CapitolWatch: Water security and disaster resilience down to the wire!
by Wayne Tanaka, Chapter Director | Reading time: 8 minutes
This Friday is the last day for bills in the 2023-2024 Hawaiʻi Legislature to have their final “standing committee” meeting. Accordingly, it is crunch time for bills good and bad that have not yet met this pressing deadline. Of note:
Red Hill, Water Security, and Our Public Trust:
HB2690 HD2 SD1 is the last remaining measure that recognizes the decades-old problem of political interference in the implementation of our Water Code.
Originally drafted as a well-meaning but slightly myopic proposal to address the consequences of political inhibition surrounding the Red Hill Facility, HB2690 HD2 SD1 has now been amended to much more proactively insulate the Hawaiʻi Commission on Water Resource Management, as well as a Red Hill “WAI Policy Coordinator,” from undue political influence.
This bill would prevent the Governor of Hawaiʻi from exercising almost unilateral control over the Water Commission’s work, by requiring the Chair of the Commission to be selected by its members instead of by the Governor, and allowing the Commission to retain its own attorney rather than relying on the Governor’s Attorney General.
A WAI Policy Coordinator, tasked with the politically charged kuleana of seeking Navy accountability and the full remediation of Oʻahu’s sole source aquifer, would also be sheltered under this Commission’s executive director, who would be transparently selected and evaluated by the entire Commission (rather than hired and potentially fired by a single Chair’s behind-the-scenes decision).
Notably, the nominating committee tasked with nominating replacement Water Commissioners for the Governor’s consideration would also be amended, to include a representative of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) - a long-due addition, given OHA beneficiaries’ unique Native Hawaiian rights and deep cultural connections to our islands’ precious wai.
Despite garnering overwhelming and nearly unanimous support in hundreds of testimonies submitted this session, a similar measure, SB3327, failed to meet a previous deadline for a hearing before the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee. That bill was passed by the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, who will now need to hear HB2690 HD2 SD1 by this Friday.
Please help keep HB2690 HD2 SD1 alive, and help put an end to the generations-long control of our public trust water resources by powerful corporate and military interests. Call or e-mail Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz and Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads, and ask that they schedule this bill for a joint committee hearing by the “Decking Deadline.” Sample script below.
Call: Senator Rhoads, (808) 586-6130; Senator Dela Cruz, (808) 586-6090
Email: senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov, sendelacruz@capitol.hawai.gov
Email subject: Please hear HB2690 HD2 SD1
Aloha Chair Dela Cruz and Chair Rhoads,
My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on HB2690 HD2 SD1, Relating to Water, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Water has been and will always be our most precious resource, and even more so in our ever-worsening climate crisis. We must therefore do everything we can to uphold the public trust in its protection, conservation, and fair allocation.
This measure may be one of the most important and historic pieces of legislation for the future water security and well-being of our islands. Please, help keep this bill alive and ensure its passage this legislative session, if not for our present generations, then for those that will follow us long after we are gone.
Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.
Invasive Species
SB3237 SD2 HD1 and HB2758 HD2 SD1, the omnibus invasive species bills that would finally fill decades-old gaps in our islands’ biosecurity framework, passed through all but the last of their committees. However, despite overwhelming support from farmers, doctors, cultural practitioners, educators, ecologists, and everyday folks, both bills are currently stalled and will die if not scheduled for a hearing this week.
Life as we know it in Hawaiʻi is threatened by invasive pests like little fire ants, coconut rhinoceros beetles, and others. Please take a moment to help protect our islands from further destruction by invasive species by contacting the chairs of the House Finance Committee and the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, urging them to hear these critical invasive species bills by this Friday.
SB3237 SD2 HD1
Call: Representative Yamashita, (808) 586-6200
Email: repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov
Email subject: Please hear SB3237 SD2 HD1
Aloha Chair Yamashita,
My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on SB3237 SD2 HD1, Relating to Agriculture, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Time is of the essence when it comes to slowing the further spread of invasive species. The financial, human, and environmental costs of inaction in the face of our current and future invasive species crises will only increase exponentially and be felt for generations, if we do not adopt the long-needed quarantine, inspection, licensing, pest designation, and importation protections and controls embodied in this measure.
