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SB 1318 SD1 A bad bill

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE: SB 1318 SD1

Aloha All,

Some of you may not yet know of the existence of this measure, as it seems to have been flying 'under the radar' this session, but I would like to draw your attention to it now.

SB1318_SD1 proposes to eliminate the State Office of Planning by repealing HRS 225M and repealing outright HRS 205A, the State Coastal Zone Management (CZM) statutes.

The testimony of the Office of Planning spells out more fully the consequences of the measure, but in summary those consequences are:
The elimination of the Office of Planning
The elimination of the statewide coordination of geographical information systems (GIS)
The elimination of the governing 'umbrella' statutes -- all objectives and policies of the CZM program -- for the protection and management all lands in the state and the ocean to the limits of the state's police powers. In many cases these statutes are the basis for other state and county agencies' powers to manage the coastal zone, in terms of:
Recreational resources,
Historic and cultural resources,
Scenic and open space resources,
Coastal ecosystems,
Economic uses,
Coastal hazards,
Managing development,
Public participation,
Beach protection, and
Marine resources
The elimination of Special Management Area (SMA) permits
The elimination of Shoreline Setback Variances
The elimination of all Federal Consistency protections (the state's ability to oversee the federal government's use of Hawaii's coastal resources)
The elimination of the Marine and Coastal Zone Advocacy Council (MACZAC)

While the committee reports cite this as a "belt-tightening" measure, we feel this will cost the state far more than it will save: both in terms of the loss of federal funding for coastal programs; and in the long-term through the loss of our state's most precious land and ocean resources. These resources form the basis of not only our way of life, but also of Hawaii's continued economic viability through its ocean-based industries and its ability to continue to attract tourists to pristine and safe island settings.


As this bill passed out of the Senate today (3/10/2009, by a vote of 19-6) to the House, I humbly ask you all, individually and on behalf of your respective organizations, to examine the measure. If you deem it appropriate, please provide testimony if and when the bill is heard by the House (referral is expected to the Water, Lands and Ocean Resources Committee). Of course, you can also directly contact your Legislative representatives to share your thoughts and concerns.

Bills and Hearings effecting Coral Reefs

Subject: FW: ANNOUNCEMENT: DLNR Public Info Meetings on Possible Fishing Regulations


FYI folks.

Not sure if you've been keeping up with the legislature-- but there are a
lot of things being proposed. The announcement below has dates & time for
public input on some of the fishing stuff. Also-- check out the list below.
Go to the www.capitol.hawaii.gov and download or I can send to you.

HB 191 -- Enhances the regulation of aquarium aquatic life collection in the
State.
HB 543-- Enhances the regulation of aquarium aquatic life collection in the
State.
HB 565 -- Enhances the regulation of aquarium aquatic life collection in the
State.
SB 75 -- Establishes limits on the kinds of aquatic life that may be
collected for aquariums
SB 274 - Enhances the regulation of aquarium aquatic life collection in the
State
SB 247 -- Bans the use of lay gill nets over a certain size for fishing;
HB 729-- Prohibit the killing of Manta Rays
HB 366 --Prohibit the killing of Manta Rays
SB 394 -- Prohibit the killing of Manta Rays
HB 1298-- Parrotfish and Goatfish
SB 378 -- Parrotfish and Goatfish
SB 247 -- Lay Gill Nets
HB 583 -- Opihi
SB 1 -- Opihi


-----Original Message-----
Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: DLNR Public Info Meetings on Possible Fishing
Regulations

January 27, 2009
DLNR Public Info Meetings on Possible Fishing Regulations

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) invites the public to
participate in informational meetings to discuss possible regulations for
certain marine fish species.

The public discussion will center on using minimum size rules to protect
harvested resource fish that may be at risk of being over harvested, and
will focus on at least three main fish families that the DLNR feels may be
in need of updated regulations. They are: Parrotfish (uhu), Goatfish (weke),
and Jacks (ulua/papio). The Division of Aquatic Resources has not yet
drafted rule changes.

The schedule of upcoming meetings is:

Hilo- January 27 (Tuesday) from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the County of Hawai'i
Aupuni conference room at 101 Pauahi St.

Windward O'ahu - January 29 (Thursday) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Castle High
School cafeteria, 45-386 Kane'ohe Bay Drive.

