Other passed measures relate to guns,
electric vehicles, drinking in nearshore waters
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – The House of Representatives passed 128 bills on third reading today,
moving them to the Senate for its consideration. The bills include, the Our Care, Our Choice bill on medical aid in dying, removing
abandoned vehicles, making bump stocks on guns illegal, prohibiting liquor
consumption in nearshore waters, funding ambulance services, supporting the Pu‘uhonua homeless village, providing
more electric vehicle support, and other important issues.
House Speaker Scott K. Saiki said lawmakers are addressing a number of critical
issues including needed services for homeless people, supporting affordable
housing for low- and middle-income working families, and protecting the people
of Hawaiʻi.
"When we began
this legislative session, the House of Representatives took the position that
we would prioritize critical, unfinished business. This included medical aid in
dying and homelessness and housing initiatives," said Representative Saiki (McCully, Kāheka,
Kakaʻako, Downtown). "House
members have taken tough positions on complicated issues because they, like the
general public, do not want to defer decisions on some of the most important
issues facing our state."
Here are some of today's
highlights:
HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS
HB2014
Requires the Governor to identify available state land for the establishment of
a homelessness village and establishes the Pu‘uhonua Homeless
Villages program.
HB2021
Requires the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the Department
of Health, to establish a pilot project to operate a facility to provide shelter
and mental health treatment for homeless individuals with severe mental illness.
HB2746 Amends
Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, to clarify the duties of the Special
Action Team on Affordable Rental Housing. The bill ensures that the Special
Action Team focuses on the creation of rental housing for extremely low-income
households.
HB2750 Amends
the basis and rate for the conveyance tax, exempts affordable housing projects
from the tax, and increases allocations of the conveyance tax to the Land
Conservation Fund and the Rental Housing Revolving Fund.
HB2748
Requires the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to conduct a
study on the current and future demand and supply of affordable housing
suitable for individuals with special needs.
HB2694
Requires the Department of Health to waive all fees for the issuance of
certified copies of birth certificates for any individual who is homeless,
provided the individual's homeless status is corroborated by a verification
letter issued by a homeless service provider.
HB2747 Encourages first-time
homebuyers to save for the purchase of a home by making changes to the
Individual Housing Accounts which are savings vehicles that help people buy
their first homes
PUBLIC SAFETY
HB1908
Prohibits manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, and possession of bump fire
stocks, multiburst trigger activators, and trigger cranks.
HB2617
Prohibits liquor consumption by bathers within one thousand yards of any beach
or shoreline in the State.
HB2051 Appropriates funds for grants to maintain the weed and seed strategy,
which is a collaborative effort to reclaim, restore, and rebuild communities.
HB1849
Requires police departments to disclose to the Legislature the identity of an
officer upon the officer's second or subsequent suspension in a five‑year
period or discharge.
HB2454
Establishes a three-year Correctional Industries Former Inmate Employment Pilot
Project within the Department of Public Safety to assist former inmates as they
reenter society.
HB2070
Requires the Attorney General to investigate an alleged violation of state law
by a county police officer if the prosecuting attorney of the county that
employs the police officer has declined to prosecute the police officer and the
victim of the alleged violation submits a written request to investigate the
alleged violation.
HB2133
Specifies that citizen complaints against a police officer that involve
allegations of domestic abuse by the police officer against a family or
household member shall not be required to be filed as a notarized or sworn
written statement.
HB2588
Authorizes the courts to impose an extended term of imprisonment for an
offender who is convicted of negligent homicide in the first degree and did not
remain at the scene of the crime and render reasonable assistance to an injured
person.
HB2481 Makes
it easier to arrest people for illegal dumping of garbage. Clarifies that
probable cause for arrests by law enforcement officers of illegal dumping
offenders may be based upon statements from witnesses and photographs, video,
and other recordings that can be authenticated by one or more witnesses.
HB2399 Clarifies the definition of "drug"
for purposes of the offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of an
intoxicant. This measure specifies that a drug for these purposes includes any
substance that can impair the ability of a person to operate a vehicle safely.
HEALTH
HB2739 Our Care, Our Choice bill. Establishes a
regulated process under which an adult resident of the State with a medically
confirmed terminal disease and less than six months to live may choose to
obtain a prescription for medication to end their life.
HB1602
Permits the inclusion of a label warning of the risks of addiction and death on
the packaging of any opioid drug dispensed by a health care professional or
pharmacist.
HB2741
Establishes the Medical Cannabis Insurance Reimbursement Working Group to
address the complexities surrounding the topic of making medical cannabis
reimbursable by health insurance.
HB2384
Supports the efforts to prevent opioid epidemic. Updates Uniform Controlled
Substances Act for consistency with federal law. Allows prescription of drugs
to patients undergoing medically managed withdrawal, also known as
detoxification treatment and maintenance treatment, by practitioners who are
properly registered.
HB2399
Clarifies the definition of "drug" in chapter 291E, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, regarding the use of intoxicants while operating a vehicle to include
any substance that impairs a person.
HB1676
Appropriates money to the Department of Health for ambulances throughout the
state.
HB2391 Supports and enhances implementation
of a balanced and coordinated public safety/public health strategy to address
opioid and other substance abuse issues in our state. Authorizes
disclosure of information collected by the Electronic Prescription
Accountability System to authorized employees of the Department of Health's
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division and Emergency Medical Services and Injury
Prevention System Branch.
