Lawmakers pass
bills ranging from
prisons to pets

The Legislature leaves
Gov. Cayetano nearly 150 nonfiscal
bills to consider

By Pat Omandam and Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

As the state Legislature wades deeper into an extended session, it leaves nearly 150 nonfiscal bills for the governor to consider.

Lawmakers in both chambers yesterday approved measures ranging from prostitution to pets, child protection to cigarette stamps, and pawnbrokers to prisons.

While both House Republicans and Democrats praised a prostitution bill that bans night street solicitation in Waikiki for those previously arrested for the crime, the Senate minority opposed it because it may be unconstitutional.

Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) argued the bill's specific boundaries for Waikiki only creates problems. For example, a proposed Kapahulu Avenue boundary would mean known prostitutes on the Ewa side of the street could face prosecution, while those Diamond Head of the street wouldn't, he said.

"While we all want to do something about this problem, this bill is not going to do it," Slom said.

Republicans also raised questions about a bill that allows employers to ask about a job applicant's criminal history only after a conditional job offer has been made. Employers can consider past criminal convictions only if there is a "rational relationship" to the job being offered, and if the conviction is less than 10-years-old.

"The common sense of our business practices have been taken away from our employers," said Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa (R, Nuuanu), who added the bill puts employers in a "Catch-22."

Caught in this year's legislation are pet owners, whom must provide their pets with sustenance or legally face cruelty to animals charges. House Judiciary Chairman Terrance W.H. Tom (D, Kaneohe) said the bill forces owners, like himself, to take responsibility for their pets.

"With the passage of this bill, every night, when I go home and see my little dog Pixie, I can say to her, 'Pixie, this bill is for you,'" Tom said.

Some lawmakers argued the state was shirking its responsibility when it passed a bill that provides immunity to state agencies from lawsuits arising out of failure of government computer systems to comply with the year 2000 date change.

Sen. Marshall Ige (D, Kaneohe-Enchanted Lake) called the issue a "huge time bomb," one which could have been defused years ago had the state taken action then.

"This issue will cost the state millions of dollars, not just in hard money, but in the confidence of our taxpayers to deliver an issue that we knew about a long time ago," he said.

But Sen. David Y. Ige (D, Pearl City) responded that public and private sectors are focused toward a solution to become 2000 compliant. David Ige explained the bill's title limited action only to government systems, and not those in the private sector.

Senators agreed to exempt airline employees from Hawaii's wage-and-hour law. It's a move that guarantees these employees have continued flexibility in voluntarily exchanging work schedules to attend classes, child care, appointments and other jobs, without company violation of state labor laws.

The action, however, pitted Human Resources Co-Chairpersons Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Liliha) against colleague Brian Kanno (D, Kapolei). Chun Oakland yesterday asked senators to pull the bill out of conference committee -- where it had stalled -- and accept the House changes. Kanno had opposed the House draft, and bottled up the measure in committee.

Kanno, who along with Senate President Norman Mizuguchi (D, Aiea) and Education Co-Chairman Rod Tam (D, Pauoa), were the only ones who voted against the bill.

Mizuguchi later said the rare floor disagreement between his co-chairpersons showed the beauty of the legislative process.

"We voted on the merits of the bill, and I think that's the way legislative bodies should operate," he said.

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Bills approved yesterday
by the Legislature

Here are some of the measures that the House and Senate approved yesterday. But 62 bills on key issues such as the state budget, tax relief, privatization and the hotel room tax are still in House-Senate conference negotiations.

Government operations

Contracts office (SB3076, SD1, HD1, CD1): Creates a contracts office in the Human Services Department to provide centralized purchase-of-service contracting for the Health and Human Services departments to eliminate duplication.

Office of Information Practices (SB2983, SD2, HD2, CD1): Requires that OIP also administer the open-meetings law; moves OIP to the lieutenant governor's office for administrative purposes.

Duplication of services (HB2567, HD2, SD1, CD): Requires the governor and mayors to develop a plan to eliminate duplicative services. Requires a report on highway and park services by Nov. 30; all other services by Nov. 30, 1999.

