Opening Day 2013

This morning, the 27th Hawaii State Legislature opened session. 2013 marks the return of Joe Souki as Speaker of the House. Representatives John Mizuno and Scott Saiki were voted in as Vice-Speaker and Majority Leader.

The new House leadership began by thanking Speaker Emeritus Calvin Say and Rep. Marcus Oshiro for their responsible leadership that kept Hawaii on the right course despite the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Speaker Souki cited improvements in tourism and construction numbers as well as a drop in unemployment as reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the state of the State. He laid out the goals of the session, including investments in infrastructure, environmental protection, and education, which will be paid for by raising revenues in ways that don't impact people with lower incomes and the middle class.

After a few years of subdued festivities in accordance with $2 billion in budget cuts resulting from the Great Recession, music and celebration returned to Opening Day. Maui's own Willy K headlined the entertainment, which also included the McKinley High School Choir. Both dedicated their performance to the late Senator and McKinley alumnus Daniel Inouye and included renditions of his favorite song, "Oh Danny Boy."

Governor Abercrombie, Lieutenant Governor Tsutsui, Senator Schatz, Chief Justice Recktenwald, former Senator Daniel Akaka, Honolulu Mayor Caldwell, and a number of other distinguished guests were in attendance for a day that was a beginning of a new session and a tribute to the late Senator Inouye.  

Pro-Business Legislators

The September issue of Hawaii Business Magazine is all about "Seeking the Business Vote". One of the stories focuses on the Hawaii State Legislature and a recent survey of business leaders on which legislators are the most business-friendly. Read the story, written by long-time political observer and former Honolulu Advertiser political reporter/editorial page editor Jerry Burris, here.

Three members of the House majority were included in the "frequently named" category: House Speaker Calvin Say, Rep. Bob Herkes, and Speaker Emeritus Joe Souki.

Photo: Hawaii Business Magazine. Speaker Say and Carol Pregill, President of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii

Another story of interest in the same issue is "SmallBiz Guide to Power" - all about using business and trade organizations to participate in the legislative process and to make sure your voice is heard. Most small businesses don't have the time or ability to come down to the legislature to testify and visit lawmakers. These organizations all have government affairs or some sort of government advocacy program through which business owners can work on issues important to them.

Gambling - Open for discussion in 2010

The following op-ed appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday, February 14, 2010.

Well-run operation will enhance state's image as visitor destination
By Rep. Joe Souki

When I talk about gambling for Hawai'i, I don't mean Las Vegas, which is a gambling destination. I don't mean a state lottery, which creates few jobs and does not bring new money into the state. I don't mean a quick fix just because our economy is in poor shape right now. For all of those reasons, gambling would be a mistake.

What I do mean is a single, stand-alone casino, separate and apart from established hotels, restaurants and other facilities in Waikīkī, where visitors and residents can go for entertainment.
Hawai'i used to be a premier resort destination, but our star has become dull. If we want to recapture our first-class standing with Mainland and international visitors, we need to offer new activity as part of a long-range plan to refresh tourism development. Carefully planned, the right kind of gambling will complement our natural beauty, support the significant infrastructure already in place, and benefit Hawai'i for the future.

Here's why:

• New jobs will be created.

An economic impact analysis prepared in 2000 identified increases in construction jobs to build the casino as well as permanent jobs at the casino. The casino activity will attract more visitors to Waikīkī, and that will create more jobs at the hotels, restaurants and other businesses that support tourism. In addition, the casino will be a purchaser of goods and services, also supporting job creation. The report was based on building two casinos, creating 19,575 new jobs. Therefore, one casino may net 9,000 to 10,000 new jobs.

• A casino will generate new revenue for the state.

The same report concludes that significant revenue will come from the casino, which will pay some form of gaming tax based upon total gaming revenues, state income taxes from the jobs created and sales/excise taxes on non-gaming spending such as food, beverage and lodging. For one casino built, the report estimates that total governmental revenues generated could exceed $50 million annually.

The fear and loathing of gambling by opponents must be addressed head-on. No one wants to go forward with an activity that will be detrimental to the public.

Will there be an increase in crime? The federal government's National Gambling Impact Study cited a report which studied 10 districts with casinos and found "little documentation of a causal relationship" between casinos and crime, and that "taken as a whole, the literature shows that communities with casinos are just as safe as communities that do not have casinos."

A casino in Waikīkī should not add to crime. People turn to crime when they need money for drugs or are unemployed. By creating jobs and increasing revenue, a casino may help those who would otherwise turn to crime, and the money generated could be used for much needed social programs.