HOTEL ROOM TAX/TOURISM
HB2605
Provides that a county shall be eligible to receive an unspecified amount from
the State for the purpose of enforcing all applicable laws and ordinances
relating to transient accommodations, provided that no funds shall be released
to a county until it has satisfactorily complied with specified conditions.
Makes an appropriation from TAT revenues.
HB1828
Allocates matching funds from transient accommodations tax revenues to the
Hawaii Tourism Authority to support initiatives, in conjunction with the Hawaii
Lodging and Tourism Association, to mitigate the negative impacts on
communities caused by tourism activity.
HB2010
Forgives the debt owed to the State by the Hawaii Tourism Authority for
Convention Center construction costs and related interest. Amends the transient
accommodations tax revenue allocation to the Convention Center Enterprise
Special Fund.
MILITARY AFFAIRS
HB2698
Appropriates moneys for the commemoration of the centennial anniversary of
World War I and the men and women who served in the war.
ENVIRONMENT
HB2106
Requires the Environmental Council to adopt and maintain rules requiring all
environmental assessments and environmental impact statements prepared pursuant
to HRS Chapter 343 to include consideration of sea level rise based on the best
available scientific data regarding sea level rise.
HB2107 Establishes the Plastic Pollution Initiative
Program with the mission to eliminate plastic waste impacting native species
and polluting the State's environment. Establishes the Plastic Pollution
Advisory Council to collect data regarding plastic pollution and provide
recommendations to eliminate plastic waste.
HB2274
Expands the State's existing electric vehicle charging requirements to include
parking lots for multi-unit buildings and workplaces.
HB2653 Supports a managed and orderly shoreline
retreat strategy in the case of sea level rise by authorizing the Board of Land
and Natural Resources to provide qualified coastal landowners, who have
privately owned structures situated on previously private land that has become
submerged public land due to erosion and sea level rise, with short duration
term easements at values determined by the board to enable these landowners to
consider alternatives to ultimately relocate these private structures landward
of the shoreline setback line.
LABOR
HB2598
Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish paid
family leave for all workers by January 1, 2020. The bill provides the foundation to implement
a framework of laws and policies for paid family leave so that all employees
can access leave benefits during times when they need to provide care for a
family member.
HB2137 The purpose of this measure is to address pay
disparity between men and women who do similar work. Prohibits prospective employers from requesting or
considering a job applicant's wage or salary history as part of an employment
application process or compensation offer. Prohibits enforced wage secrecy and
retaliation or discrimination against employees who disclose, discuss, or
inquire about their own or coworkers' wages.
JUDICIARY
HB1850
Clarifies that the offense of promoting pornography for minors does not apply
to a legal guardian of a minor.
HB1852
Clarifies that the prurient interest referenced in the definition of
"pornographic for minors" does not relate specifically to the minor.
HB1847
Extends the period during which a victim of child sexual abuse may bring an
otherwise time-barred civil action against the victim's abuser or an entity
with a duty of care.
HB1851
Defines "in loco parentis" for purposes of exemption under Hawaii's
obscenity laws.
HB1650
Authorizes disclosure of the disposition of an assessment from an investigation
into an allegation or report of child abuse and neglect that was confirmed by
DHS and occurred within a group child care home or a group child care center to
parents or guardians of a child enrolled in the home or center at the time of
the alleged abuse or neglect or to parents or guardians who have submitted an
application or request to place their children in that home or center.
HB2072
Prohibits certain restraints and tethers that endanger, or deny sustenance, to
a dog.
HB1906 Makes
intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to a health care worker a
Class C felony.
TRANSPORTATION
HB2442
Requires the counties to take custody of abandoned vehicles on public roads
within 10 business days. Removes the requirement that written notice be sent to
the abandoned vehicle's owner. Requires the designated agency to give the
abandoned vehicle's owner 20 business days to claim the vehicle, unless it is
reported as stolen. Authorizes the designated county agency to waive the
requirements for public auction in all cases. Specifies that a vehicle shall be
considered derelict if there is no current registration for the vehicle.
HB1632
Requires all individuals operating a bicycle to ride within a bicycle lane, if
a bicycle lane is available for use, and provides for the assessment of fines
for each violation.
HB1620
Establishes the Vehicle Repair Practices Task Force to study and report on
vehicle repairs made with original equipment manufacturer parts versus
aftermarket parts and the effects of the use of such parts on automobile
insurance coverage and costs.
HB2589
Authorizes the Department of Transportation under certain conditions to
designate shoulders upon which the Department may authorize the driving of
motorcycles.
TECHNOLOGY
HB2651
Establishes a process to upgrade and support next-generation wireless broadband
infrastructure throughout the State. Establishes a permitting, application,
review, and approval process for broadband or wireless service providers to
install broadband or wireless facilities on state or county solely-owned
utility poles, or install associated utility poles, in the right of way.
HB2471
Creates the Hawaii Digital Gaming Commission within the Office of Consumer
Protection to oversee and monitor predatory and exploitative practices in
digital games.
HB2727
Establishes certain disclosure requirements for publishers of video games that
contain a system of purchasing a randomized reward.
AGRICULTURE
HB2670
Requires the Department of Agriculture to create a farmers' market
dollar-for-dollar matching program for beneficiaries of the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program.
CAMPAIGN SPENDING
HB1659
Repeals the requirement that noncandidate committee organizational reports
include information regarding contributions.
HB1661
Requires a candidate committee or noncandidate committee to inform the Campaign
Spending Commission if the candidate committee or noncandidate committee does
not intend to receive or spend contributions and expenditures that aggregate
more than $1,000 in an election period.
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