Eleven bills sent to Gov. Josh Green following the past legislative session are at risk of being vetoed after Green notified legislative leaders Friday of his intentions.
“The House members will need to caucus to discuss the bills identified in the governor’s veto list,” House Speaker Scott Saiki said in a statement after Green issued his list of the 11 bills that he might veto. “At first glance, it does not appear that these vetoes would necessitate an override vote. The legislature may continue its work on these bills for the 2024 Legislative Session.”
Green has until July 11 to veto any of the 11 bills on his “intent to veto list.” Others not on the list will become law July 11.
“These decisions are not taken lightly,” Green said in a statement. “My views on the bills listed here are based on legal considerations, impacts to the public and residents, and efficient government operations.”
The 11 bills facing his veto are:
>> House Bill 153, which would add a minimum daily penalty of $50 and a maximum penalty of $60,000 per violation of the State Water Code.
“If enacted, these fines may curtail and discourage housing developments across Hawaii,” Green said in a statement explaining his rationale. “Boards of water supply across all counties would almost immediately apply such fines to developments guilty of over-pumping water. Without a graduated schedule or a set of guidelines for penalties and fines, this significant increase appears both arbitrary and discretionary.”
>> HB 475, which establishes the Art in Private Places Pilot Program and Special Account.
Green said that the bill runs counter to the intent of the Art in Public Places law and might be unconstitutional.
>> Senate Bill 814, which requires the Office of Enterprise Technology Services to oversee electronic information technology multilingual accessibility standards.
Green said there are approximately 600 information technology systems, and “implementation for this effort would lead to increased costs and impede modernization efforts across our state’s IT systems.”
>> SB 945, which would require a program starting Jan. 1 for the licensure, regulation and oversight of special-purpose digital currency companies.
“The bill does not provide funds to enact the legislation’s purpose, as has been requested by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs,” Green said. “Regulatory and oversight provisions of the bill may not be sufficient to provide consumer protection for residents.”
>> HB 964, which increases to $10 the current fee of $1 for the issuance of an “apostille or non- apostille certification” and establishes the apostilles and certifications special fund.
“This is a large increase to the cost of a public service and disproportionately impacts educational and community groups who rely on this essential government service,” Green said.
>> HB 999, which changes the composition of the Hawai‘i Technology Development Corp. board of directors, which Green said is unnecessary.
>> SB 1079, which would lead to certain drunken driving convictions before 1998 to be expunged.
The “two laws referenced in the bill were enacted after 1998,” Green said. “Therefore, the bill has no impact for expungement.”
>> HB 1088, related to how the state Department of Land and Natural Resources can declare and provide notice of water shortages and emergencies.
“The existing powers of the Hawai‘i Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) are sufficient to address emergency situations,” Green said. “In addition, CWRM is still developing a Water Shortage Plan, which is a critical foundation for any future strategy concerning water shortage emergencies.”
>> HB 1090, which specifies how DLNR can issue new ocean recreation commercial permits and renew existing ocean recreation commercial permits.
“While the recreation commercial permitting system requires reform, our state needs to take a balanced, concerted approach so that fishermen, hundreds of local jobs, and several businesses across our islands are not adversely impacted by the sudden change in ocean recreation commercial permits,” Green said.
>> SB 1518, which exempts the state Department of Education regarding procurement of certain goods, services and construction.
“If enacted, this bill will decrease efficiency, create administrative burdens, limit competition, and open unfair advantages to certain vendors,” Green said.
>> SB 1586, which would fund positions for the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
“This legislation may conflict with statutes related to classification of employees at University of Hawai‘i because the positions proposed in the bill are inappropriately listed as administrative, professional, and technical (APT) positions, when positions of this type are faculty-level positions,” Green said.
