how major bills fared at the capitol

How major bills fared at the CapitolHere is the status of major bills at the halfway point of the 60-day legislative session. The bills that are alive have passed in at least one chamber ofthe Legislature. The bills that are failing were not approved by either the state House or Senate by Thursday’s procedural deadline. But failing billscan be revived and measures can be rewritten before the session ajourns in May.

GOVERNMENT

PASSING

State budget(HB 200 HD1)

Authorizes $11.5 bil-lion in fiscal year2014 and $11.6 bil-lion in fiscal year2015 for state spend-ing. Sets aside $100 million in fiscalyear 2014 and $105 million in fiscalyear 2015 to addressthe unfunded liabil-ity in the Employer-Union HealthBenefits Trust Fund.(Pending House votethis week.)

PLDC repeal(HB 1133; SB 707SD2)

Repeals the law thatcreated the PublicLand DevelopmentCorp.

Public land transfer(HB 1292 HD1)

Requires legislativeapproval of any sale,exchange, gift ortransfer of publicland.

Public-Private Partnership Authority(SB 215 SD3)

Establishes a newauthority for fiveyears to overseethree developmentprojects.

Voter registration(HB 321 HD1)

Allows for voter reg-istration at pollingplaces on electionday.

Super PACs(HB 1147 HD2)Requires independ-ent expenditurecommittees to iden-tify top donors in po-litical advertising.

Campaign finance(HB 1481 HD2)

Expands a public fi-nancing program forstate House and Sen-ate candidates.

Reapportionment(SB 286 SD1)

Requires state politi-cal boundaries to bedrawn based on thetotal number of per-manent residentsduring the census,including militarypersonnel.

Financial disclosure(SB 848 SD1)

Requires state em-ployees and legisla-tors to discloseannual incomesources that totalmore than theirsalary if the sourceis a registered lobby-ist or lobbying or-ganization.

Banyan Drive(SB 1361 SD2)

Allows the state tolease certain proper-ties along BanyanDrive to HawaiiCounty.

FAILING

Harbors and parksauthorityCreates a new devel-opment authorityfor state harborsand parks thatwould partner withthe private sector onrecreational andleisure projects.

BUSINESS/TAXES

PASSING

Film tax credits(HB 726 HD1; SB 463SD2)

Extends and in-creases a tax creditfor film and digitalmedia production.The Senate versionincludes an infra-structure credit forstudios in WestOahu and Maui.

Film workforce (HB 799 HD3)

Establishes a work-force developmenttraining programthat could offset thewages of new hireson film productionsthat claim tax cred-its. Extends the filmtax credit.

Hawaii Growth Initiative(HB 858 HD1; SB 718SD2)

Creates the HawaiiGrowth Initiativeand provides statemoney to encourageentrepreneurs.

High-tech research(SB 1349 SD2)

Resurrects a taxcredit for high-tech-nology research.

Hotel-room tax(SB 1194 SD2)Extends an increasein the state’s hotelroom tax.

Income taxes(HB 694 HD1)

Ends a 2009 incometax increase a yearearlier than plannedand provides for amiddle-class tax cut.

Asset building(SB 301 SD2)

Creates a stateearned income taxcredit to help low-in-come workers.

Fossil fuels(SB 17 SD2)

Levies the state’sbarrel tax on liquid,gaseous and solidfossil fuels.

Tobacco taxes(SB 492 SD2)

Imposes an excisetax on tobacco prod-ucts other than largecigars to raisemoney for theHawaii cancer re-search special fund.

Tax exemption for farmers(HB 503 HD1)

Provides farmerswith a general excisetax exemption onthe sale of fresh pro-duce intended to beconsumed withinthe state.

FAILING

Casino gamblingGrants a 20-year li-cense for a stand-alone casino inWaikiki. Imposes a15 percent wageringtax on gross re-ceipts.

Hotel-room tax increaseIncreases the hotel-room tax to 11.25percent in July, upfrom 9.25 percent.

EDUCATION

PASSING

School readiness(SB 1093 SD2)

Establishes a schoolreadiness programfor 4-year-olds nolonger eligible forjunior kindergartenin the 2014-2015school year.

Preschool(SB 1095 SD2)

Establishes an earlychildhood educationprogram to movethe state toward uni-versal preschool.

Preschool finance(SB 1084 SD1)Asks voters whetherto amend the stateConstitution and al-low public money tobe spent on privatepreschool.

21st-centuryschools(HB 865 HD1)

Allows the state De-partment of Educa-tion to redevelop upto five public schoolproperties to gener-ate revenue forschool moderniza-tion.

Public school lands(SB 237 SD2)

Establishes a three-year pilot programin the lieutenantgovernor’s office toredevelop two pub-lic school propertiesto generate revenuefor school modern-ization.

UH procurement(HB 114 HD3)

Grants the state pro-curement officer,and not the Univer-sity of Hawaii presi-dent, the oversightof procurement foruniversity construc-tion projects.

