OPPOSE HB1823 HD1: Bulldozed Coastal Protections

February 26 Update

HB1823 HD1 was unfortunately passed by the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs on February 24. This measure would decimate our fundamental coastal protection laws by exempting a range of development activities from special management area permit requirements. Amendments were made by the committee but they did not fully address our concerns. 

Mahalo nui to the over 69 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition. 

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Bill Background & Info

Another measure that would fundamentally weaken development protections for our beaches and nearshore areas, is being heard on Tuesday, February 24 at 2pm in room 325 (watch online here) in the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs. 

Please take a moment to submit testimony to safeguard our islands from fast-tracked coastal development that could permanently impair our food security, cultural practices, recreational opportunities, housing affordability, and climate resilience - sample testimony below!

What this bill does

HB1823 HD1 would decimate our fundamental coastal protection laws by exempting a range of development activities from special management area permit requirements, even if they may result in cumulative impacts, and/or significant environmental and ecological effects on our coastal areas and nearshore waters.

Sample testimony for HB1823 HD1

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY OPPOSE HB1823 HD1.

This bill’s proposed new exemption from the definition of “development” would allow short-sighted taxpayer-funded coastal development projects, self-declared as exempt from environmental review, to avoid special management area permit requirements. This is highly problematic at best, particularly given the high variability and sensitivity of our coastal areas, shorelines, and nearshore waters that require heightened mindfulness and protection.

However, the current draft of this bill now goes even further, and seeks to exempt any of the activities listed in HRS §205A-22(2) - from home repair and construction, to fencing installation, to the reconstruction of outdated and potentially dangerous structures - from special management area permit requirements, even if they may threaten our shoreline and coastal areas with cumulative impacts or significant environmental and ecological effects. This is unacceptable.

Our coastal areas are as fragile as they are important to our cultural, ecological, recreational, and economic rights and interests. Our special management area permitting processes accordingly provide a layer of review and oversight, including through public input in certain instances, that can identify and mitigate the impacts of development activities on our cherished coastlines and nearshore areas. As our dependence on our beaches, estuaries, and reefs only continues to grow, we should be increasing our thoughtfulness and care in planning for coastal development - not turning our back to our rising seas.

Please HOLD this misguided measure.  

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB1823” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

SUPPORT HB2103 HD1 + OPPOSE HB1845 HD1 & HB1844 HD1: Land Use Bills

February 26 Update

HB1844 HD1 was unfortunately passed by the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs on February 24. This measure forces the Land Use Commission (LUC) to urbanize land at county request, sidelining public testimony and expert review. Amendments were made by the committee but they did not fully address our concerns. 

Mahalo nui to the over 114 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition. 

HB1845 HD1 was unfortunately passed by the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs on February 24. This measure allows major land use changes to be approved by as few as three Land Use Commission members.

Mahalo nui to the over 18 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition. 

HB2103 HD1 was passed by the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs on February 24. This measure requires water expertise on the Land Use Commission and ensuring the Native Hawaiian cultural expert is selected from OHA nominees.

Mahalo nui to the over 79 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Tarnas and Vice Chair Poepoe for passing this measure.

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February 22 Update

Critical measures that either strengthen or decimate responsible land use planning are up for their next round of hearings on Tuesday, February 24 at 2pm in room 325 (watch online here) in the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs. 

Please take a moment to submit testimony to safeguard our islands from drastic land use changes that could permanently impair our food security, cultural practices, recreational opportunities, housing affordability, and climate resilience - sample testimony below!

Bad Bills: Fast Tracking Irresponsible Land Use Changes

HB1844 HD1 would require the Land Use Commission to urbanize potentially large swaths of land at the request of the counties, without any opportunity for farmers, cultural practitioners, climate scientists, and other experts and stakeholders to have their rights and testimonies explicitly considered, accounted for, and incorporated into development conditions that could otherwise protect our food security, cultural integrity, resilience, and other critical public interests.

HB1845 HD1 would allow vast land use changes, including the urbanization of agricultural, rural, and conservation lands, to be approved by as little as three individuals - inviting oversights and uninformed land use decisionmaking, with consequences for our food and water security, cultural integrity, affordable housing supply, and climate resilience that may span generations.  

Good Bill: Ensuring Water and Cultural Expertise in Land Use Planning  

HB2103 HD1 would require that at least one member of the Land Use Commission has experience or expertise in water resource management, and require the Native Hawaiian cultural expert commissioner to be chosen from a list of names submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Sample testimony for HB1844 HD1

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY OPPOSE HB1844 HD1.  

