency, the funds have grown a significant investment in high tech research and development, renewable energy, and have helped bring numerous film shoots such as Pirates of the Carribean and Hawaii Five-O to the islands.

With these tax credits, many local and mainland investors poured tens of millions of dollars into our local economy, with the understanding that they would see a return and could collect their credits in due time.  However, this year to save the state money, Senate Bill 2401 prohibited these investors from claiming their returns for an additional three years.  I opposed this bill because if we are going to be serious about encouraging growth in any industry, private investors and businesses need certainty.  The state cannot keep changing the rules mid-game and expect business to go unaffected.

We will need to continue our investment to promote the development of key industries such as renewable energy and digital media, however, in the future we must make sure every investment made and credit handed out fits the industry we are trying to build, will produce a positive impact on our economy, and create permanent jobs to sustain the growth of these industries in the long term.  Finally, we need clear accountability and transparency to make sure our investment is a wise one, and is producing the results we expect.

By January 2010, the situation had come to a head, and my colleagues and I on the House Finance Committee set aside $1 million dollars to restore 25 plant quarantine inspectors.  However, that was just the first step to get our local agriculture back in gear.  We wanted to go further, and with limited funding, we decided to go beyond inspections and attack the root of the problem, the invasive species that are being watched for in the first place.

With funding limited in the tight budget situation, we passed Senate Bill 2523, which strengthens and clarifies the state’s law regarding pest inspection, plant quarantine, eradication of invasive species, and biosecurity.  We also passed House Bill 1684, which establishes new fines and penalties for the intentional spreading or introducing of invasive species, causing harm to Hawaii’s natural environment, economy, and quality of life.  These measures will begin to attack the spread of invasive species, and the next step will be to find new funding to expand personnel and get boots on the ground to eradicate our invasive threats before they get out of control and destroy crops and impact our agriculture industry and natural resources.

In the long run, we are going to have to commit real resources to our local farmers and ag industry if we want to see it thrive.  We will have to address the high cost of land, feed, availability of water, and market reach.  The state has the resources to do this, but we will have to convince our political leaders that this is a priority, and we should commit the resources and effort to make it happen.  What we need, is leadership.

Agricultural Leadership Program

I am incredibly thankful to have had help from the Waimanalo Agriculture Association, who supported my application to join the 2010 Agricultural Leadership Program.  The program is run by the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i, which recognizes that a healthy, thriving, sustainable agricultural sector is an important component of Hawai‘i’s future.

Because food and energy security, working ag lands, healthy watersheds, open green space and a diverse economy are key elements in the economic, social and environmental fabric of our community, participation in the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i’s programs is an investment in Hawai‘i and its sustainable future.  I was fortunate to be accepted into the 2010 class of 13 members, and because the program combines strong leadership development content with exposure to organizations, agricultural operations and community networks, I hope to get an opportunity to better understand the complex relationships that create challenges which demand innovative thinking and collaborative decision making to overcome, and advance Hawaii into the 21st century.

Find our more about the Agricultural Leadership Foundation here.

I want to thank all the Kailua residents who lent their support to oppose the tax increase on maintenance fees and association fees.  If you live in an apartment, a condominium or an association, keeping up with rising fees is difficult as is, and there were other ways to balance the budget that would not impact the average working family.  At the time, Senate Bill 2402 proposed a 1% General Excise Tax increase on all monthly condominium association and maintenance fees to raise revenue for the state. Early on several of us supported an amendment to prevent regular maintenance fees and association fees from being subject to this tax.  However, it failed when only 15 out of 51 of us supported the move.

In the end, however, public support changed the others’ minds and the proposed increase was dropped.  Thank you to everyone who responded to my letter asking for your assistance to oppose this increase; we could not have done it without you.

Conveyance Taxes

Homeowners also faced increases in conveyance taxes.  House Bill 1741 increased the taxes on any sales or transfers of properties, and also reduced funding for affordable rental housing and land conservation efforts.  Even with many of us in opposition, this bill ended up passing.

Our working families are the backbone of our economy.  We need to continue to work to make Hawaii an easier place to find good jobs and raise a family.  These are some of the important measures that impact the average Hawaii family that came to a vote last Legislative session.

Timely Tax Refunds

Everyone looks forward to getting their tax refunds, and many people rely on them to pay the bills.  When the budget began to drop into the red, the Governor proposed delaying everyone’s tax refunds to save the state $275 million.  While the Legislature doesn’t have the power to stop the Governor, we did pass House Bill 1948 to require that future tax refunds be returned within 90 days, or interest will have to be paid to the taxpayer.

Insurance Tax Increases

Another proposal to balance the budget was House Bill 2851, which would have increased the General Excise Tax on all insurance premiums.  This would have raised the cost of insurance for for everyone because insurance companies would have simply passed this cost on to consumers.  I opposed this bill because we should look elsewhere to balance the budget.  There are easier places to find money that will not impact the average working family.

