The House of Representatives has released a bipartisan Maui wildfire bill package that largely focuses on fire prevention and emergency preparedness.
After the last legislative session, House Speaker Scott Saiki created six working groups to evaluate topics related to the Maui wildfires. The bipartisan group issued a package of 10 bills and two resolutions that aim to prevent wildfires statewide and be more prepared.
Saiki said several members told him that their communities had some of the same conditions that existed in Lahaina.
“They wanted to find a way to prevent wildfires in their communities as well as in other communities throughout the state,” he said.
“So that was one of the reasons why we focused on a statewide approach to the aftermath of Lahaina. We wanted to identify issues that not just apply to Lahaina, but to the entire state as well.”
Bills to increase staffing and resources
The Wildfire Prevention Working Group's recommendations sparked the most pieces of legislation in the package. Its three bills would increase staffing and resources dedicated to fire prevention, while increasing penalties for violating fire prevention laws.
Rep. Linda Ichiyama, who co-chaired the group, explained that Hawaiʻi is becoming increasingly more vulnerable to wildfires.
“If you compare our Hawaiʻi wildfires with the wildfires on the continental United States in terms of percentage of acreage burned every year, Hawaiʻi has a higher percentage than the continental United States,” Ichiyama said. “We see because of climate change, wildfires that are becoming more severe and burning larger acres.”
Ichiyama said that the Department of Land and Natural Resources only has one full-time position dedicated to fire prevention. HB1841 would appropriate funding toward more of those positions and replacing aging equipment. She explained that some of the tools DLNR uses are unwanted, surplus military equipment from the 1970s and 1980s.
HB1843 would establish an Office of the State Fire Marshal. Hawaiʻi is the only state in the nation that does not have one.
Both of those measures and six others from the package will be going through Ichiyama's Water and Land Committee — such as HB1839 and HB1840 which fund long-term water and air quality monitoring and research.
Another measure in the package, HB1838, echoes a priority from Gov. Josh Green’s State of the State speech to decrease short-term rentals. The measure would allow counties to phase out non-conforming single-family transient vacation rental units over a reasonable amount of time.
These non-conforming use permits were given to properties decades ago and allow short-term rentals in residential-zoned areas.
Recovery of jobs and businesses
The Jobs and Business Working Group's findings also generated one bill in the package, HB1844, which would create two temporary full-time positions at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College to teach construction trades.
Rep. Gene Ward, who was a part of the working group, criticized the measure. He compared it to giving a drowning person swimming lessons, and added that the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has a trade academy that they've already set up.
“Let's give the retailers, and basically what, 95% of the people on Lahaina street are retailers, give them temporary premises, let them get back on their feet,” he said.
“They're going to have to rebuild and it's going to be an arm and a leg to even get them back in the business, but give them a stepping stone to get back into the economy, get back into the hiring of people.”
Maui Chamber of Commerce President Pamela Tumpap explained that there is an enormous deficit in trade workers on Maui. She said about 40% of the construction industry is set to retire this decade.
Tumpap welcomed the legislation, adding that as the rebuilding of Maui begins, the need for construction workers will continue to increase, despite the industry remaining flat since 2010.
The bipartisan nature of the legislative package is historic in itself. Minority Leader Lauren Matsumoto explained that in her 12 years as a lawmaker, she's never seen anything close to a bipartisan package.
“Not only is this a beacon of hope for those in Maui. But I think also for the entire state because that's what our legislation should be,” she said. “It should be people coming together from different backgrounds, different sides of the aisle, and different opinions to create legislation for the entire state.”
Some of the measures will be heard in committees starting this week.