This measure is critical to giving the Department of Agriculture the tools and resources it needs to control and eradicate invasive pest species that may impact every aspect of life here in Hawaiʻi.
Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.
HB2758 HD2 SD1
Call: Senator Dela Cruz, (808) 586-6090; Senator Rhoads, (808) 586-6130
Email: sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov, senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov
Email subject: Please hear HB2758 HD2 SD1
Aloha Chair Dela Cruz and Chair Rhoads,
My name is ____ and I am from ____. I am writing to respectfully but strongly urge you to hold a hearing on HB2758 HD2 SD1, Relating to Agriculture, by Friday’s Decking deadline. Time is of the essence when it comes to slowing the further spread of invasive species. The financial, human, and environmental costs of inaction in the face of our current and future invasive species crises will only increase exponentially and be felt for generations, if we do not adopt the long-needed quarantine, inspection, licensing, pest designation, and importation protections and controls embodied in this measure.
This measure is critical to giving the Department of Agriculture the tools and resources it needs to control and eradicate invasive pest species that may impact every aspect of life here in Hawaiʻi.
Mahalo nui for your consideration of this request.
Good Bills that Need Testimony: Loko Iʻa, Seabed Mining, and Housing Relief
We do have some good news regarding important bills that did get scheduled for their final hearing this week. Please consider also submitting testimony in support of these measures - read on below (testimony instructions are also at the bottom of this email):
Loko I‘a Restocking Support - SB2329 SD1 HD1 has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 2:30pm before the House Finance Committee. This measure would support our islands’ food security, cultural integrity, ecological health, and overall resilience by funding programs for the production of puaʻama (juvenile mullet), to benefit our loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishpond) practitioners.
Sample testimony:
My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2329 SD1 HD1.
This bill will provide critical support for loko iʻa practitioners, and significantly enhance their efforts to build our islands’ food security, perpetuate cultural values and practices, restore our nearshore ecosystems, and ensure our islands’ resilience for generations to come. Please pass this measure as an important, smart investment in the future of our Hawaiʻi nei.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.
Seabed Mining Ban - SB2575 HD1 has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4pm before the House Finance Committee. Please consider supporting this measure to prevent the destruction of our nearshore ecosystems, by preemptively banning seabed mining in Hawaiʻi’s marine waters.
Sample testimony:
My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2575 HD1.
This measure will make clear that the extractive exploitation of our ocean - to the detriment of rare, highly sensitive, and still-unexplored ecosystems and species - is off the table for corporate speculators and profit-driven interests. We simply cannot risk the permanent loss of some of our islands' most unique and intrinsically invaluable natural and native ecosystems for short-term, short-sighted, and unsustainable financial gain. Please pass this measure so that we can head off the temptation for deep sea mining interests to establish a foothold in our Hawaiʻi nei, and ensure our public trust ocean resources remain intact for present and future generations.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.
Housing Relief - SB2919 SD2 HD1 also has a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4pm before the House Finance Committee. This measure would close a loophole preventing counties from reserving their limited housing supply for long-term residential uses, rather than for short-term vacation rentals. Please consider supporting this proposal to allow counties to directly address their residents’ housing needs, and head off a housing crisis that has been increasingly used to attack environmental and cultural protections.
Sample testimony:
My name is _____, a resident of ____, and I strongly support SB2919 SD2 HD1.
Our housing crisis has been exploited time and again to attack our environmental and cultural protections, in many cases without any direct benefit to our affordable housing supply. In contrast, this measure will empower counties to provide direct housing relief to their residents, and mitigate the impacts of real estate speculation on housing costs, by allowing counties to decide whether and how their housing units may be used for short-term vacation rentals instead of for long-term housing. Please pass this measure as a viable strategy to boost our long-term residential housing supply, without dismantling legal protections critical to the resilience and well-being of our islands and people.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter ”SB2329/2575/2919” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).
Please encourage your friends, family, and networks to do the same!