Sen. Inouye hopeful
on ADB bill

If passed, $5 million would go
a long way toward covering the
state's and city's costs

---

By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $5 million to reimburse the state of Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu for costs associated with the Asian Development Bank conference, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye announced yesterday.

The state and the city spent an estimated $5.13 million hosting the ADB conference, of which roughly $3.86 million went to security costs.

In a news release yesterday, Inouye said that while he expects the ADB reimbursement to "meet resistance in the House," he was pleased that the committee approved the funds for the "extraordinary security expenses" associated with the ADB conference, which was held at the Hawai'i Convention Center May 7-11.

"I will do my best to hold firm on this number throughout the appropriations process," Inouye said.

The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote.

State officials expected the ADB to boost Hawaii's economy by $17 million as well as the convention center's image as a venue for similar international banking meetings.

The state agreed to host the ADB conference after riots at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle caused ADB officials to rethink having their conference there.

Despite concerns about a similar situation in Hawaii, ADB protests here were peaceful.