Bills
include heat abatement for schools, crime victims’ rights, body cameras for
police, senior care facility inspections, affordable housing, and the Judiciary
budget
Honolulu, Hawaii –
The state House of Representatives passed today more than 100 Senate measures
dealing with heat abatement for
schools, homelessness and affordable housing, crime victims’ rights, body-worn cameras
for police, the creation of a law enforcement review board, senior care
facility and medical marijuana dispensary inspections, an interisland ferry
study, and the Judiciary budget.
“These bills represent a
broad range of concerns for the state, from affordable housing and homelessness
to interisland transportation,” said Joseph M. Souki, Speaker of the state
House of Representatives. “They address the needs of our keiki, victims
of crime, medical patients, and our kupuna, and go a long way in making life
and lives better in Hawaii. I would like
to thank the representatives, their staff, the state departments, the private
and nonprofit organizations, and every Hawaii resident who took the time to
provide input so that we could create and improve the laws that govern us all.”
Among the bills passed by the House were:
EDUCATION
SB3126 SD2 HD2, which authorizes the issuance of general
obligation bonds and the use of funds from the Green Infrastructure Loan
Program to implement and expedite cooling measures in public school classrooms,
and requires the Department of Education to become net-zero with respect to
energy use by January 1, 2035;
SB2624 SD2 HD1, which provides a state income tax credit for certain expenses paid or
incurred by school teachers, special education teachers, school librarians, and
counselors for supplementary materials used in the classroom, as well as for accompanying
students for educational travel;
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
SB2833 SD2 HD2, which amends the state low-income housing
tax credit and bases the amount of the tax credit on whether a building is
financed by tax-exempt bonds;
SB2566 SD1 HD1, which transfers excess moneys from the
rental assistance revolving fund to the rental housing revolving fund;
SB2563 SD1 HD1, which amends operations of the Hawaii
Public Housing Authority and funding eligibility criteria of the Rental Housing
Revolving Fund to make HPHA projects eligible for loans and grants from the
Revolving Fund and granting the Authority preferences and priority in loan and
grant applications. Requires the
Authority to coordinate with other state agencies in developing transit-proximate
affordable housing;
PUBLIC SAFETY
SB3034 SD1 HD2, known as Marsy’s Law, which proposes a ballot
question for an amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution to provide the
victims of crimes with specific rights related to the criminal justice process;
SB2411 SD2 HD2, which establishes requirements,
restrictions, and implementation timelines for body-worn cameras and vehicle
cameras for county police departments, and appropriates funds for each county
to purchase body-worn and vehicle video cameras;
SB2439 SD1 HD1, which establishes exceptions to the offense
of obstructing government operations and the offense of violation of privacy in
the second degree for a person making a video or audio recording or photograph
of a law enforcement officer while the officer is in the performance of duties
in a public place or under circumstances in which the officer has no reasonable
expectation of privacy;
SB2196 SD2 HD1, which establishes a law enforcement
officer independent review board within the Department of the Attorney General
to investigate incidents of officer-involved death;
SB2816 SD1 HD2, which adds the offense
of criminal trespass onto state lands to the penal code, amends criminal
trespass in the second degree to apply to government agricultural property
regardless of whether it is fenced, enclosed or otherwise secured;
HEALTH
SB2384 SD1 HD1, which requires the Department of Health
to conduct unannounced visits and inspections, including inspections for
relicensing and recertification, for certain state-licensed or state-certified
care facilities and unannounced inspections for license renewals for medical
marijuana production centers and dispensaries;
SB2181 SD2 HD2, which permits
manufacturers of investigational drugs or biological products beginning on
January 1, 2017, to make these drugs and products available to terminally ill
patients under certain conditions;
SB2319 SD1 HD3, which requires health
insurers in the state, including health benefits plans under the Hawaii
Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund and Medicaid managed care programs,
to cover reimbursement for contraceptive supplies intended to last for up to a
12-month period for an insured;
SB3084 SD1 HD2, which authorizes the state
Department of Health to establish a cesspool tax credit or rebate program to
facilitate cesspool conversions or improvements by residents;
TRANSPORTATION
SB2618 SD1 HD2, which directs the state
Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study on establishing an
interisland and intra-island ferry system;
AGRICULTURE
SB1374 SD2 HD2, which requires the
Department of Agriculture to negotiate land exchanges with Dole Food Company,
Inc. to conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified
agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency, and assure the
availability of agriculturally suitable lands for the future;
HIGHER EDUCATION
SB2398 SD2 HD2, which establishes a
collective bargaining unit for graduate student assistants employed by the
University of Hawaii;
ENDANGERED SPECIES
SB2647 SD1 HD2, which prohibits the sale, purchase, trade, possession with intent to
sell, or barter of any part or product, including ivory, from animal species
that are threatened with extinction;
The House also passed the Judiciary
supplemental budget. Both chambers have until Thursday, April 14,
to pass on third reading any remaining bills before the Second Crossover
deadline.
Following the deadline, the amended Senate bills
passed by the House, along with the amended House bills passed by the Senate,
will go into conference committees where House and Senate conferees will
negotiate differences in the measures and determine which will be presented for
final consideration.
For more information on all of the Senate
bills passed by the House so far this session, see the links to the (amended) and (unamended) bills.
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