The 2016 legislative session doesn’t begin until Wednesday, but a couple of East Hawaii lawmakers appear to be getting a head start.
As of Monday, six bills had been prefiled by area lawmakers, with all but one introduced by Rep. Joy San Buenaventura.
Among the legislation are efforts to clamp down on squatting, require appointments of the state’s chief of elections to be approved by the Senate, and reform asset seizure laws.
San Buenaventura (D-Puna) said her elections bill is another response to the troubled 2014 election that saw voting for about 8,000 Puna residents delayed because of Tropical Storm Iselle.
“I think somebody needs to be accountable to the voters if somebody isn’t doing it right,” she said.
A growing issue in Puna subdivisions is people squatting in homes owned by people on the mainland or banks located overseas, San Buenaventura said.
Her bill would list squatting as a public nuisance, which would give neighborhood associations authority to evict the unauthorized residents.
During the session, San Buenaventura said she also intends to address a loophole in an insurance bill passed to help those affected by the June 27 lava flow that allows insurance companies to not insure for a six-month period.
She also wants to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to be able to grow plants in shade or greenhouses and require mediation between homeowners associations and residents before disputes head to court.
Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D-Hilo, Waimea, Waikoloa) prefiled one bill that would extend the state’s special purpose revenue bond authorization for BioEnergy Hawaii LLC until mid-2021. The authorization is set to expire June 30.
Initially proposed to be located at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority site, the company’s cogeneration biofuel plant would produce 9 megawatts of electricity, according to testimony submitted to the Legislature in 2011, when the authorization was provided.
Inouye said the company, owned by Pacific Waste, is looking at another project site in the Waimea area.
Moped riders would have to put on a helmet and drop the slippers under another bill she plans to introduce.
Current law allows moped riders older than 14 to ride without helmets, and Inouye said she wants to see that change.
“We see a lot of riders without helmets,” she said, including along the highways.
The bill would not address motorcycle riders, which she acknowledged would be “controversial.”
Inouye, who chairs the Transportation and Energy Committee, said she also will be seeking funds to complete widening of Highway 130 and improve the lobby at Hilo International Airport.
She also will introduce legislation to provide a sliding scale for solar tax credits.
Sen. Russell Ruderman said he will seek funding to combat little fire ants, rat lung worm disease and albizia trees.
He also plans to try to return permitting authority over geothermal projects to Hawaii County and get funding for a distance learning center in Puna.
Ruderman (D-Puna, Ka‘u) said the center could be modeled after the North Hawaii Education and Research Center.
Other bills will seek $5 million for a wastewater treatment center for Pahoa, give counties authority to legalize marijuana, allow hemp cultivation, ban neonicotinoid insecticides and restrict lobbyist contributions during legislative sessions.
Sen. Gil Kahele (D-Hilo) said he is considering introducing legislation to increase the state’s transient accommodation tax from 9.25 percent to 9.5 percent.
The additional hotel-room tax revenue would be placed in a special fund to expedite improvements to facilities used by visitors, he said.
“We invite a lot of tourists here, but some of our visitor sites are not the best in the world,” said Kahele, who chairs the Tourism and International Affairs Committee.
Rep. Clift Tsuji, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, said he will reintroduce a biosecurity bill aimed at beefing up cargo inspection for invasive species.
“Without inspectors, these invasives will keep on coming through,” he said.
Other bills will address drought mitigation and theft of agricultural equipment, said Tsuji (D-Hilo).
Other East Hawaii lawmakers are Rep. Mark Nakashima and Rep. Richard Onishi. They couldn’t be reached by press time Monday, but they have co-sponsored legislation with other Big Island lawmakers prior to the start of the session.
Nakashima (D-Hamakua) and Onishi (D-Hilo, Keaau, Kurtistown, Volcano) sponsored a measure to create an invasive species rapid response special fund introduced by Rep. Nicole Lowen.
Another measure introduced by Lowen would provide $200,000 for research into rapid ohia death. Nakashima, Onishi and Tsuji signed on as co-sponsors.
Nakashima also joined Lowen as a sponsor of a bill allowing counties to restrict use of neonicotinoid insecticides. Ruderman said that’s a companion bill to his legislation.
Email Tom Callis tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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Committee assignments
SEN. GIL KAHELE
– Tourism and International Affairs (chair)
– Higher Education and Arts (vice chair)
– Education
– Judiciary and Labor
REP. MARK NAKASHIMA
– Labor and Public Employment (chair)
– Consumer Protection and Commerce
– Judiciary
– Public Safety
– Transportation
REP. RICHARD ONISHI
– Agriculture (vice chair)
– Economic Development and Business
– Finance
– Tourism
– Veterans, Military and International Affairs, and Culture and the Arts
SEN. RUSSELL RUDERMAN
– Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health
– Economic Development, Environment and Technology
– Human Services
– Water, Land and Agriculture
REP. JOY SAN BUENAVENTURA
– Judiciary (vice chair)
– Consumer Protection and Commerce
– Labor and Public Employment
– Public Safety
– Transportation
REP. CLIFT TSUJI
– Agriculture (Chair)
– Economic Development and Business
– Education
– Higher education
– Tourism
– Veterans, Military and International Affairs, and Culture and the Arts
SEN. LORRAINE INOUYE
– Transportation and Energy (chair)
– Hawaiian Affairs
– Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs
– Ways and Means