Will a casino lead to an increase in addicted gamblers? The sad reality is that those with an addiction are already finding ways to feed their gambling addiction, through frequent trips to Las Vegas or at illegal places in Hawai'i.

There is no state program that currently addresses this problem, and there should be. If the state goes forward with a casino, legislation should include a provision to fund assistance programs for gambling addiction.

Will Hawai'i's image be tarnished? The opposite is true. Done the right way, a well-run casino will help Hawai'i's image as a visitor destination. We don't aim to be a gambling destination. People come to Hawai'i for the tropical beauty and that will never change. However, repeat visitors will look for new activities and entertainment, especially in the evenings.

While Hawai'i faces a severe economic downturn, this may be the opportune time when people will be more open to the concept of allowing gambling in our state. Let me be clear that this is not a quick fix for our current budget woes.

It will take several years to plan, design and build a single casino. No one can deny that without tourism our economy will die, and our state leaders must plan now to keep Hawai'i competitive as a world-class visitor destination. A casino should be part of an overall vision for Hawai'i's future.

Rep. Joe Souki, D-8th (Wailuku, Waihe'e, Waiehu), is speaker emeritus of the House of Representatives. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.

Maui lawmakers weigh in on DOE furloughs

The Maui News today printed an article previewing the types of legislation state lawmakers may propose this session to end state teacher furloughs and get students back in the classroom. The 2010 Legislative Session opens tomorrow, and lawmakers have until Wednesday, January 27, 2010 to introduce bills.

You can read the entire article here.

Or read excerpts of what some members of Maui's delegation had to say:

• "State Rep. Gil Keith-Agaran has joined his seven freshman colleagues in the House in proposing that the state Department of Education be mandated to offer 190 instructional days per school year."

• "State Rep. Joe Souki, a Democrat who serves Central Maui residents, said the mandate of 190 instructional days is 'fine, but where are you going to find the money for that? . . . You can't mandate something if you don't have the money for it.'

Souki is seeking support for a proposal to raise the general excise tax by 1 percentage point for five years and dropping the personal income tax rate to 8 percent."

• "'It's a collective-bargaining issue, so it's difficult for us to step in,' (Rep. Kyle) Yamashita said. 'Sure, we would all like to be involved in these negotiations, but it is governed by law that we can't. If we step in, we could open ourselves up to lawsuits, and I think that's where the Legislature needs to be careful.'"

• "State Rep. Angus McKelvey, a Democrat serving West Maui residents, said he was reviewing proposals, including one to dedicate $1 of the state's oil tax to restoring instructional days. His proposal would be an alternative to other measures, such as raising the general excise tax."

Reps in the News

Rep. Joe Souki sounds the alarm for Maui agriculture and the island's vulnerability to alien species should state inspectors be laid off. Maui news story here.

Rep. Jessica Wooley was interviewed by KHON2 over the weekend on how Windward Oahu is bracing for Felicia. Story by Olena Heu here.

Rep. Marcus Oshiro is featured in a story on prohibiting employers' use of credit history checks for hiring/firing decisions. Hawaii is one of two states to adopt the policy - more states may follow. Story here.

Rep. Kyle Yamashita donated money to help the Maui Interscholastic League so that they can continue playing school football games at night. This allows more of the players' families, friends and supporters to attend the games. Story here.

Fundraiser benefits Maui and Hawaii Food Banks

Speaker Emeritus Joseph Souki, Vice Speaker Michael Magaoay and Representative Karen Awana held a silent auction and white elephant produce sale. The lawmakers want to thank everyone who participated for their generous donations for the event. The funds raised will benefit the Maui and Hawaii Food Banks.

Honoring Hawaii's Kahuna Nui

Leimomi Mo'okini Lum was honored today in a floor presentation sponsored by Rep. Joe Souki. She was recognized for her outstanding service in protecting and perpetuating Hawai'i's acient cultural heritage.

Momi, as everyone calls her, was chosen as Kahuna Nui, the spiritual and physical guardian and caretaker of the Mo'okini Luakini Hei'au, which is registered as a national historic landmark. Upon becoming the Kahuna Nui, Momi lifted the sacred kapu that reserved the Hei'au for royalty and human sacrifices, making it safe for anyone to enter the site. Momi founded and organized the Na Mano O Hawaii Nei, and formulated and implemented Children's Day. In 2009, she began the construction of the Mo'okini Educational Complex, a permanent site to continue her work with children to preserve and the culture of Hawaii.

In Photo: Rep. Joe Souki with Leimomi Mo'okini Lum, who was honored by the House of Representatives for her work with the community enriching promoting the cultural and religious traditions of old Hawai'i.