Maritime authority (HB2998, HD2, SD2, CD1): Creates a temporary Maritime Authority Commission to come up with a plan for a permanent commission that would be the sole authority for Hawaii's harbors.

Occupational therapists regulation (HB1099, HD2, SD1, CD1): Replaces regulation of occupational therapists with registration every two years.

Privatization (HB2985, HB1, SD1, CD1): Allows the Board of Agriculture to contract with a private firm for irrigation and water projects if current staffers are deemed inadequate for proposed projects.

Business

Employment practices (HB3528, HD1, SD2, CD1): Allows employers to consider an individual's criminal conviction record as long as the conviction has a rational relationship to the prospective job duties. Consideration of conviction may only occur after a conditional job offer has been made; offer may be withdrawn if the conviction relates to job duties.

Job reference liability (SB3088, SD1, HD2, CD1): Provides employers with qualified immunity from civil liability for providing "good faith" job performance information about former and current employees to prospective employers.

Small business (SB2803, SD2, HD2, CD1): Provides regulatory flexibility for small businesses by requiring rule-impact analyses; also provides small businesses with early input into the rule-making process.

Cigarettes

Sales to minors (HB2846, HD1, SD1, CD1): Increases the fine for selling tobacco products to minors from $100 to $500 for the first offense and from $1,000 to $2,000 for subsequent offenses.

Tax stamp (HB3065, HD2, SD2, CD1): Aims to reduce tax revenue loss from the sale of bootleg cigarettes by requiring the tobacco tax on wholesalers to be paid with tax stamps affixed to packs. Also imposes penalties (fines as high as $500,000 and maximum jail sentence of five years); delays additional 20 percent increase in cigarette tax to Dec. 31.

Consumer protection

Bungee jumping (SB2887, SD1, HD1, CD1): Requires the Labor Department to conduct semiannual inspections of bungee jumps and amusement rides.

Pawnbrokers (SB2414, SD1, HD1, CD1): Prohibits pawnbrokers from accepting motor vehicles, boats or homes as pledged goods.

Counties

Development rights (HB3138, HD1, SD1, CD1): Allows counties to transfer development rights from one parcel to another.

Education

Computer and foreign language literacy (SB2211, SD2, HD1, CD1): Requires public-school students to be computer literate and competent at a high-school level in a foreign language.

Elections

Campaign finance (SB2399, SD2, HD2, CD1): Requires a study of the feasibility of implementing a pilot clean-elections program for all elections in 2002 and 2004. Candidates would agree to forgo private contributions and adhere to strict spending limits.

Contests for cause (HB2524, HD1, SD1, CD1): Extends from 60 days to 120 days the period in which to call general, special or runoff elections if there is a judicial ruling that the prior election was invalid.

Election offenses (SB1065, SD1, HD1, CD1): Slaps businesses with a fine of $50 to $300 for refusing to grant an employee two hours to vote on Election Day.

Environment

Aquatic resources (SB1597, SD1, HD2, CD1): Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to impose fines as high as $5,000 for endangering aquatic resources.

Fishery management (HB3457, HD2, SD2, CD1): Establishes the West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area to manage fishing activities. Requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to designate at least 30 percent of west Hawaii coastal waters as fish replenishment areas where fish collecting is prohibited.

Illegal dumps (HB2847, HD2, SD2, CD1): Increases penalties on operators of illegal dumps and on people who dump solid waste without permission by adding a 30-day jail sentence and an automatic license revocation to the existing $25,000 fine.

Quarantine (HB2533, HD1, SD2, CD1): Increases the penalty for the importation of a prohibited plant, animal or micro-organism to a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $20,000; makes the importation of a prohibited plant or animal with the intent to sell or breed subject to $100,000 to $200,000 fines.

Water code (HB1332, HD2, SD2, CD1): Requires the Agriculture Department to prepare an agriculture water use and development plan. Requires the state Water Commission to render decisions regarding the regulation of water use within 90 days after the commission's chairman make a recommendation to the panel.