Senate Bill 2159 is another bill that would add a “pass through” cost to consumers’ bills.  This measure increases the fee to request a traffic abstract from $7 to $20.  Insurance companies regularly request traffic abstracts to determine insurance rates, and this increase would likely be reflected in everyone’s insurance premiums.  I opposed this as well.

Emergency Budget Reserve Fund

The biggest change we can make is to prevent a future recession from having such a heavy impact on our working families and our economy here in Hawaii.  Instead of spending any budget surplus in good years, Senate Bill 2807 requires that a portion of the surplus be set aside as a rainy day fund to prevent school furloughs or layoffs from worsening the economy in the next recession.  Having a real reserve of emergency funding can allow the state to keep core services intact in a recession.  Because government is the only entity that cannot be allowed to fail at any time, and is also the only entity with the resources to truly intervene in an economic crisis, it is important we set aside the resources so we can stop the next recession from impacting our state so badly.  This Constitutional Amendment will be put before voters to decide on the ballot at the General Election.

With the economy down, we should be doing everything we can to support our small business community.  Because of the recession our local businesses recently faced several major hurdles, and the Legislature debated what to do this year:

I co-sponsored House Bill 2169 to protect our small businesses from a 1000% increase in unemployment taxes, automatically triggered by the high number of people who recently lost their jobs and are collecting unemployment.  The Unemployment fund was quickly being depleted, and the automatic increase was designed to keep the fund from running empty.  Unfortunately, the increase was so large that most businesses would be hard pressed to cover that cost.  HB 2169 reduces the automatic ten-fold increase in unemployment taxes for small businesses, and allows the fund to be replenished over time.  The Hawaii Chamber of Commerce explained that, “Without… relief, more than 5,000 employees could be put out of work.”

Opposing Increases

Taxes pay for our government services, but increases in taxes can also have unintended consequences.  After hearing from many small business owners, it became clear thousands would be affected by the proposed increase in income taxes in House Bill 1747, because business income is often reported through income tax filings.  Without a better way to distinguish the two, I ended up as one of only 12 Representatives to oppose this measure.

Another important bill that would impact our small businesses was Senate Bill 1641.  The purpose of this bill was to generate more revenue for the state by cashing in on a one-time take of tax dollars from small business tax filings.  The idea was to move the General Excise Tax filing date up from the end of the month, to the 20th day of that month.  While this would put cash in the state’s coffers early, it would also leave many small businesses scrambling to find the money to pay their taxes early.  Many small companies don’t keep excess revenue sitting around, and the trouble it would cause did not seem worth the one-time revenue gain for the state.  I ended up being one of only fifteen Representatives to oppose this bill.

Lanikai Elementary to be Energy Independent

$500,000 was included in this year’s state budget to purchase a solar photo-voltaic rooftop array for Lanikai Elementary School.  The goal is to make the school net-zero, that is, it will produce as much energy as it consumes over a year, and will save big as conventional energy prices continue to rise in the future.  Lanikai has been exploring different options for solar power for some time, and this funding will finally give them the opportunity to bring these plans to reality.  The project can begin as soon as the Governor releases our $500,000 appropriation.

Funding for other schools includes:

Blanche Pope Elementary School New Perimeter Fence $150,000

Boys & Girls Club/Kailua Intermediate School  New Athletics Wing $1,500,000

Enchanted Lake Elementary Covered Walkway $30,000

Kaelepulu Elementary Replace Walkway $175,000

In 2009 I had the honor of being invited to give the Graduation Commencement speech at Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School, and in both 2009 and again in 2010, at Lanikai Elementary School.  It was a real honor to be able to speak to our graduating 6th graders about what they had accomplished, but more importantly, what is yet to come.  The responsibility they will one day bear for taking an active role in our community is already an important point to make, and I made sure to bring it to their attention.

Whether it is attending the Waimanalo Elementary Hoike or volunteering at the Lanikai Elementary Haunted House, I’ve met some great parents and teachers, and look forward to continuing to stay involved in our schools.

Capitol Field Trips

I’ve had a lot of fun learning how to explain the three branches of government and our legislative process to classes of all ages.  Numerous grades and classes from all our public schools have visited the Capitol, and the best part of this job has to be giving them a tour and talking to them about everything we do here, and what they can do to get involved.  I’ve also had individual parents bring their kids down to get a tour and talk story, and if you think there is a group of kids you know that might want to learn a little more about civic responsibility and how to take an active role in our community, please do not hesitate to call me and I will be happy to set something up.

With education reform on the agenda, they worked amongst themselves to discuss and write two House Resolutions that I introduced in the House of Representatives on their behalf.

HR 187 calls on the Department of Education to expand the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) programs in high schools.  AVID is a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges.

HR 188 asks the Department of Education to explore an increase in the number of instructional days in the school year.  Fortunately, this call was heard and a bill I co-sponsored, HB 2486, mandating an increased number of instructional hours each year passed into law.  Read more about that bill here.

Thanks very much to our 2010 Kailua High School interns, and congratulations on your graduation from high school!  If you have high school students that you would like to give new opportunities to and open new doors for, please contact me.  I am always eager to see if we can accommodate them.