Hawaii Foodbank Events Mar/April

More events to benefit the Hawaii Foodbank have been added to the calendar. Here are a few of the new additions:

White Elephant Sale on April 13 sponsored by Reps. Karen Awana, Joe Souki and Michael Magaoay.

Bento sale on March 25. Pre-order with Rep. Tom Brower.

Okuhara Deluxe saimin sale on March 30 with Rep. Denny Coffman.

Mistken Chicken Plate and Liliha Coco Puffs on March 31 sponsored by Rep. Corinne Ching.

Check out the calendar in House Links for more fundraisers sponsored by House and Senate lawmakers.

Maui Reps speak out on veto targets

Maui News ran a story today on lawmakers urging the Governor not to veto certain bills, and rallying supporters to contact her as well.

As presented in the post below, Rep. Angus McKelvey (District 10 - Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua, Maalaea, Kihei, North Kihei) is most appalled by the possible veto of his bill to develop an emergency access plan for West Maui, particularly when Honoapiilani Highway (the only ingress and egress) is shut down by natural disaster.

"McKelvey said he included the provision to exempt a contract from the procurement code because traffic management consultant, Jim Charlier, of Charlier Associates Inc. of Boulder, Colo., is willing to do the work for $50,000. Other outside consultants would charge four times that amount. If Charlier, who has worked on West Maui transportation issues in the past, doesn't pan out, McKelvey said some local transportation consultants said they would come in and take a pay cut to do the job."

Rep. Joe Bertram (District 11 - Makena, Wailea, Kihei), said he wasn't surprised that his Medical Marijuana task force bill, HB2675, was on the list.

"When Bertram introduced his marijuana-related bills this spring, Lingle announced at a Maui public event that she would do whatever is within her power to make sure those bills do not become law. Lingle also chastised the media for devoting coverage to Bertram's bills."

Rep. Joe Souki (District 8 - Wailuku, Waihee, Waiehu, Puuohala, Waikapu), as Transportation Chair, is most concerned about HB2250, a bill to establish a commission to implement regulation of inter-island airline carriers.

"Lingle argued that the bill reduces incentives for the airlines to behave efficiently and discourages healthy competition. It also runs against the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Lingle said."

However, Speaker Emeritus Souki believes that Hawaii is so dependent on interisland airlines that regulation is needed to make the airlines more accountable and to stabilize ticket prices. Besides, the law would not take effect unless there was federal legislation enacted to allow the implementation.

Two Joes and a Highway

The big news on Maui yesterday was the dedication of the final phase of the Mokulele Highway widening project, finally completed after years of funding requests and construction impacts. The total project cost $87 million and involved widening and realigning 6.5 miles of highway from Puunene Ave. in Kahului to Piilani Highway in Kihei. The old, two-lane highway was considered dangerous to travel and would flood during rain storms due to its low elevation.

The new, widened highway is four lanes and elevated with drainage structures. The Maui News story quoted Rep. Joe Souki, Speaker Emeritus and House Transportation Chair, who recalled that the initial funding was requested in the late 1990's when he was still Speaker of the House. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin story is here.

There is also a parallel bikeway and pedestrian pathway that are separated from the main road. Bikers and walkers seem pleased with this arrangement, although Rep. Joe Bertram, noted bikeway and trailway enthusiast, said he had mixed feelings about spending millions on highway widening.

“I hope this is the last four-lane road built on Maui. We don’t need any more four-lane highways,” he said.

Speaker Emeritus Souki Testifies on Rate Regulation Bill

It was a scramble and a long shot, but House leaders are still looking at ways to help the interisland airline industry in Hawaii, and late yesterday resurrected a bill that proposes rate regulation. HB2250, Relating to Transportation, establishes a "statutory scheme for the state regulation of interisland air carriers, to the extent permissible under the Constitution and laws of the United States."

The bill was introduced this session by Rep. Bob Herkes. It was referred to the committees on Transportation and Finance. It passed the Transportation committee, chaired by Rep. Joe Souki, passed second reading, but did not get a hearing in Finance, until yesterday at around 3:30 p.m. The push for regulation, of course, has surfaced due to the Aloha Airlines bankruptcy, and the discussion at the informational briefing held on Wednesday. Chair Souki believes that if regulation had been in place, Aloha would still be flying.

So, at the end of the floor session, Rep. Marilyn Lee, Vice Chair of Finance, requested a waiver of the 48-hour notice requirement to hear HB2250, which was granted. There were two testifiers:

Speaker Emeritus Souki started with a laugh, "This is the first time I'm sitting here – now I know what it feels like to be facing the chair and the members – not knowing what my fate is going to be…"

He went on to explain that this bill is not new – it was first passed in 1993, but it needs enabling legislation by the Congress, and that was never acted upon.

