State lawmakers passed over 200 bills on Wednesday. That’s a lot to keep track of, so with the legislative session ending on Friday, HPR is narrowing it down to the important bills we’ve been tracking.
All measures passed by lawmakers will next go to Gov. Josh Green for his signature. If he decides to veto a bill, lawmakers can override it with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.
1. Liability caps and securitization for utility companies: SB897
Lawmakers passed a measure that would allow the Public Utilities Commission to set a liability cap for Hawaiian Electric Company in the event of another catastrophic wildfire. The governor would then have final approval on the liability cap.
The bill would also allow HECO to take out bonds for infrastructure upgrades backed by customers — a maneuver called securitization. A fee could be added to people’s electric bills to pay for the needed upgrades if the utility meets certain conditions. The bill would cap the amount the utility company can securitize at $500 million.
Most lawmakers agreed that securitization was necessary because it would allow the utility company to borrow funds at a lower interest rate and would save consumers money versus if HECO borrowed the funds without securitization.
One of the main conditions the utility company needs to meet in order to securitize is compliance with its wildfire mitigation plan.
However, there was robust debate on the floor about the liability caps. Both consumer protection committee chairs in the House and Senate spoke in opposition to the bill. Their key issue is that the liability cap could be set per disaster or over a certain timeframe.
“If the PUC chooses to set a cap for a time period, say 10 years, which has been proposed in some conversations, and multiple wildfires happened during that time, the utility could be shielded from full responsibility for all those fires combined,” said Senate Consumer Protection Committee Chair Jarrett Keohokalole.
“It's crazy. One cap, multiple fires, and a hard limit on how much they owe.”
However, Rep. Nicole Lowen, who chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, explained that the bill would give the PUC and the public more time to look at this issue.
“I do think that with the process that we're setting up, we're gonna have an opportunity to give this difficult question the kind of time and analysis and resources that it deserves and that we really can't do in the timeframe of a legislative session,” she said.
“I understand the idea of a liability cap is concerning to victims or potential future victims. But the reality is that there's a real liability cap already. It's not like the utility paid an unlimited amount in the current settlement for Lahaina. It's not necessarily that we want to provide less than that, just providing some certainty.”
Of the $4.2 billion global settlement for the Maui fires, HECO is contributing about $2 billion.
2. Property insurance stabilization: SB1044
Lawmakers passed a measure that aims to stabilize the state’s property insurance crisis. Many condominiums have seen rates skyrocket or lost coverage altogether.
The bill would allow the state to issue commercial and hurricane insurance policies through the Hawai‘i Hurricane Relief Fund and the Hawai‘i Property Insurance Association. The HPIA is already an insurer of last resort for homes in the lava zone, but this measure would expand its ability to insure other buildings.
“A lot of condos have fallen out of the admitted market and are now in what we call surplus lines, and that's when you see the 500%, 1,000% increases. Hopefully with the added capacity that HHRF and HPIA bring, we can offer them admitted carrier rates that will be significantly lower than what's offered under surplus lines,” said House Consumer Protection Committee Chair Scot Matayoshi.
“If that wild, wild west surplus lines market comes down, even better. If they want to come down to a reasonable rate and offer it to our condominium associations, then great. We are all for that, but adding that capacity to the market through this bill was very important.”
The measure would also create a condominium loan program that would allow the state to loan condominium buildings to pay for deferred maintenance for specific issues like installing fire sprinklers and replacing pipes. This is for buildings that have been unable to secure financing because they have been unable to obtain full insurance coverage.
Matayoshi explained that repairing old pipes and installing fire sprinklers in condominiums are ways to address some of the root causes of the insurance crisis.
“That's what condominiums are missing, and that's why a lot of their rates are so high,” he said.
“We're allowing a loan program … to do those two specific things for older condominium units, which will then allow them, I hope, to fall back under the admitted carriers, bring those rates down, and also add value to the units of the owners.”
3. Landfill ban: HB969
After Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and his administration announced their intention to place Oʻahu’s new landfill near Wahiawā in December, state lawmakers introduced House Bill 969 in response.
This week, the measure passed through its final floor votes, potentially ending the City and County of Honolulu’s plans.
The city wants to place the landfill above an aquifer on agricultural lands owned by Dole Food Co. That’s exactly what HB 969 would prohibit.
The bill would prohibit landfills on the agricultural land best-suited for farming, or those classified as having “class A” soil, in counties with populations of 500,000 people or more – which is only on the island of Oʻahu. It would also ban landfills above a source of drinking water.
