Sunshine Blog: Senate sends public election financing bill to House

take thatspecial interest!: In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Hawaii Senate passed a bill that would establish a comprehensive public financing system for all candidates seeking election to state and county offices. This is widely seen as the most important government reform bill of the 2024 Congress.

Senate Bill 2381 currently awaits consideration in the state House of Representatives. If approved by both chambers and Gov. Josh Green, full public funding could begin as early as the 2028 election cycle.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Carl Rose, spoke in support of his bill on the Senate floor. Shortly after, a press release issued the following statement:

“Comprehensive publicly funded campaign programs allow candidates to compete without relying on special interests and ensure that elected officials do not rely on private individuals, lobbyists, political parties, political action committees, or labor unions. , will be able to make decisions without the influence or appearance of a company or other entity.”

A companion bill from House Speaker Scott Psaki has not been debated and, barring something unforeseen, is dead in session. This is probably due to the recognition that the Senate version is the most effective “tool” going forward.

concealed carry: Under the 2023 law, the Attorney General’s Office is required to submit an annual report to Congress regarding concealed firearm permits. The report aims to provide lawmakers and the public with insight into gun ownership, including a breakdown of the reasons for license denials and revocations.

A companion bill introduced this session would clarify what information should be included in an AG’s report and give county officials more time to submit their reports for scrutiny. . Among the amendments to Senate Bill 3040, introduced by the Senate Public Safety Committee last week, is the removal of demographic information, which the AG said would “unintentionally stigmatize certain age, gender, or racial groups in the report.” The idea is to make it possible to provide data without having to provide information. ”

But a more pressing issue emerged during a House Judiciary and Hawaii Affairs Committee hearing on related House Bill 2351. Currently, there is no statewide database of concealed carry permits, creating a headache for law enforcement trying to figure out exactly who has a permit and who has one. For those who don’t.

Maj. Karlene Lau of HPD’s Records and Identification Division acknowledged that cross-county permit verification is currently only done by email and phone, causing delays. (At least I don’t use fax.)

However, a solution may be in development. Phil Higdon, administrator of the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, said members of the Hawaii Integrated Justice Information Sharing Program are already consulting with county IT staff to develop a unified statewide database. There is no timeline for when it will start.

Hobby Lobby: The language of the Hawaii State Legislature’s bill is often easily misunderstood. This is the case in Senate Bill 2219, which amends the definition of lobbying to include communications about “procurement decisions” with “certain government officials.”

The bill would also include “certain persons” who submit testimony more than 10 times in a calendar year.

These words alarmed witnesses such as Alfredo Medeiros, who wrote, “It seems that little by little we are becoming a dictatorship, and there is no such thing as democracy anymore.”

Another witness, Tania Victorin, was more blunt: No wonder Hawaii is a shit hole. ”

At last week’s hearing, Senate Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhodes noted that SB2219 received well over 100 testimonies opposing it, despite misconceptions about the bill’s actual meaning.

One person who understands is Robert Harris, executive director and general counsel for the Hawaii State Ethics Commission. The bill was his idea. The definition of lobbying is expanded to include: Increasing transparency and oversight of state procurement will “directly reduce the potential for corruption, waste and fraud,” he told Rose.

SB 2219 was passed with several technical amendments and the removal of the subject matter regarding the filing of testimony more than 10 times.

Inside the doghouse: Every year, Congress introduces bills to protect animals. This year is no exception, but one particular bill stands out.

Consider the sad story of Exie, a 3-year-old bulldog mix who was brought to the Hawaii Humane Society with a large abdominal hernia. The veterinarian who examined Exie determined that her injuries were the result of a C-section performed in her backyard.

This comes from testimony last week regarding Senate Bill 2562, which prohibits anyone without a valid veterinary license from performing surgery on any animal. As currently written, the bill also criminalizes ear cutting and tail docking as first-degree animal cruelty.

Also prohibited: ventricular corticotomy or mute barking. Onychonychotomy, or removal of the nail. and elasticity or castration by banding.

“Oh,” says the blog.

“While Exie was lucky to avoid amputation and was able to receive the care she needed, we would expect that many animals in similar situations would die without the care of a shelter or veterinary clinic. There’s no question about it,” community director Stephanie Kendrick testified. Involvement with Hawaii Humane Society.