Of the eight bills introduced by East Hawaii legislators this year to address economic revitalization in Hilo, just one will make it to Gov. David Ige’s desk.
Of the eight bills introduced by East Hawaii legislators this year to address economic revitalization in Hilo, just one will make it to Gov. David Ige’s desk.
House Bill 575 was introduced by Rep. Mark Nakashima, D-Hamakua, North Hilo, South Hilo, and amends Hawaii Revised Statutes to address state leases for public lands.
Legislators as well as many in the Hilo business community had high hopes for the package of bills at the start of the session. Informational meetings were hosted in Hilo throughout the session, with one March meeting drawing more than 80 attendees.
The initiatives had support from the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce &Industry of Hawaii and the Kanoelehua Industrial Area Association.
“We’re trying to do something that the Legislature and the (state) departments won’t do on their own,” KIAA member Jim McCulley told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday. “They would not look at our problems and address them in a rational way that would allow Hilo’s business community to thrive.”
The most ambitious bill would have created a new state community economic district in Hilo, which would have included the Waiakea Peninsula and the Kanoelehua Industrial Area. Both locations have high concentrations of state-owned leases.
House Bill 1479 advanced to conferencing (its Senate companion did not), and after a series of meetings was eventually referred back to the conference table, where it will remain until next year’s session.
House Bill 1469, a bill that would have allowed for creating planning districts on public land, also went back to the table. A bill specific to planning on the Waiakea Peninsula, House Bill 1310, did not make it out of the Senate after crossover. The Senate companion bills to both 1469 and 1310 did not receive hearings.
“You’re rarely going to hit a home run, but if you can bunt a single, you’re doing pretty good,” McCulley said of HB 575’s passage.
Nearly all of the bill was rewritten during conferencing, and it passed in the eleventh hour of the session Tuesday evening.
The inspiration for amending Hawaii Revised Statutes came from an act signed in 2011 by Gov. Neil Abercrombie that allowed certain leaseholders who made significant investments in their properties to renegotiate their leases directly, without going to public auction as is typically required for state-held lands.
The Hilo Hawaiian Hotel went through extensive renovations because of Act 219. The act sunsetted in 2015, however.
Public auctions are still offered as an option in the version of HB 575 that passed. A statewide notice would be put out for anyone interested in the lease, with all improvements described and a business plan put forth.
Only commercial and industrial lessees that are within the last 10 years of their lease terms could request an extension.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.