CapitolWatch: Bills became law today
By Marti Townsend | Reading time: 2 minutes
Governor Ige released his list of bills he intends to veto on June 21—a whopping 28 bills, a much longer list than usual. The good news: none of our top good priority bills were on that list and as of today they have become law! Those bills were:
Sea level rise disclosure (SB474) - Requires that residential real estate transactions include a disclosure if the property lies within the sea level rise exposure area.
Sea level rise planning (HB243) - Requires all state agencies to identify infrastructure susceptible to sea level rise hazards, asses mitigation options, identify department point of contacts for statewide sea level rise coordination, and submit reports.
Establishes 100% clean ground transportation goals (HB552) - Sets statewide goals for state and county public vehicle fleets to transition to clean transportation vehicles.
Expands SNAP double bucks (SB512) - Expands the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s “Double Up Food Bucks” initiative to incentivize the purchase of local produce and proteins for low-income beneficiaries.
The bad news: our top two bad bills we wanted to see vetoed, HB499 authorizing 99 year leases on public lands and HB469, transferring watershed lands to Department of Ag for ranching, are not on that list and have become law despite a remarkable amount of community opposition. During the window between the end of session and the intent to veto announcement, an incredible amount of work was done by our allies to try to convince Governor Ige to veto HB499. We anticipate that there may be an attempt to repeal the bill next session. Thank you to everyone that has fought so hard against this terrible bill.
Governor's long veto list has triggered the need for a special session that started today. Lawmakers will be considering overrides to Governor's vetoes and fixing budget bill issues. Stay tuned for more on the special session.
Thank you to everyone who submitted testimony, attended virtual hearings, and worked so hard this session. Your engagement and voice made a difference!