Kaua'i - January 30 (Friday) from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Kaua'i Community
College, Electronics Technology building, room 114.

Kona - February 3 (Tuesday) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Kealakehe High School
library, 74-5000 Puohulihuli St., in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i.

Honolulu - February 5 (Thursday) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Kawananakoa
Middle School cafeteria, 49 Funchal St.

Honolulu - February 12 (Thursday) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Waimalu
Elementary School cafeteria, 98-825 Moanalua Rd.

Leeward O'ahu - February 19 (Thursday) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Wai'anae
Public Library meeting room, 85-625 Farrington Hwy.

Meetings have already been held on Maui and Kaua'i.

The Division of Aquatic Resources plans to hold similar meetings on other
islands, and those dates and locations will be announced at a later time.

For more information contact Division of Aquatic Resources offices at: Maui
(808) 243-5294; Hawai'i (808) 974-6201, Kaua'i (808) 274-3344; Honolulu
(808) 587-0100; Moloka'i/Lana'i (808) 567-3778.

McCain supports French firm at expense of American Industry

The Government Accountability Office gave American workers and the principle of fairness a victory when it ruled that that a multibillion-dollar Air Force tanker contract was improperly awarded to a consortium that included the French company EADS, makers of Airbus, and was backed by Sen. John McCain.

SB2646 Urban Sprawl Bill

A list of all legislators and how they voted on SB 2646 with their phone numbers is at the bottom (or here).

Here's a wrapup of the legislature's efforts on environmental measures from the Honolulu Advertiser.

