Environmental
program among
governor’s vetoes
By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin
Gov. Ben Cayetano has vetoed six bills, including one aimed at enhancing natural and cultural resources.
The bill would have established a stewardship and partnering program to protect Hawaii's environment and exempted a new environmental special fund for the program from a 5 percent central services fee.
"Since no source of revenue is identified and no appropriation of general funds is made, this bill establishes a program that is unfunded and can't be implemented," Cayetano said. He also said the program is exempted from taxation without justification.
The governor also rejected:
A bill to extend a retirement bonus to state retirees until June 2001. The bill would have cost the state and county $3.7 million annually, of which the state would have paid $2.2 million.
A bill encouraging enhanced wireless emergency 911 service. The administration and the Department of Health do not have enough information to administer the system, he said.
The Waianae Coast Community Benchmarking Pilot Project. Proponents wanted $50,000 each for six subprojects: a culture and arts program, a communications infrastructure project, a health academy, managed care for the elderly, a preschool program and a Hawaiian garden.
A bill requiring the Health Department to study and develop a process for giving involuntary psychoactive medication to patients also was vetoed.
A bill that would have forced assisted-housing development owners to give tenants one year's notice of terminating their assisted housing. To enforce this bill would have placed a substantial burden on the Housing and Community Development Corp. without the needed funding, Cayetano said.