UH salary approval(SB 967 SD2)

Requires the Univer-sity of Hawaii Boardof Regents to submitto the Legislature forapproval salaryrange proposals thatare more than twicethe governor’ssalary prior to re-cruiting for univer-sity positions.

Tuition money(SB 624 SD2)

Prohibits usingmoney from the UHtuition and fees spe-cial fund to pay ex-ecutive andmanagerial salariesgreater than$150,000.

UH regent appointments(SB 453)

Asks voters whetherto amend the stateConstitution so thegovernor no longerhas to choose UH re-gents from recom-mendations from anadvisory council.

FAILING

GET for schoolsIncreases the state’s4 percent general ex-cise tax by 1 per-centage point toraise money for pub-lic education.

CONSUMER PROTECTION/LABOR

PASSING

Minimum wage and unemploymentinsurance tax(HB 1028 HD2)

Increases the mini-mum wage from$7.25 to $9 an hourby 2017 and averts ascheduled increasein the unemploy-ment insurance taxon businesses thisyear.

Minimum wage(SB 331 SD2)

Increases the mini-mum wage from$7.25 to $9.25 anhour by 2016 andties future wage ad-justments to theconsumer price in-dex.

Unemployment insurance tax(SB 1272 SD1)

Averts a scheduledincrease in the un-employment insur-ance tax onbusinesses this year.

Unfunded liability(SB 946 SD1)

Suggests several rev-enue streams to ad-dress the unfundedliability in the Em-ployer-Union HealthBenefits Trust Fund.

Labor disputes(HB 151 HD1)

Forces the HawaiiLabor RelationsBoard to resolvecomplaints within aset time frame.

GMO labeling(HB 174 HD2)

Imposes labeling re-quirements on im-ported geneticallymodified produce.

Home care reports(HB 120 HD2)

Allows the state De-partment of Healthand the state De-partment of HumanServices to post ma-jor patient care vio-lation reports ondepartment web-sites.

Construction bids(HB 1374 HD1)

Allows the state toassess prior workwhen evaluatingcontractor bids onconstruction proj-ects and to considerpast performance asa deciding factor.

Social media(HB 713 HD2)

Prohibits employersfrom asking employ-ees or applicants fortheir personal socialmedia account user-names or pass-words.

Foreclosuremediation(SB 1370 SD2)

Promotes mediationin mortgage foreclo-sure cases.

Domestic workers(SB 535 SD1)

Establishes basic la-bor rights and pro-tections fordomestic workers.

FAILING

HelmetsEncourages motor-cyclists to wear hel-mets by offeringdiscounts on countyvehicle taxes.

CRIME

PASSING

Marijuana decriminalization(SB 472 SD1)

Decriminalizes thepossession of up toone ounce of mari-juana but imposes a$1,000 civil fine.

Prostitution(HB 1066 HD1; SB192)

Makes the solicita-tion of minors forprostitution a crime.Requires violators toregister as sex of-fenders.

Restorative justice(HB 182 HD1; SB 61SD1)

Allows courts to re-fer child offenders torestorative justiceprograms.

Mobile devices(HB 980 HD2)

Establishes a statelaw that bans theuse of mobile elec-tronic devices whiledriving that wouldpre-empt countylaws.

Cruelty to animals (SB 978)

Sets mandatory one-year prison terms onoffenders convictedof second-degree an-imal cruelty that in-volves at least fivepet animals.

Pet ownership(SB 9 SD1)

Prohibits convictedfirst-degree animalcruelty offendersfrom owning or liv-ing with pets for atleast five years. Sec-ond-degree offend-ers would not beable to own pets forone year.

Bus stop conduct(HB 31 HD1)

Creates a disorderlyconduct offense forlaying or sleeping onbus stop benchesfor at least one hour.

Red light cameras(SB 693 SD2)

Sets a three-year pi-lot program forcounties to test aphoto red light de-tector system.

Seat belts(SB 4)

Requires all frontand back seat pas-sengers to be re-strained by seatbelts or child seats.

Simulated firearms(SB 2)

Includes the use offake firearms in first-degree terroristicthreatening and rob-bery offenses.

Media shield law(HB 622 HD1)

Makes a law protect-ing journalists fromcompelled disclo-sure of sources orother informationpermanent but ex-pands the excep-tions to theprivilege.

FAILING

Marijuana legalizationAuthorizes people atleast 21 years old toconsume and pos-sess small amountsof marijuana.

HEALTH/SOCIAL SERVICES

PASSING

Public hospitals(SB 1306 SD2)

Allows public hospi-tals in the HawaiiHealth SystemsCorp. to go private.

Public hospitalstask force(HB 1483 HD2)

Establishes a taskforce to determinewhether public hos-pitals should engagein public-privatepartnerships.

Emergency contraception(HB 411 HD2; SB1109 SD2)

Requires hospitalsto provide sexual as-sault victims withemergency contra-ception.

