Gov. Neil Abercrombie told state House and Senate leaders on Monday that he may veto a bill that would establish provider fees on private hospitals that could attract millions in federal dollars to help cover health care costs of the poor.

Private hospitals would pay $42 million in provider fees and get an estimated $77 million in return, a cost-sharing strategy that most states have adopted to leverage federal Medicaid money. The state Department of Human Services would receive a 7 percent share of the transaction, or about $2.8 million.

Human Services officials had wanted a larger share of the money to help the state restore some health benefits for the poor, but private hospitals warned that a bigger state share could have jeopardized industry support for the fees.

"There are concerns about the effect and equitableness of this measure," Abercrombie’s staff said in a statement describing the 19 bills that made the governor’s potential veto list.

State Sen. Josh Green (D, Milolii-Waimea), chairman of the Senate Health Committee and an emergency room doctor, urged the governor to let the provider fee bill become law. "It’s an extremely important bill that will help keep hospitals open and bring tens of millions of dollars in federal money without costing taxpayers a dime," Green said.

Abercrombie also indicated that he may veto a bill that would increase fees and bond requirements on professional employer organizations that perform human resources functions for small businesses. Many smaller firms have appealed to the governor to veto the bill, arguing that the bond requirement, in particular, would be too onerous.

The bill would require firms to pay fees of between $2,500 and $10,000 every two years. The bond requirement would increase from $250,000, already the highest in the nation, to between $500,000 and $1 million for all but the smallest companies.

The fees would help finance state regulation of the more than 30 firms that handle human resources for small businesses, while the bond requirement is meant to protect consumers from unstable firms. The governor’s staff described the bill as overly broad and the restrictions too difficult.

Matthew Delaney, president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Human Resources Inc., one of the businesses that has fought the bill, said the state should "come up with a solution that works for everybody."

Nelson Befitel, the chief compliance officer at ProService Hawaii, one of the industry leaders, has said that if Abercrombie were to veto the bill, the state should move forward with implementation of a 2010 law that regulated the industry. The law, which has not been fully enforced, set the bond requirement at $250,000, a threshold many smaller firms say is too high.

Abercrombie also said he may veto a bill that would allow agricultural tourism, including overnight stays of three weeks or less, in agricultural districts on Maui. "This bill would allow vacation rentals on agricultural land without sufficient definition of what constitutes minimal agricultural activity required for true agricultural tourism," the governor’s staff wrote.

Abercrombie vetoed one bill earlier this year. The 19 bills on the potential veto list released on Monday were approved near the end of the legislative session in May.

State law requires the governor to share his potential vetoes with the House and Senate 10 working days before the veto deadline, which this year is July 10. Lawmakers can return to the state Capitol and conduct a one-day veto override session. Two-thirds’ votes in both chambers are necessary for overrides.

Abercrombie vetoed 17 bills last year, his first in office. None was overridden.

House and Senate leaders generally prefer not to hold override sessions in election years. House Democrats will discuss the potential veto list at a private caucus on Thursday. Senate Democrats will likely meet and discuss the list when they return on Thursday and Friday for a special session to consider judicial nominees.

"We will be reviewing the notification list over the next few days," House Speaker Calvin Say (St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise-Palolo Valley) said in a statement.

Abercrombie included a bill on his list that would extend a rental car surcharge to help with bond-financed rental car facilities at airports. Lawmakers had already acknowledged that the bill was incomplete — it was not finished before an end-of-session deadline — but they passed the bill anyway in case it was necessary to finance the new facilities.

The governor may veto a bill that would set time limits on the administrative and judicial review of procurement awards, a change meant to speed up state construction projects. He may also reject a bill that would prohibit smoking at public housing projects. His staff said the bill may be difficult to implement and indicated that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority plans to gradually move to ban smoking.

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On the Net:

» Abercrombie’s potential veto list is available at hawaii.gov/gov.