He believes that Congress should give Hawaii the authority to regulate interisland air carriers because we are unique. We don't have sufficient highways that connect us to the other counties. As an island state, we need interisland transportation to survive.

"If we had this bill in place, maybe this (meaning Aloha) would not have happened. If we had this in place, we would have a fairer distribution of flights. Areas of the state would be serviced more equally. We need to consider passing this bill so that we won't be in this kind of predicament again, and not allow another predatory airline in the future. The consumer may benefit in the short term from deregulation because of the low fares, but not in the long term. Here in Hawaii, we need regulations."

Wayne Wakeman, a former pilot for Aloha Airlines also testified. Wakeman serves as a spokesman for all of Aloha's unions. Here are some of his comments:

"Ironically, I got the call from Rep. Caldwell's office to come testify on this bill as I was cleaning out my locker at Aloha. I started 30 years ago in customer service at United. At the time, Pan Am was the major airline. And then we had deregulation, and pretty soon we had other airlines coming into Hawaii, like Braniff. It was good for competition.

But for interisland carriers, regulation may be good. It will, believe it or not, stimulate competition. When fares are regulated, people will start to choose an airline based on service, not on price.

Mesa has other routes on the mainland where they can charge high prices. They can charge a low fare here because they have other mainland routes where they can charge high fares and make up for it.

Something needs to be done. Aloha is history. This will help Hawaiian and Mesa. Ironically, it will help Mesa.

Investors should not be afraid to lose money because of a fare war.

Aloha never indicated that they were going to shutdown. When they filed for bankruptcy, we thought that they needed to protect their assets, but they never came to us for concessions. It was a total surprise.

You have to realize that the difference between Aloha and Hawaiian is that Aloha is a privately owned company and Hawaiian is a public company. A private company can't just go to an investor and ask them for another $10 million to cover payroll. Whereas, if you're a public company, you can sell more stocks, and yes, the stock price may come down, but you can make it up."

There was some discussion based on the premise that Congress has already provided an exemption for Alaska, but the House has not been able to confirm that. The measure was passed unanimously with an amendment to strike the repeal date of 6/30/2015, and with Reps Belatti, Rhoads and Meyer voting with reservations.

Facing the Impacts of the Aloha Airlines Bankruptcy

House committees on Transportation (Chair: Rep. Joe Souki), Tourism & Culture (Chair: Rep. Ryan Yamane) and Labor & Public Employment (Rep. Alex Sonson) will hold a joint informational briefing on the Aloha Airlines Bankruptcy situation. The purpose of the briefing is to gather pertinent information on the bankruptcy, its impact on the state, and transitional, short-term and long-term plans to address:

Impact on inter-island travel and service to consumers
Impact on local, national and international tourism
Impact on employees, including unemployment benefits and workforce assistance

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, April 2, 2008
8:30 – 11:45 a.m.

WHERE: State Capitol Auditorium

WHO: The following have been invited to present information:

Transportation: Barry Fukunaga, Governor's Office; DOT Director Brennon Morioka and Deputy Director, Airports Division, Brian Sekiguchi; Blaine Miyasato, Vice President, Customer Service, Hawaiian Airlines.

Tourism: Rex Johnson, Hawaii Tourism Authority; Marsha Weinert, DBEDT Tourism Liaison; Robert Shore, Economist DBEDT, Murray Towill, Hawaii Hotel Association;

Labor: Darwin Ching, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations; Wayne Wakeman, ALPA (Airline Pilots)

Rep. Souki weighs in on Superferry debate

Rep. Joe Souki, Speaker Emeritus and Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, sent his Hawaii Superferry opinion piece to Hawaii daily newspapers yesterday. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin was first to publish it today. While much of the piece focuses on the divisiveness of the issue, there is a section that may be of particular interest to those who followed SB1276 last session. That's the bill that requires an environmental impact statement for state harbor improvements for any vessel carrying passengers and vehicles between islands. Souki says:

"The bill required that a full environmental impact statement was necessary prior to the Superferry's launch. Contrary to what has been reported, the bill that crossed over to the House still required the EIS prior to the ferry's start of operations, and was not a so-called compromise bill. The bill's language was ambiguous, and I received no communication from the Senate to clarify it.
At that time, I chose not to hear the bill in the House. I didn't want to jeopardize the Superferry's ability to start operations this summer by reversing the state's decision at about the same time as the scheduled launch. It would have been a terrible message to send to business. Also, the Superferry had conducted environmental studies outside the formal assessment process. That said, the Supreme Court has ruled that the EA is required, and we must respectfully accept that ruling."

SB1276 is still alive. It has been carried over to the 2008 regular session.