Support Solar Roof Bill

Aloha Friend of the environment:We really need your help. We have good news and bad news. The good news is the solar roofs bill (SB 644) passed out of conference committee late last Friday night. The final vote is this Thursday (May 1), the last day of session. The bad news? The House, in the most brazen political power play, forced the Senate to accept the farmland urbanization ploy (SB 2646) in return for the solar roofs bill. Now House leadership plans to hold the solar bill hostage on the final day of the session unless they get their pro-development bill passed.
Maddening, isn't it? Let's not let them get away with it. Your voice counts, so please take a second and make some calls or send an email. The list of legisators that need to hear from you is below. The simple message is "Please vote YES on solar roofs (SB 644) and NO on farmland urbanization (SB 2646)."
If you haven't made a call or sent an email yet this session, now is your best opportunity to influence the outcome. THE NEXT 48 HOURS ARE CRITICAL. PLEASE CALL/EMAIL TODAY.
CALL: Your legislator or any of those listed below. Call 'em all, if you can. Calls now are very important.
EMAIL: Click here for an email to key legislators (if that link doesn't work, try this one). Or email them individually from the list below.
ATTEND: Thursday's vote. The floor sessions at the Capitol should start around 10am.
Briefly, the solar roofs bill (SB 644) would require that all new homes starting in 2010 have solar hot water heaters installed, with a few exceptions. The bill also requires the development of standards to govern the quality and performance of systems installed. More details here.
The farmland urbanization bill (SB 2646) allows large landowners to urbanize a portion of their land in exchange for designating a percentage as “important agricultural land.” The bill also provides a corporate bailout to former plantations and large landowners and essentially provides state support for further water diversions. For example, should SB 2646 pass, Alexander & Baldwin could receive state tax dollars to finance their legal efforts to take water from East Maui taro farmers.
The key senators who can stop the farmland urbanization bill are:
NAME
PHONE
EMAIL
BAKER, Rosalyn (D)
586-6070
mailto:senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov
CHUN OAKLAND, Suzanne (D)
586-6130
mailto:senchunoakland@capitol.hawaii.gov
ENGLISH, J. Kalani (D)
587-7225
senenglish@capitol.hawaii.gov
ESPERO, Will (D)
586-6360
senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov
FUKUNAGA, Carol (D)
586-6890
senfukunaga@capitol.hawaii.gov
GABBARD, Mike (D)
586-6830
sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov
HANABUSA, Colleen (D)
586-7793
senhanabusa@capitol.hawaii.gov
IGE, David Y. (D)
586-6230
sendige@capitol.hawaii.gov
INOUYE, Lorraine R. (D)
586-7335
seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov
KIM, Donna Mercado (D)
587-7200
mailto:senkim@capitol.hawaii.gov
KOKUBUN, Russell S. (D)
586-6760
senkokubun@capitol.hawaii.gov
MENOR, Ron (D)
586-6740
senmenor@capitol.hawaii.gov
NISHIHARA, Clarence (D)
586-6970
sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov
SAKAMOTO, Norman (D)
586-8585
sensakamoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
TANIGUCHI, Brian T. (D)
586-6460
sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
TOKUDA, Jill N. (D)
587-7215
sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov
TSUTSUI, Shan S. (D)
586-7344
sentsutsui@capitol.hawaii.gov
So who crafted this deal to force the pro-development bill? If you want to know, it's House leadership:Speaker Calvin Say, 586-6100Rep. Kirk Caldwell, 586-8475Rep. Pono Chong, 586-9490Rep. Blake Oshiro, 586-6340
Tell them this is unacceptable. Bills should be supported or rejected on their merits. We don't have the patience for ridiculous political gameplaying like this. Here are the other House members who need to hear from us:
NAME
PHONE
EMAIL
Awana, Karen Leinani (D)
586-8465
repawana@capitol.hawaii.gov
Bertram, Joe, III (D)
586-8525
repbertram@capitol.hawaii.gov
Brower, Tom (D)
586-8520
repbrower@capitol.hawaii.gov
Cabanilla, Rida T. R. (D)
586-6080
repcabanilla@capitol.hawaii.gov
Chang, Jerry L. (D)
586-6120
repchang@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ching, Corinne W.L. (R)
586-9415
repching@capitol.hawaii.gov
Evans, Cindy (D)
586-8510
repevans@capitol.hawaii.gov
Finnegan, Lynn (R)
586-9470
repfinnegan@capitol.hawaii.gov
Green, Josh, M.D. (D)
586-9605
repgreen@capitol.hawaii.gov
Hanohano, faye P. (D)
586-6530
rephanohano@capitol.hawaii.gov
Har, Sharon (D)
586-8500
rephar@capitol.hawaii.gov
Herkes, Robert N. (D)
586-8400
repherkes@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ito, Ken (D)
586-8470
repito@capitol.hawaii.gov
Karamatsu, Jon Riki (D)
586-8490
repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov
Lee, Marilyn B. (D)
586-9460
replee@capitol.hawaii.gov
Magaoay, Michael Y. (D)
586-6380
repmagaoay@capitol.hawaii.gov
Manahan, Joey (D)
586-6010
repmanahan@capitol.hawaii.gov
Marumoto, Barbara C. (R)
586-6310
repmarumoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
McKelvey, Angus (D)
586-6160
repmckelvey@capitol.hawaii.gov
Mizuno, John (D)
586-6050
repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov
Nakasone, Bob (D)
586-6210
repnakasone@capitol.hawaii.gov
Nishimoto, Scott Y. (D)
586-8515
repnishimoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
Oshiro, Marcus R. (D)
586-6200
repmoshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Pine, Kimberly (R)
586-9730
reppine@capitol.hawaii.gov
RHOADS, Karl (D)
586-6180
reprhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov
SAGUM, Roland D., III (D)
586-6280
repsagum@capitol.hawaii.gov
Shimabukuro, Maile S. L. (D)
586-8460
repshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Sonson, Alex M. (D)
586-6520
repsonson@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takai, K. Mark (D)
586-8455
reptakai@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takamine, Dwight Y. (D)
586-6680
reptakamine@capitol.hawaii.gov
Takumi, Roy M. (D)
586-6170
reptakumi@capitol.hawaii.gov
Tokioka, James Kunane (D)
586-6270
reptokioka@capitol.hawaii.gov
Tsuji, Clift (D)
586-8480
reptsuji@capitol.hawaii.gov
Wakai, Glenn (D)
586-6220
repwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ward, Gene, Ph.D. (R)
586-6420
repward@capitol.hawaii.gov
Waters, Tommy (D)
586-9450
repwaters@capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamane, Ryan I. (D)
586-6150
repyamane@capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamashita, Kyle T. (D)
586-6330
repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov

Information above is provided by the Sierra Club

Jessica Wooley for House

Jessica Wooley is running for the House of Representatives from Windward Oahu. To see her website click here.

What do you know about her. I only know what I see on her website, but from that she looks like an excellant candidate.

Bill Sager