Fees and payments

Judiciary (SB721, SD1, HD2, CD1): Increases certain court filing fees, including adoption and guardianship, from $75 to $100.

Prisoners (SB2249, SD1, HD2, CD1): Assesses a fee on inmates who receive nonemergency medical, dental or mental-health treatment.

Revocation of drivers license (SB720, SD2, HD2, CD1): Assesses a $15 fee from each arrestee who requests an administrative hearing to determine whether his or her drivers license should be revoked.

Towing (HB2361, HD1, SD2, CD1): Increases towing fees, with basic charge going from $40 to $50 and per-mileage charge from $4 to $5. Establishes difficult-hookup charge of $25. Allows payment by credit card.

Hawaiian affairs

Hawaiian healing practices (SB1946, SD1, HD2): Exempts from the prohibition of practicing medicine without a license traditional Hawaiian healers who perform traditional Hawaiian healing practices, and requires a panel of Hawaiian healers that would define, certify and regulate traditional Hawaiian medical practices.

Home lands claims (HB2778, SD1, CD1): Makes emergency appropriation of $94,000 in additional general funds to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to cover the cost of the attorney general's review of individual claims from March to June.

Health

Emergency medical services (HB1830, HD1, SD1, CD1): Grants immunity from liability and workers' compensation coverage to volunteer emergency medical disaster response personnel.

Human services

Child protection (SB2987, SD2, HD3, CD1): Omnibus bill that requires every child placed in foster care to be medically covered upon placement; allows doctors to share medical information involving children in the Child Protective Services system; establishes that the safety and health of the child -- not family reunification -- is CPS' top concern.

Pets

Cruelty (HB2667, HD1, SD1, CD1): Makes it cruelty to animals to deprive pets of sustenance.

Public safety

Auto break-ins (HB3553, SD1, CD1): Allows for forfeiture of a person's property if that person is caught breaking into a motor vehicle.

Criminal-history checks (HB3257, HD2, SD1, CD1): Allows the counties to establish procedures to conduct criminal-history checks on its employees. Exempts from checks workers employed continuously before June 1, 1998.

DNA analysis (HB2786, HD2, SD2, CD1): Requires defendants convicted of sexual or violent offenses to provide blood samples for DNA analysis. Also allows the court to order the convicted defendant to pay for the testing.

Domestic violence (HB2666, HD1, SD1, CD1): Establishes a felony offense of domestic violence after two misdemeanor convictions. Allows the court to sentence someone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic-violence offense to two years' probation.

HIV testing (SB1273, SD1, HD2, CD1): Allows victims of sexual assault to have their accused assailants tested for the virus that causes AIDS.

Prisons (HB3033, HD2, SD2, CD1): Authorizes the governor to have a private firm build a state prison with a lease-sale option to the state. Requires the Department of Public Safety to implement a "community partnering" process for site selection.

Prostitution (HB2381, HD1, SD1, CD1)): Increases penalties for prostitution in Waikiki; requires mandatory minimum 30 days' imprisonment, which would be imposed immediately even if conviction is appealed; if granted probation, prohibits the hooker from being in Waikiki from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Substance abuse treatment (HB2843, HD1, SD2, CD1): Requires substance abuse treatment for repeat criminal offenders; requires inmates with previous drug convictions to submit to drug testing.

Restitution (HB2776, HD1, SD1, CD1): Allows victims of crime to enforce a criminal-restitution order in the same manner as a civil judgment.

Transportation

Child passenger restraints (HB2358, HD2, SD1, CD1): Establishes fines for violators of child passenger restraint law -- maximum fine of $100 for first violation, $200 for second and $500 for third and subsequent violations. Also requires attendance at child passenger safety class and payment of $50 driver education assessment.

Ferry system (HB2366, HD2, SD2, CD1): Authorizes the Transportation Department to establish, under a public-private partnership, an intra-island ferry system to ease traffic congestion.

School buses (HB2734, SD1, CD1): Establishes a maximum fine of $500 for passing a school bus that is stopped with its lights flashing.

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Mike Yuen, Star-Bulletin