“The proposed landfill site located inland will be rendered unusable and that site, for all of its flaws, has been the only serious landfill alternative that we've had in a long time,” said Rep. Darius Kila, whose jurisdiction includes the Nānākuli and Mā‘ili areas.
“So, in plain terms, a Nānākuli landfill will stay open. … Our residents have lived next to this landfill for decades, breathing it, driving past it, raising our families in its shadow, and now we are probably having to face the reality that it’s going to stay open longer.”
The Waimanalo Gulch Municipal Landfill opened on the Waiʻanae coast in 1989. The state Land Use Commission ordered the city to close it by 2031, but the location the city chose in Wahiawā is over a freshwater aquifer and on agricultural land. If this bill becomes law, that location would no longer be legal.
The city has said that existing regulations have left it with no other option for where to put a new landfill.
State lawmakers also passed several bills that aim to punish and deter the use of illegal fireworks.
Cracking down on illegal fireworks became a hot-button issue right before the start of the legislative session, following the devastating New Year’s Eve explosion that killed six people, including a 3-year-old.
The pair of fireworks measures passed would allow law enforcement officers to use drones to establish probable cause for fireworks-related arrests, and would create new and more severe punishments for fireworks violations by repeat offenders and those who cause injuries or death.
In written testimony for HB1483, the state Department of the Attorney General said the prosecutors have had trouble enforcing fireworks laws in part because of the “high burden of proof” to convict those accused of fireworks offenses.
The department said that “only a small number of criminal fireworks cases have been initiated by law enforcement, and an even smaller number have been prosecuted, resulting in a largely ‘ineffective deterrent’ to the distribution and use of illicit fireworks.”
One way the bill would make fireworks laws easier to enforce is by allowing police to issue fireworks citations the same way non-criminal traffic citations are issued.
Those who illegally buy, have or set off aerial fireworks that total less than five pounds could be fined $300. That would eliminate jail as a penalty for that offense, but the AG’s office said it would also spare officers from having to interview witnesses, gather evidence and write police reports to build a criminal case.
“Due to the lower standard of proof for fireworks infractions, these citations could be issued very quickly and easily, without requiring any further investigation, and then the officer could move on to continue patrolling the community or addressing other calls,” the department said in written testimony.
5. Biosecurity: HB 427
For the second year in a row, state lawmakers moved major legislation to tackle biosecurity in Hawaiʻi.
Last year, they provided the state Department of Agriculture with $10 million for invasive species management.
Now they’re renaming it the “Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity” and have passed a host of changes to the state law to strengthen biosecurity efforts.
The omnibus measure would let the governor declare a biosecurity emergency if a pest becomes or threatens to become “beyond the State's ability to control.” It would also amend the processes for goods imported into the state and between islands.
Taking a page from New Zealand's biosecurity playbook, HB427 would set up privately run “transitional facilities” away from ports where imported goods could be sent to be inspected for pests by licensed inspectors.
The measure would support quarantines of infested areas, strengthen the inspection process for items being shipped to and around the state.
Invasive species have been a problem in Hawaiʻi for decades, but over the last few years, the spread of some key pests — coconut rhinoceros beetles, little fire ants and coqui frogs — has prompted lawmakers to address them more aggressively.
“There's invasive pests now all across the state in almost every community across Hawaiʻi. We really need to make sure we take a comprehensive look at that,” said Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems.
“It's something that's really important to us because our natural ecosystem is unique, fragile, and one of the most beautiful places in the world. And to protect our natural environment, we really need to emphasize what we're doing in biosecurity.”
The measure would also set aside $9.5 million for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and $1 million for the Hawaiʻi Ant Lab.
6. The state budget: HB300
Lawmakers passed the state’s $19.9 billion budget. It includes $26 million for new biosecurity positions, $150 million for deferred maintenance for the Department of Education, and $240 million for affordable housing financing programs.
House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita explained that the state has a healthy carryover balance of over $700 million – $200 million over what’s comfortable. However, the true test will be when the Council on Revenues meets later this month with its revenue projections.
“If they go down, then those numbers need to be adjusted, and then the governor would have to address that,” Yamashita said.
The Legislature decided not to put any additional funds into the rainy day fund, which already has about $1.5 billion. Yamashita said when they are called back for a special session to address federal funding impacts, then the Legislature can decide how it will allocate the state’s carryover balance versus putting more money into the rainy day fund – which requires a two-thirds majority vote to be used.
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