Bottle bill is Limits on political campaign contributions and a "bottle bill" that would increase the cost of bottled beverages by up to 7 cents a bottle and give a deposit back to those who recycle were among the dozens of measures poised for final approval before an internal legislative deadline.
poised for approval
Bills about campaign reform,
highway racing and CarePlus
also up for passageBy Pat Omandam and Crystal Kua
pomandam@starbulletin.com
ckua@starbulletin.comHouse and Senate negotiators were scheduled to vote on the bottle bill today, but it appears the measure has the support of the conference committee.
The measure is an effort to control pollution and encourage recycling. Opponents say it will simply amount to added costs for consumers.
Consumers would pay a nonrefundable handling fee and a 5-cent deposit on each beverage container -- plastic and glass bottles or aluminum cans -- at the time of purchase. The 5-cent deposit would be refunded to those who return bottles at a recycling center, while the rest of the money generated would pay for handling fees.
The version tentatively agreed to allows more space between recycling centers in urban Oahu, exempts rural areas (including all neighbor islands) from having to establish recycling centers and charges beverage distributors a lower, sliding-scale fee for recycling that depends on how many residents are recycling.
Fees would be phased in slowly, starting with a one-half cent handling fee on all cans and plastic bottles beginning Oct. 1. That fee would increase to 1 cent on Oct. 1, 2004, with the 5 cent refundable deposit kicking in three months later.
"We don't believe in bottle bills," said Gary Yoshioka, spokesman for the coalition of beverage and food industry interests opposing the bill.
"They have very little impact on litter and recycling and are still going to cost significantly more."
Meanwhile, a campaign reform measure sent for a final floor vote would ban large corporations, unions and banks from directly contributing money to political campaigns.
"I'm delighted," said House Majority Whip Brian Schatz (D, Makiki), an advocate of campaign and election reforms. "I think this is the most sweeping campaign finance reform the state has seen."
Senate Bill 2431, Conference Draft 1 also would disallow contributions during a four-year period from contractors who receive state and county contracts.
The measure also limits the total amount of political contributions any entity or individual can give during an election cycle to a maximum of $25,000. And it limits small corporations from giving more than $6,000 in any election cycle.
House and Senate negotiators worked late into the night to reach agreement on dozens of measures before a deadline today to send bills for a final vote next week before the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn.
A highway racing bill was jump-started a day after it was declared make, the Hawaiian word for dead.
The bill's main sponsor, Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto, said he negotiated a compromise with House members that would allow forfeiture of a car that is owned by the perpetrator and that was used in the crime.
The Senate and House had disagreed on whether a third offense should trigger forfeiture of the car used to race. The House, however, was concerned that a car belonging to someone other than the driver could be confiscated.
The bill was inspired by what police believe was a racing-related fatality on the H-1 freeway last year.
Legislators yesterday tentatively agreed to a bill that requires any elected official to step down from office upon conviction of a crime, and not the date of sentencing.
House Bill 771 Conference Draft 1, was created in response to actions by former City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who was convicted last summer of extorting kickbacks from employees for whom he had approved bonuses.
Rep. Blake Oshiro (D, Red Hill-Halawa Heights-Aiea), the bill's author, also pushed for forfeiture of benefits of a public official who is convicted of a crime, but that measure failed this session.
Another measure, Senate Bill 859, Conference Draft 1, creates an earned-time program that gives inmates an incentive for rehabilitation by offering reductions in their minimum terms if they make consistent progress in work, vocational training, social adjustment, counseling, self-help, therapeutic, educational and literacy programs.
On the tourism front, legislators agreed to changes to the Hawaii Tourism Authority after a critical management review this spring by state auditor Marion Higa.
The changes in House Bill 2192, Conference Draft 1, include capping the salary and benefits of the authority's executive director at $325,000. Lawmakers capped the authority's administrative expenses at 3.5 percent from 3 percent of the fund, which gets its money from the state transient accommodations tax.
In a health-related matter, a conference committee did the unusual move of passing both the House and Senate versions of a proposed state-sponsored mandatory long-term care insurance program.
The program, known as CarePlus, was lobbied for by first lady Vicky Cayetano. Neither version of the bill includes the controversial $10 monthly paycheck tax that was originally attached.
Instead, the bills call for forming a temporary board of trustees that would decide how to finance the program.
The Associated Press also contributed to this story.
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