LOCAL
State lawmakers adjourned the 2016 session on Thursday after reviewing hundreds of bills on issues ranging from homelessness to taxes. Here is the status of some of the most significant
measures. Bills that have been passed have been sent to Gov. David Ige for his signature or veto. The governor can also allow bills to become law without his signature.
Lawmakers can override any veto by the governor with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
GOVERNMENT
BUSINESS/TAXES
EDUCATION
CONSUMER
PROTECTION/LABOR
PASSED
PASSED
PASSED
PASSED
State budget
Vacation rentals
Cool schools
Would authorize
$13.7 billion in state
spending for the fiscal
year that begins July 1,
including some of Gov.
David Iges key spending
initiatives such as
$160 million to rebuild
Hawaii State Hospital.
Budget reserves
Homelands funding
HB 1700 HD1 SD1 CD1
Highways bailout
HB 2086 HD2 SD2
Would deposit
$37 million from the
general fund into the
state Highway Fund to
support road projects.
The Department of
Transportation warns
the Highway Fund is
being depleted, and Ige
proposed an increase
in state gas and weight
taxes to replenish it.
Lawmakers refused, and
instead voted to deposit
extra cash into the fund
as a stopgap.
Health payments
Land purchase
Would provide
$31.5 million for the
state to buy prime agricultural lands between
Wahiawa and Waialua
from Dole Food Co.
Lawmakers want to
purchase the best of the
Dole lands to lease out
to farmers to increase
local food production.
FAILED
Mail-in elections
Elected judges
Lottery
Sports authority
Term limits
Elected AG
Divestment
Ride hailing
Would exclude
transportation network
companies such as Uber
and Lyft from regulations
that apply to taxis; would
require network companies to warn drivers
that their personal auto
insurance coverage may
not cover their driving
for the network; would
require that either the
driver or the network
have liability coverage
in place by Sept. 1 that
covers all driving done
for the network.
Unemployment
benefits
Creates a temporary
program to extend
unemployment benefits
for workers in Maui
County to Oct. 28,
2017. The extension of
unemployment benefits
is a response to the
closing of the Hawaiian
Commercial and Sugar
Co. plantation with 675
workers, and the Makena Beach & Golf Resort
with 385 workers.
Job training
Would provide
$850,000 for job training and support services
for dislocated workers
on Maui.
Workers comp
Would provide
$150,000 for the state
auditor to contract for
a study of the Hawaii
workers compensation
system to determine if
the system is fair to all.
Allegations surface each
year alleging unfair treatment of injured workers,
including delayed
processing of workers
compensation claims.
Organic credit
Would establish an
organic foods production tax credit of up to
$50,000 per taxpayer
starting Jan. 1, 2017.
FAILED
Gas tax
Cigarette tax
Equal pay
Commercial leases
Sexual harassment
HB 2772 HD1 SD2 CD1
School construction
HB 1700 HD1 SD1 CD1
University
construction
Athletic funding
Data management
Insulin assistance
HB 2494 (Act 10)
FAILED
Educational trips
Graduate assistants
Erins Law
Cancer center
Hire lawmakers
Smaller classes
Leased engines
Home-school
activities
Mopeds
CRIME
HEALTH/
SOCIAL SERVICES
ENVIRONMENT
HOMELESS
PASSED
PASSED
PASSED
PASSED
Release offenders
STD screenings
Medical marijuana
HB 2707 HD1 SD2 CD1
Animal desertion
Disciplined doctors
SB 2675 SD1 HD2
Severance
Jury duty
FAILED
Car inspections
Pre-authorization
of medical
treatments
Smoking in
vehicles
Vehicular
lollygagging
Pesticide reporting
Would have required
large-scale agricultural
operations to disclose
pesticide use and alert
nearby neighbors prior
to outdoor spraying.
Fantasy sports
contests
Cellphones
Clotheslines
Energy
Meth crimes
Gun checks
Stalking
Death reviews
Would establish an
independent review
board within the
Attorney Generals
Office to investigate law
enforcement officer-involved deaths, and
make recommendations
on how those deaths
should be handled by
prosecutors.
Wrongful
conviction
Sex trafficking
FAILED
Terrorist list
Police cams
Victims rights
Fired police
Misconduct
reporting
Drug overdoses
Birth control
Health department
inspections
SB 2384 SD1 HD1 CD1
Would allocate
$1.27 million to the
Department Health to
combat dengue fever,
the Zika virus and other
disease threats. The
funding will allow the
state to hire 20 additional employees to assist
with vector control.
Wahiawa General
Hospital
HB 1700 HD1 SD1 CD1
FAILED
Dental insurance
Sexual orientation
Would have prohibited
people licensed to
provide professional
counseling from advertising or offering gay
conversion therapy to
people under the age
of 18.
Renters credit
Medicaid docs
Mental health
Long-term care
Child protective
services
Earned income
tax credit
Water rights
Homeless shelters
Would establish
minimum requirements
for emergency shelters,
including storage space
for residents and partitions to separate each
homeless family from
other shelter occupants
and families. Would
require annual financial
audits of agencies that
are funded by the state.
Would require that state
homeless shelter stipends paid to operators
of emergency homeless
shelters be tied to
performance measures
such as the number of
homeless served or the
services provided.
Ivory sales
Cesspools
Water pollution
Energy co-ops
Red Hill
Creates a permanent
advisory committee
to study, monitor, and
address fuel tank leak
issues at the Navys
Red Hill Underground
Storage Facility, as well
as other underground
fuel tanks built by the
military.
FAILED
Underground
storage tanks
Beach restoration
Geothermal
Seawalls
Homeless funding
HB 1700 HD1 SD1 CD1
Would provide
$12 million in funding for
unspecified homeless
programs. Gov. David
Iges administration had
initially requested
$9 million for the states
planned Housing
First program, rapid
re-housing services, a
pilot program to repair
vacant public housing
units, homeless outreach
services, rent subsidies,
a new homeless shelter
in Kakaako and a stored
property program.
Rental housing
Mentally ill
FAILED
Criminal trespass
Identification
Work program
Medical assistance
Probation
Response team