Superferry study, red-light camera bills advance
Hawaii Superferry opponents in the state Senate backed off attempts to halt the ferry service until an environmental impact statement can be done.
Instead, senators yesterday called for the state to complete an EIS while the Superferry is allowed to start service between Honolulu and Maui in July.
The Superferry was just one of the issues lawmakers tackled in marathon sessions yesterday as they approached tomorrow's deadline to complete work on all bills before exchanging them for further debate and crafting.
In the House, lawmakers worked well into the night tackling a 341-bill agenda that included measures ranging from the establishment of traffic cameras to catch red-light runners and increased taxes for real estate speculators.
House members passed House Bill 351, which authorizes the counties to carry out a red-light traffic camera system. The action comes five years after lawmakers killed a controversial program to catch speeders with cameras mounted in vans.
The Senate addressed the issue of the Superferry by amending a bill, SB 1276, that would have stopped the ferry service until an EIS was performed.
Ferry officials had raised the possibility of suing the state if it is not permitted to start service, after the state has put $40 million into harbor construction for the ferry. The service is scheduled to start this summer.
"The strong supporters realized that it was in everyone's interest to move the issue forward. With all the court challenges, just holding up the Superferry was not what we wanted to do," said Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua).
The bill is expected to pass the Senate tomorrow and then go to the House.
A bill that did pass the Senate yesterday requires counties to identify property owners running vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfast establishments to make sure that the owners are paying the hotel room tax.
House members amended a measure to include language addressing the state's existing "reciprocal beneficiaries" law, which extended benefits to individuals who are not in traditional marital relationships.
The House amendment, which passed unanimously, provides health benefits for individuals who are the reciprocal beneficiary of state and county workers.
Some of the more spirited debate in the House focused on increased taxes for speculators, those who buy properties and sell them after a short time at a profit.
One measure, House Bill 1002, would assess a graduated anti-speculation tax on the capital gains realized on real property held from less than six months and up to 24 months before sold. Another measure, H B 252, increases conveyance tax rates for sales of condominiums or single-family residences where the purchaser is ineligible for a county homeowner's property tax exemption.
"How can we deny that speculation is not contributing to increase the cost of housing, when neighborhoods in Makaha have homes that are selling for millions of dollars," said Housing Chairwoman Maile Shimabukuro (D, Waianae-Makua).
Opponents criticized the tax hikes as anti-business.
"I'm just really concerned about this philosophy that the speculators are the true cause of raising the costs of housing in Hawaii," said Rep. Kymberly Pine (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). "I believe the true cause of the high cost of housing in Hawaii is us -- government."
