Wave of bills that could become law sent to Gov. David Ige

Hawaii lawmakers gave final passage Tuesday to the vast majority of bills in line to become law this year.

Legislators sent about 250 bills to Gov. David Ige for consideration, including an $8.7 billion state operating budget engorged by a record revenue increase and a personal income tax refund bill. Also included were highly divisive measures to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage and restructure management of Mauna Kea, where astronomy is under fire.

The 60-day legislative session that began in January ends Thursday, which is when a last, relatively small batch of bills is scheduled to receive final votes, including measures to fund the Hawaii Tourism Authority and contribute a historic $600 million to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands so it can accelerate development of homesteads for Hawaiians and reduce a backlog of roughly 28,700 applicants.

Other high-profile bills passed Tuesday included one to give the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs a lot more income from ceded lands, and one to fund a $328 million class-action lawsuit settlement in a case representing about 2,700 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of DHHL who are to be paid for homestead award delays.

Lawmakers recapped many highlights in the budget bill, where approved spending for the coming fiscal year tops out at $16.9 billion when factoring in federal funds and bond financing for capital improvement project spending that includes $350 million to replace Aloha Stadium.

“Working with the committee, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, we have shored up the largest surplus in the history of the state of Hawaii,” Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Senate Ways and Means Committee chair, told Senate President Ron Kouchi.

Rep. Sylvia Luke, House Finance Committee chair, noted that the extra revenue allowed lawmakers to make the historic payments involving DHHL homesteads while also giving OHA $64 million to offset 10 years of prior underpayments along with a $6.4 million increase for future annual ceded-land income payments.

“What a great day it is today,” she said. “When given the opportunity due to increased revenues, we provided the largest total appropriation in the history of our state for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.”

In voting to forward roughly 250 bills to Ige for consideration, some lawmakers continued to debate sensitive issues including raising Hawaii’s minimum wage, a management plan for Mauna Kea and restrictions on flavored vaping aimed at children.

The vaping bill bans retailers from selling flavored tobacco products other than a tobacco flavor. It also bans the mislabeling of nicotine products as “nicotine-free.” Violations will come with fines of no less than $500 and no more than $2,000.

The House agreed to prior Senate amendments that create an exception for Premarket Tobacco Product Applications, a provision that led some House members to recommend killing the bill.

Rep. Scot Matayoshi, who introduced the bill, said he is committed to removing the exception next session but told colleagues that approval this year is a first step to guard a generation of children from becoming addicted.

“It’s not a perfect bill, but this is forward progress on this issue,” he said. The measure, House Bill 1570, passed 36-15 in the House on Tuesday after Senate approval in April.

In a subsequent statement, Matayoshi said, “It is certainly a step in the right direction and better than the status quo of no flavored vaping regulation. It will take nearly all flavored tobacco products off the market now, and that is an opportunity we cannot pass up.”

Discussion on Mauna Kea management drew a plea from Sen. Lorraine Inouye, whose district includes the area, to vote down the bill because in her view it would lead to a demise of astronomy on the mountaintop, including cancellation of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope, and related economic benefits to Hawaii island.

HB 2024 would replace the University of Hawaii as manager of the summit in favor of a new authority that includes a representative of UH, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii island’s mayor and Mauna Kea observatories, along with five citizens including two Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners.

“This bill is a Trojan horse,” she said. “This bill will be the demise of a new world-class telescope.”

Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, defended the bill as a “mutual stewardship” plan that received support from most observatories existing today on Hawaii’s highest peak.

Sen. Laura Acasio (D, Hilo) was so conflicted about the bill that she expressed opposition as well as abstained.

“I am kanalua on this measure before us,” she said, using the Hawaiian word for abstaining or being undecided. “It’s not as simple as a yes or a no.”

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, co-chair of the Legislature’s Native Hawaiian Caucus, said the bill is better than no change to Mauna Kea’s stewardship.

“If this bill is a Trojan horse, then I’m afraid to report that Troy is already on fire,” he said. “Doing nothing commits us to the status quo, which is an inevitable conflict that continues to hang over the mauna. And status quo right now has the TMT and the future of astronomy in Hawaii on life support. I cannot promise that this bill fixes the conflict, but I can tell you that doing nothing right now fixes nothing.”

The Mauna Kea bill passed 22-3 in the Senate and 49-2 in the House.

The closest Senate vote Tuesday was 18-7 on passing HB 1567, which would abolish monetary bail conditions for people charged with nonviolent criminal offenses so that they stay out of jail pending trial except in certain circumstances. The House vote was 45-6.

A bill to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage was much debated earlier this session, and a final compromise draft passed with unanimous or nearly unanimous votes Tuesday.

HB 2510 would raise the hourly minimum to $12 from $10.10 on Oct. 1 then to $14 at the start of 2024, followed by increases to $16 in 2026 and finally to $18 in 2028. The bill also makes the state’s earned income tax credit, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, refundable and permanent.

The measure attracted an outpouring of concern or opposition from business interests and support from advocates of workers at hearings earlier this year.

“A higher minimum wage is long overdue and will greatly assist working families and enhance the overall quality of life here in Hawaii,” said Sen. Brian Taniguchi, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts.

Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said he supported a quicker rise to $18 but endorsed the bill as a compromise.

Sen. Gil Riviere (D, Heeia-­Laie-Waialua) also voted for the bill but registered reservations. “I think we’re still putting the hurt on small business,” he said.

No senators voted against the bill. The House vote was 48-3.

House members also took time in their nearly four-hour floor session Tuesday to seek more information about conditions for Rep. Sharon Har getting her driver’s license back after it was revoked upon her arrest in 2021 for suspected drunken driving.

Members approved a recommendation to have Har explain in writing to Speaker Scott Saiki the terms of her two-year license revocation and what she needs to do to get it back if she’s reelected to her Kapolei-Makakilo House seat this year.

A special House committee made the recommendation after investigating Har’s actions leading to her 2021 drunken driving arrest — and subsequent acquittal.

Har asked to be recused from Tuesday’s vote after telling Saiki, “I just want to apologize again to you, this body, my family, my constituents — including the petitioners (who requested the House investigation) — who I’ve had the honor and privilege of representing for the past 16 years. I again want to apologize for any shame and embarrassment that I caused, and I humbly ask that you find it in your hearts to forgive me.”