What is Capitol Watch?

Capitol Watch is dedicated to demystifying the legislative process so you can have your voice heard on environmental issues important to you. Our band of volunteers track legislative bills with good and bad environmental consequences. Here you can find explanations of the bills, links to submit testimony or how to testify in person, and other ways to get more involved.
Resilient Habitats & Healthy Communities

Resilient Habitats & Healthy Communities

Captain: Robert Harris
42 posts, updated Apr 17th, 2012

Whether your first moments on our islands were at birth or the minute you stepped off the plane, no doubt Hawaii has touched you in a way that no other locale can claim. A large part of Hawaii's magic can be attributed to its unique ecology. Hawaii is remotely situated in the center of the Pacific Ocean and is home to several species of animals and plants not found anywhere else in the world. Successfully maintaining and creating healthy habitats and natural systems will ensure that our islands are able to survive in our rapidly changing world.  Healthy habitats benefit our communities by cleaning and storing drinking water, filtering our air and providing protection against extreme weather.  And of course they offer countless opportunities to explore and enjoy! Healthy communities will tracks bills related to global warming/climate change issues, protection of habitats and endangered species, preserving ocean ecosystems and other human impact concerns.

Wednesday, February 22

It's not all roses...

Written by | Published in

...thank goodness for that!  Roses are pretty but they are not native. Wouldn't it be nice to see our highways and public spaces adorned with native plants? Not only do we get to enjoy the beautiful flora of the islands, instead of being strangers to it, but maybe it will be an excellent learning opportunity for everyone.

Senate Bill 2369 will help ensure public roadways and landscaping use native plants for any future landscaping. Hopefully this will also help propagate native species and ensure Hawaii does what it can to prevent these species from becoming endangered or extinct. What a conversation topic. SB2369 has passed Second Reading and has been referred to the Ways and Means.  Do what you can to help support your Hawaii plants, get behind this bill. Call or write to the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, David Ige at 808-586-6230 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Read 246 times
Read more...
Tuesday, February 14

HB1893 - The Worst of the Worst and the House strategy that we can expect

Written by | Published in

Well here it comes folks. It is like a bad movie.
The Hawaii House of Representatives is preparing to try and pull off a fast one - to the detriment of the environment and good government.
Speaker of the House Calvin Say has just "re-referred" HB1893 directly to his tightly controlled Finance Committee - directly bypassing the important Energy and Environmental Protection Committee which the measure originally included. No doubt Chair Denny Caufman would have choked on this very bad environmental Bill and so the Speaker just decided to by-pass Denny who he could not count on to pass this out.
HB1893 is intended to exempt from environmental review every highway, road, harbor, airport and public building constructed in the State of Hawaii. Though framed as "narrowly focused and temporary", this measure would apply to almost anything the Governor or any County Mayor wants it to apply to.
The House strategy and the scenario that will play out in the coming 3 months is as predictable. If you know anything about the legislative process then you know it is all about "getting the Bill to Conference". During the Conference Committee process public involvement, transparency and legislator accountability are thrown under the bus.
This is my prediction as to the path that the leadership of the House of Representatives intends to take with regards to HB1893 which is arguably the worst of the worst when it comes to a slew of bad "exemption" Bills being put forth by the legislature this year.
So, this is how it could work:
1) The House takes HB1893 away from the Energy and Environmental Protection Committee and sends it directly to the Finance Committee - in which a majority of members are controlled by the Speaker and/or very new, inexperienced and unwilling to stand up to the Chair and/or the Speaker. The Chair of the EEP Committee can then say "there was nothing I could do", the Speaker is in charge.
2) The Finance Committee will then add this measure to an evening agenda as a "last minute addition"- thus ensuring a very late night or into the wee hours of the morning hearing (minimizing public participation).
3) The Finance Committee will pass the measure out, despite strong public opposition - it will be called a "work in progress" and will have a "defective effective date". Reluctant members will be consoled that this is just to "keep the conversation going" and not to worry, they can always vote No later if they like.
4) The measure will then cross over to the Senate where it will go through a couple of "readings" and preliminary votes on the floor and then be heard at least once by some committee - and then be deferred or otherwise die. This action will prohibit any future questions that the contents of the measure "were never heard in the Senate". The Senate will not pass it but the Senate will hear it to short circuit this potential flaw in the House strategy.
5) The House will then amend the Senate's flagship measure SB2012 by adding in the contents of HB1893 - thus ensuring the proposal goes into the SB2012 Conference Committee as the "House position".
6) During the SB2012 Conference Committee the House will then leverage the Senate and at the end of the day HB1893 will be included in the measure that passes and goes to the Governor for his signature. The Senate will be unwilling to jeopardize their flagship economic development initiative and can posture that it was not their fault and blame the House. The individual members of the House will point to the Speaker and say they did not have the power to stop it. And the Speaker will just smile and willingly take the hit, knowing that politically he can easily survive.
7) The Governor, unwilling to not support the economic development side of the equation will then sign the measure into law - framing at as "the legislature has spoken" and the negative environmental impacts are "temporary and narrowly focused" and well worth the economic benefits.
Disgusting perhaps, but this is the way things work in that big square building.
In order to stop this from happening, HB1893 must not pass the House Finance Committee. It is critically important that the environmental and good government communities turn-out in force on this issue.

Call and email your legislator today.  Tell them that HB1893 is bad public policy and is bad for the environment.  Tell them also that you do not appreciate the back door nature of the manner in which this measure has been referred and demand that it be re-referred back to the Energy and Environmental Protection Committee where it belongs.

 
Read 115 times
Read more...
Tuesday, February 14

HB1893 - The Worst of the Worst and the House strategy that we can expect

Written by | Published in

Well here it comes folks. It is like a bad movie.
The Hawaii House of Representatives is preparing to try and pull off a fast one - to the detriment of the environment and good government.
Speaker of the House Calvin Say has just "re-referred" HB1893 directly to his tightly controlled Finance Committee - directly bypassing the important Energy and Environmental Protection Committee which the measure originally included. No doubt Chair Denny Coffman would have choked on this very bad environmental bill, and so the Speaker just decided to by-pass Coffman who he could not count on to pass this out.
HB1893 is intended to exempt from environmental review every highway, road, harbor, airport and public building constructed in the State of Hawaii. Though framed as "narrowly focused and temporary", this measure would apply to almost anything the Governor or any County Mayor wants it to apply to.
The House strategy and the scenario that will play out in the coming 3 months is as predictable. If you know anything about the legislative process then you know it is all about "getting the Bill to Conference". During the Conference Committee process public involvement, transparency and legislator accountability are thrown under the bus.
Read 291 times
Read more...
Monday, February 06

Putting the Aiea back into Aiea

Written by | Published in

The alert below is courtesy of Rick Barboza. He's asking for support for a terrific bill that would require the state and counties to use native plants in all public landscaping projects. Imagine an Aiea tree planted in Aiea? A Hau tree planted in Hau'ula?

The Sierra Club's testimony, by the way, can be found attached.

Read 321 times
Download attachments:
Read more...
Thursday, February 02

Are You Thirsty? Help Ensure Our Future Water Supply!

Written by | Published in

Have you ever wondered where YOUR water comes from? Have you ever thought that YOUR water supply might be in jeopardy? It could be if we don't help the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) obtain much needed funding. The DLNR is looking to secure appropriated funding for the immediate protection of priority watershed forests to replenish Hawaii's water supplies and better Hawaii's environmental health. We need your help!

Read 246 times
Read more...
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
Page 2 of 3
Sierra Club Hawaii; 2012 | Privacy policy