HB 2518 and SB 2198

Hello all.

HB 2518 and SB 2198 are both still alive and awaiting their final hearings in the Senate Ways & Means Committee (WAM) and the House Finance Committee (FIN), respectively. Both bills are in pretty good shape though they have a few minor differences. As is often the case, the Senate put its provisions into the House bill, and the House put its provisions into the Senate bill.

Please consider dropping a note or leaving a phone message for the WAM and FIN chairs encouraging them to hear these bills:

Senator Rosalyn Baker, Chair, Senate Committee on Ways and Means senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov (808) 586-6070 - ask for a hearing on HB2518 Relating to Land Conservation
Represenative Marcus Oshiro, Chair, House Committee on Finance reposhiro@capitol.hawaii.gov (808) 586-6200 - ask for a hearing on SB2198 Relating to Land Conservation

The bills have until next Thursday (4/3) to get a hearing in WAM and FIN. If even one of the bills gets through this last committee hearing and passes back to its originating body, this will set up a joint House-Senate conference committee process to work out differences in the bills.

Here are links to review the bills' progress to date:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus.asp?query=HB2518&currpage=1&showstatus=on&showtext=on&showcommrpt=on&showtestimony=on
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus.asp?query=SB2198&currpage=1&showstatus=on&showtext=on&showcommrpt=on&showtestimony=on

The biggest challenge this legislation will face is the diminished State revenue projections. Any tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in State revenues. In this economic climate, the Legislature and the WAM and FIN committees are scrutinizing all expenditures and revenue reducing actions.

Of course, other states have experienced significant savings from this kind of legislation while achieving their land preservation goals, e.g., tax credits for conservation easements are exponentially less costly to the State than buying fee titles and managing land itself.

Here again is a Q&A that describes the relevant points of this legislation.

Thank you again for your help in this process,

Mark

Mark Fox
Director of External Affairs
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i
923 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
ph (808) 537-4508
fax (808) 545-2019
mfox@tnc.org