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STAR-ADVERTISER
David Ige: The governor quietly signed into law a measure repealing the ethanol mandate.
As expected, Gov. David Ige on Tuesday vetoed eight bills including measures to create a new crime of sex trafficking, and a bill that would have allowed University of Hawaii graduate students to unionize to bargain for better pay and working conditions.
Advocates for both bills say they plan to return to the state legislature next year to try to fashion new versions of the measures that will pass muster with lawmakers and with Ige in 2016.
Ige last month announced he intended to veto the eight bills, and House and Senate leaders declined to attempt an override of Ige’s decisions on any of the measures.
In his message explaining the veto of the sex trafficking bill, Ige said the Honolulu, Hawaii and Maui County prosecutors as well as state Attorney General Doug Chin all argued the bill was flawed and should be rejected.
