House bill hikes
the cost of getting wedA marriage license and other records
By Craig Gima
will cost more if the measure passes
Star-BulletinThe cost of getting married in Hawaii would go up under a bill passed by the House Finance Committee today.
The bill would raise the price of a marriage license from $25 to $40.
Health Director Lawrence Miike yesterday testified that the state should see an increase in revenue of between $200,000 and $300,000. About half of the 19,000 to 20,000 marriage licenses issued each year go to out-of-state residents, he said.
The bill also would make it more expensive to get a copy of a divorce decree and other vital records. It would raise the fee for certified records to $11. The cost of birth, marriage and death certificates was raised from $2 to $10 last year.
The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women supported the certificate fee increase because part of the money collected would go to spouse- and child-abuse special funds.
The committee today amended the bill to waive the fee for records required by a state agency, or those needed for proving ancestry, after objections from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. OHA argued that the fee increase would disproportionately affect Hawaiians who must prove their ancestry to qualify for Hawaiian Homelands and other benefits.
Alice Ululani Greenwood testified she had to get records going back several generations to prove her children's ancestry. "Today, it cost more than $440. I have to get these documents straightened away."
Earlier this month, when the bill passed the House on second reading, Republicans protested the increase in the marriage license fee.
"Call it a tax, call it a fee, I think it's inappropriate," said Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa (R, Nuuanu).
Democrats said the $40 is still less than the average fee nationwide for marriage licenses of $60.
But one Democrat, Rep. Robert Herkes (D, Kau) agreed with the Republicans. "As a relative newlywed, I don't think you should have to pay that much for a marriage license," he said.
Workers comp bill
deemed a dud, criticized
as too narrowSome senators say it's the big policy issues
By Pat Omandam
that should be decided
Star-BulletinAn attempt in the state Senate's effort to discourage workers compensation benefits to employees who file stress claims arising from disciplinary actions has fizzled, say some senators.
"I thought we could deal with this with a bang, and instead, what we've ended up with is a shoo-shoo baby," said Sen. Randall Iwase (D, Mililani), referring to a dud firecracker called Senate Bill 2934, S.D. 1.
The Hawaii Supreme Court last July ruled Regina Mitchell, a Big Island teacher who was suspended for allegedly striking a child in 1990, was entitled to workers compensation for stress injuries because of the school's disciplinary actions.
Lawmakers this session felt the highly publicized decision may result in an increase in stress-related claims and sought to deny such claims through legislation.
The bill was among the first 25 up for passage yesterday before the Senate and drew the most comments from the chamber floor. Opponents say the measure is too narrow, because it defines only stress-related claims stemming from disciplinary actions and not from other sources of stress, such as job transfer, layoffs, demotion, termination and work evaluation.
Along with Iwase, opponents were Sens. James Aki (D, Nanakuli), Marshall Ige (D, Kaneohe), Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa), Whitney Anderson (R, Kailua), Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai), Malama Solomon (D, Kau), Joe T. Tanaka (D, Wailuku) and Norman Sakamoto (D, Moanalua).
Sakamoto told Senate President Norman Mizuguchi (D, Aiea) that local businesses are laying off people and shutting down at an alarming rate. The public, he said, expected senators to work on broad policy issues related to workers compensation.
"I'm asking you and the rest here: We've still got a lot of time to put the games away and deal with what we've got to deal with as quickly as we can deal with it," Sakamoto said.
In the bill's Feb. 20 committee report, Ways and Means Co-chairwoman Rosalyn H. Baker said the current law needs clarification to exclude injuries caused by disciplinary action taken by employers "in good faith for just cause."
The bill, if passed, would provide some protection to employers who need to take disciplinary action to maintain the quality and efficiency of their workplace, she said.
Baker, however, acknowledged the measure doesn't address nondisciplinary issues surrounding stress claims, although lawmakers could cover it in other bills in the Legislature.
But Slom said employers, employees and the public believed in good faith the Senate would tackle the problem, and members shouldn't have to rely on a companion House bill to do so.
"The court gave us several options with many opportunities to act, and we chose deliberately to narrow it down to make sure that we would not address the problem," he said.
Brown tree snake may be allowed
By Craig Gima
here to train sniffing dogs
Star-BulletinThe state Department of Agriculture wants an exemption from the snake ban in Hawaii to bring in its own sterile brown tree snake. The department wants to bring in a live male snake to help train snake-sniffing dogs used at the airport and harbors.
"Snakes have a kind of generic odor; however, to really train dogs for the brown tree snake, it's best to use that kind of snake," said Larry Nakahara, plant quarantine branch chief for the Department of Agriculture.
Nakahara told the Senate Economic Development Committee the department uses snakes that have been turned in or captured, or frozen snakes to train the dogs.
The department said the dogs need "proficiency" training every two weeks to maintain efficiency.
Senators asked Nakahara how the snakes would be sterilized.
"I would imagine it involves surgically removing what needs to be removed," Nakahara said.
Nakahara assured the senators extra precautions would be taken to make sure the snakes do not escape during training.
He said the snakes would probably be placed in a cylinder with tiny air holes and placed in a secured cargo area for the dogs to sniff out.
"Its sole purpose would be to provide its sweat," Nakahara said.
The Senate Committee is scheduled to make a decision on the bill tomorrow. A House committee already passed a similar measure.
Here are a few of the first bills sent by the Senate to the House yesterday: Bills forwarded
S.B. 2021: Eliminates the requirement that commercial drivers pass a knowledge test when renewing their licenses, to jive with a 1997 law which eliminated knowledge tests for those renewing Hawaii Drivers licenses.
LEGISLATURE UPDATE
A calendar of tomorrow's hearings -- to be held at the state Capitol, 415 S. Beretania St., unless noted. Hearings marked with an asterisk will be aired live on Oceanic Channel 53 and TCI Cable 23:
HOUSE
SENATE
