Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – The House of Representatives passed 197 bills on third reading today, moving
them to the Senate for their consideration. The bills include measures on
election reform, climate change and the environment, minimum wage, education,
public safety, crime, taxes, and other important issues.
Here are some of today's
highlights:
Elections
HB709
HD1 Proposes an
amendment to the Hawaiʻi State
Constitution to allow the Legislature to enact laws regarding how recounts are
conducted in an election.
HB428
HD1 Requires an
automatic recount of votes cast for a candidate or on a ballot question when
the difference in the number of votes is equal to or less than 100 votes or 0.5
percent, whichever is greater.
HB626 Requires that vacancies in the offices of
United States Senator, State Senator, and State Representative to be filled by
a special election.
HB1248
HD1 Requires
voting by mail for all elections statewide by the 2020 primary election, and
establishes a limited number of voter service centers to receive personal
delivery of mail-in ballots and offer same-day registration and voting.
HB210
HD1 Provides ranked choice method of voting
for all partisan primary elections, special elections, and nonpartisan general
elections held in the state on or
after January 1, 2020.
HB627
HD1 Amends
campaign finance law by requiring that candidate committee reports include
independent expenditures in support or opposition of a clearly identified
candidate, that the Campaign Spending Commission notify candidates of
independent expenditures and publish the information on its website, and that
noncandidate committees disclose all contributors for advertisements.
Climate Change and the Environment
HB461
HD1 Requires the
Hawaiʻi
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission to address the impacts of
sea level rise by identifying critical public infrastructure in impacted areas,
identifying priority areas that will be subject to high rates of coastal
erosion, developing a sea level rise adaptation plan, and reporting to the
Legislature before the 2021 Regular Session about how to move forward with
concrete strategies for mitigation and adaptation.
HB549
HD1 Requires new developments to plan for
the impacts of projected sea level rise and prohibits development in areas
significantly affected by projected sea level rise.
HB765
HD1 Requires the incorporation of sea level rise
projections in all new plans and updates to existing state plans generated
under the Hawaiʻi State
Planning Act.
HB1487
HD1 Establishes
the Honolulu shoreline climate protection pilot project to develop a plan to
protect urban Honolulu from the acute impacts of sea level rise, floodwater,
storms, and other impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
HB1121
HD1 Requires the Commission on Water
Resource Management to update
the Hawaiʻi water
plan by addressing issues
including climate change and sea level rise to ensure protection and management
of water resources.
HB588
HD1 Requires the
State Sustainability Coordinator of the Office of Planning to complete a
holistic and comprehensive study and plan for green infrastructure
opportunities in the State.
HB855
HD1 Renames the
Building Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund as the Clean Energy Revolving
Loan Fund and expands the fund's purpose to include a broader range of clean
energy technologies. Transfers the fund's administration to the Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority.
HB1585
HD1 Provides
rebates for new electric vehicle charging systems or upgrades to existing electric
vehicle charging systems.
HB1170
HD2 Addresses
cesspool pollution by establishing a
waste management solution pilot project to examine and demonstrate new toilet
and sewage treatment technologies.
Minimum Wage
HB1191
HD1 Increases
minimum wage rates annually from January 1, 2020 through January 1, 2024, with
lower minimum wage rates for employees who receive employer-sponsored health
benefits.
HB96
HD1 Authorizes
each county to establish a minimum wage that is a higher wage than the state
minimum wage.
Education
HB1275
HD1 Provides
annual salary step increases and triennial longevity increases for public
school teachers and educational officers who have completed a year's
satisfactory service and comply with existing licensure and certification
requirements.
HB247
HD1 Appropriates funds for the Department of
Education to install air conditioning in public schools that prioritize the
project.
HB251
HD1 Appropriates funds for laptop or tablet
computers to be used by teachers and students for digital teaching and
learning.
Driving Under the Influence
HB703
HD1 Prohibits
any person convicted of Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an
Intoxicant or Habitually Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an
Intoxicant from purchasing or publicly consuming alcohol for a probation period
following sentencing or administrative license revocation.
Crime
HB
1264 HD1 Authorizes the court to decree a forfeiture
of an employee's retirement
benefits if the employee is convicted of
a felony related to the performance of the employee's job.
HB508
HD1 Requires
persons arrested for felony sexual offenses to provide a DNA sample, and
provides for the destruction of DNA samples and expungement of a DNA database
profile when appropriate.
Public Safety
HB456
HD2 Requires the Director of Public Safety
to develop policies and procedures to govern the use of force, including
training and equipment, by deputy sheriffs, and requires less-than-lethal use of force training.
HB1176
HD1 Authorizes law enforcement officers of
the Department of Transportation to use electric guns while performing their
duties, and requires the officers
to be accredited by June 30, 2024, for the use of electric guns.
Housing
HB476
HD1 Appropriates funds into
to the Rental Housing Revolving Fund for the
construction of low-income housing.
Federal Workers
HB1195
HD1 Establishes the Federal Furlough Loan
Program to provide loans to eligible federal workers affected by the federal
shutdown, and provides
an emergency appropriation to carry out the purposes of the loan program.
Individual Development Accounts
HB334
HD1 Expands the
eligibility for state-funded individual development accounts to include
households with income up to 100 percent of the area median income, and expands
the allowable uses of account funds to include rental housing, transportation,
and small business development.
Transient Accommodations Tax
HB631
HD1 Authorizes
each county to impose a surcharge on the transient accommodations tax, and
repeals state distributions of the tax revenues to the counties.
Real Estate Investment Trusts
HB475
HD1 Disallows
any deduction from state income taxes for the dividends paid by real estate
investment trusts.
Childhood Sexual
Abuse
HB18
HD1 Repeals statutory limitations on the
time period in which a survivor of childhood sexual abuse may file suit.
Family Leave
Kupuna Caregivers Program
HB467
HD1 Requires the
Executive Office on Aging to include details on outcomes of the Kupuna
Caregivers Program in its annual report to the Legislature, and to create a
plan to offer core services and maximize the number of participants in the
program. Changes the Kupuna Caregivers Program allocation cap to qualified
caregivers.
Electric Foot Scooters
HB754
HD1 Regulates
the use of electric foot scooters by giving those who ride the scooters the
same duties and rights as bicycle riders, and prohibits anyone under eighteen
from operating an electric foot scooter.
The deadline for House
bills to pass third reading in order to move to the Senate is March 7.
Click here
for a list of all 328 bills passed by the House of Representative so far this
session.
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