For now, the Superferry spotlight is on the Legislature - will they come back into session, what will the legislation allow, will it be enough to keep the ferry in the islands??? Today, the House Majority met in a closed caucus room to discuss all of the above. The Senate meets tomorrow at 1 p.m., and a decision on a special session is not expected until early next week.The purpose of the caucus was to inform members on the ramifications of Judge Cardoza's ruling, to brief members on the meeting held yesterday between Speaker, Senate President and the Governor, to go over the procedures and time frame of a special session, and to discuss possible legislation.
About a dozen protesters greeted the lawmakers as they walked into Room 325 at the Capitol for the meeting. Following the caucus, House leadership made the following points to media:
- There is general consensus that House majority members will agree to come back into special session to resolve the Superferry issue, but the devil is in the details on how to accomplish that.
- The House, Senate and Governor agreed that the Governor will call the special session after reviewing draft legislation provided by the Attorney General. The House will not call itself back into session, and leadership has never contemplated or recommended calling itself back into special session.
- The Attorney General is preparing draft legislation for the legislature to consider. The proposed bill should be in the hands of leadership to review by some time tomorrow.
6 comments:
If the AG's draft legislation will be in the hands of "leadership" tomorrow, how about sharing it with the rest of us at the same time so the public can have some meaningful input into the decision? Producing a bill in secret, then ramming it through the Legislature unchanged, is the best possible way to guarantee public opposition to whatever result the insiders agree on.
Please I have a small wood working business on the Big Island. I would like to use the ferry to send my workers and trucks to other island for jobs. Its not fair for Serria Club to ruin our
business. They and Maui tommorow do not want any more people on Maui. Its in both their posted goals for Hawaii. Please take control of this situation. Thank you Gary Dalton Big Isle Wood Works Keaau Hi
Mr. Dalton,
You and all of us in the outer islands live with our concious choice to live on a remote island every day. When you started your business, you did so without any presumption of possible opportunities on other islands. There is no shame in trying to capitalize on a new business opportunity, but it is wrong to assume that just because you can make an extra buck with HSF in place, that this is the right thing for all of us.
I second the first commenter's request to have the draft legislation published for review ASAP. Barring that, an explanation of why it needs to remain secret.
Mahalo.
Dear legisltors, you have no idea how large a firestorm of opposition you will ignite if you break our environmental lawfor this company. Think also of what public reaction will be if a whale gets killed or injured. People will come to the aid of the whale, not the boat. Don't launch that boat by making an exception for it.
Since Hawaii Superferry has been threatening to relocate its operations outside Hawaii, do the employee layoffs announced today trigger the notice requirements of Section 394D-9, H.R.S., regarding Dislocated Workers, and if so, has Hawaii Superferry complied with those requirements?
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