Housing support(HB 518 HD2; SB 91SD2)

Provides money forthe state rental sup-plement program tohelp the workinghomeless and othersobtain permanenthousing.

Asset limit(HB 868; SB 1099SD2)

Eliminates the assetlimit to participatein the TemporaryAssistance forNeedy Families pro-gram.

Long-term care(HB 1 HD2; SB 104SD2)

Calls for a perform-ance study and actu-arial analysis of apublic long-termcare insurance pro-gram.

Smoking bans(SB 945 SD2)

Allows home associ-ations to ban smok-ing in units withmajority approval bytenants or owners.

Autism coverage(SB 668 SD2)

Requires health in-surers to coverautism spectrumdisorder treatment.

Smoking cessation(SB 654 SD1)

Requires health in-surers to cover to-bacco cessationprograms.

Foster care(HB 873 HD2; SB1340 SD2)

Allows eligible fosteryouth to remain inthe foster care sys-tem until their 21stbirthday.

Foster care pay(HB 986 HD1; SB 59SD1)

Increases themonthly board reim-bursement rate forfoster care families.

FAILING

Soda feeImposes a fee of 1cent per ounce onsugary beverages toraise money forstate obesity andchronic disease pre-vention programs.

Same-sex marriageAllows same-sexcouples to marry un-der state law.

ENVIRONMENT

PASSING

Green infrastructure loans(HB 856 HD2; SB1087 SD2)

Establishes a greeninfrastructure loanprogram to providelow-cost financingfor solar throughconsumer electricbills.

Solar tax credits(HB 497 HD3; SB 623SD2)

Gradually reducessolar tax credits thathave proven costlyto the state.

Conveyance tax(SB 1166 SD1)

Increases the con-veyance tax on high-end real estate dealsto help fund water-shed protection.

Biofuel taxes(HB 1409 HD1)

Allocates moneyfrom the barrel taxto the AgribusinessDevelopment Corp.for investment capi-tal to encourage bio-fuel research andproduction.

Historic preservation(SB 1171 SD1)

Authorizes thephased review ofhistoric preserva-tion on developmentprojects.

Pesticide reports(HB 673 HD2)

Requires the stateDepartment of Agri-culture to post infor-mation aboutpesticide use on itswebsite.

Taro protection(HB 484 HD1)

Designates tarogrowing lands asspecial agriculturallands to be pro-tected from develop-ment.

Beach access(HB 17 HD1; SB 1162SD1)

Extends a law thatprohibits landown-ers from allowingvegetation to blockpublic access to theshoreline.

School gardens(HB 478 HD2)

Allows schools togrow food in schoolgardens for con-sumption in schoollunch programs.

Industrial hemp(HB 154 HD2)

Authorizes the stateDepartment of Agri-culture to run a two-year industrial hempremediation and bio-fuel crop pilot pro-gram.

Food resiliency(SB 937 SD2)

Creates a food re-siliency initiativeand task force withinthe state Depart-ment of Agriculture.

FAILING

Bag feeImposes a fee on sin-gle-use checkoutbags to help fundwatershed protec-tion.

MISCELLANEOUS

PASSING

Elections Commission(HB 568 HD1; SB 853SD1)

Requires the stateElections Commis-sion to conduct per-formance reviews ofthe chief election of-ficer every sixmonths. The Senateversion requiressuch reviews aftereach election..

Candidate residency(HB 269 HD1)

Asks voters whetherthe state Constitu-tion should beamended to requirecandidates for stateSenate or House tolive in the districtsthey want to repre-sent for at least oneyear before elec-tions.

Ballot handling(SB 827 SD1)

Prohibits politicalcandidates fromhandling the voterregistration forms orabsentee ballots ofpotential voters.

Impeachment(SB 229 SD1)

Establishes thecauses and meansfor impeaching thegovernor, lieutenantgovernor and ap-pointed officers.

School transportation(SB 1082 SD1)

Gives the state De-partment of Educa-tion more flexibilityover school bus con-tracts to curtailcosts.

Hawaiian language(HB 224 HD3)

Requires the stateDepartment of Edu-cation to develop an-nual Hawaiianlanguage assess-ments for studentsin Hawaiian immer-sion schools.

Steven Tyler Act(SB 465 SD1)

Allows civil lawsuitsagainst photogra-phers who takeunauthorized pho-tos of celebrities en-gaged in personal orfamilial activities athome.

Beer labeling(HB 1314 HD1)

Requires beer withlabels that convey itwas produced inHawaii to indicateotherwise if it wasnot produced in theislands.

Feral birds(HB 619 HD1)

Makes knowinglyfeeding wild or feralbirds a public healthoffense.

Homeless parking(HB 535 HD2)

Designatesovernight parkinglots for homelesswho live in cars.

FAILING

Party affiliationMakes it easier forpolitical parties toensure that candi-dates are eligible torun for office underparty banners.

B4 >> H O N O L U L U S TA R - A D V E R T I S E R >> S U N DAY 3 / 1 0 / 1 3 LOCAL