The Land Use Commission (LUC) has long administered a critical, comprehensive process to identify and mitigate impacts to natural and cultural resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, food security, and other public interests that may be affected by the reclassification of conservation, rural,  and agricultural lands into the urban district. Unlike existing county land use decisionmaking, the quasi-judicial nature of the LUC district boundary amendment process ensures that data and other information from technical experts, cultural practitioners, and other stakeholders are adequately considered and incorporated in district boundary amendment approvals. The LUC also possesses substantial institutional knowledge regarding how the public’s interest in large-scale land use changes can be consistently protected. One of the key reasons we have these safeguards in place is because of the extreme importance of land in Hawaiʻi, and the significant, myriad, and long-lasting if not irreversible impacts that land use changes can have on the public’s interests.

By forcing the LUC to urbanize lands at the request of the counties, without the comprehensive, objective, and transparent process it currently follows, this measure would all but invite long-term or irreversible impacts to our food security, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, climate resilience, housing affordability, and many other important public interests, including those that are not closely examined or in some cases even considered in the county general plan process. 

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to HOLD this measure.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB1845 HD1

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY OPPOSE HB1845 HD1.  

This measure would allow a vote of just three out of a quorum of five commissioners on the Land Use Commission (LUC) to render decisions affecting vast areas of land - decisions that could impact critically important public needs including but not limited to food security, water security and watershed health, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, public trust resources, affordable housing, climate resilience, and more. I am deeply concerned that allowing just three individuals to approve district boundary amendments would invite oversights and decisions that fail to protect the public interest in responsible and thoughtful land use planning for our limited land base.

Given the stakes at play, and the need for multiple perspectives and a wide range of knowledge to protect and balance the community’s needs in land use decisionmaking, the LUC must retain its high standard of care, currently reflected in the six vote requirement for land use district boundary amendments. 

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to HOLD this measure.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB2103 HD1

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB2103 HD1. 

Water is one of the most critical considerations in any decision regarding land use, yet  the lack of any required water management expertise on the Land Use Commission (LUC) means that the LUC must often make land use decisions without the ability to properly assess developer’s assertions regarding the availability of water – or to otherwise understand the impacts of large-scale land use changes on regional water security.

In addition, the LUC provides one of if not the only opportunity for Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to assert their constitutional traditional and customary rights and to have these rights explicitly considered and protected in land use decisionmaking; accordingly, its membership includes a cultural expert to help the LUC understand and protect Native Hawaiian cultural practices and rights. However, this cultural expert is appointed by the Governor, who may not necessarily have sufficient expertise or community connections to identify the best candidates to serve in this role.  

HB2103 HD1 accordingly ensures that the LUC includes a member with water management expertise, and allows the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to help the Governor identify potential Commissioners to appropriately fill the LUC’s cultural expert seat. These are common-sense fixes that will ensure much more prudent land use planning and decisionmaking, while better safeguarding the cultural practices and resources that are the foundation of our islands’ identity and future resilience.

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committee to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB1844”, or “HB1845”, ”HB2103”  where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE” (for HB1844 and HB1845) or “SUPPORT” (for HB2103), write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

1. Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

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February 12 Update

HB2103, which requires water expertise on the Land Use Commission and ensuring the Native Hawaiian cultural expert is selected from OHA nominees, was passed out of the House Committee on Water & Land on February 10.

Mahalo nui to the over 63 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Hashem and Vice Chair Morikawa for passing this measure.

HB1845, which allows major land use changes to be approved by as few as three Land Use Commission members, was unfortunately passed out of the House Committee on Water & Land on February 10. HB1845 was amended but our concerns were not fully addressed in those amendments. 

Mahalo nui to the over 28 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition. 

HB1844, which forces the Land Use Commission (LUC) to urbanize land at county request, sidelining public testimony and expert review, was unfortunately passed out of the House Committee on Water & Land on February 10. HB1844 was amended but our concerns were not fully addressed in those amendments. 

Mahalo nui to the over 66 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition. 

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Bill Background & Info

Good news and bad news. Next Tuesday, February 10, at 9 am, the House Water & Land Committee will hear a number of bills that would either strengthen or decimate responsible land use planning. Please take a moment to submit testimony to safeguard our islands from drastic land use changes that could permanently impair our food security, cultural practices, housing affordability, and climate resilience - sample testimony below!

Good Bill: Water and Cultural Expertise in Land Use Planning  

HB2103 would require that at least one member of the Land Use Commission has experience or expertise in water resource management, and require the Native Hawaiian cultural expert to be chosen from a list of names submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Bad Bills: Fast Tracking Land Use Changes

HB1845 would allow vast land use changes, including the urbanization of agricultural, rural, and conservation lands, to be approved by as little as three individuals - a majority of members present at a Land Use Commission meeting with the minimum quorum of five commissioners.

HB1844 would require the Land Use Commission to urbanize lands at the request of the counties, without any opportunity to consider the testimonies and evidence provided by farmers, cultural practitioners, climate scientists, and other experts and stakeholders, much less make written findings of fact and conclusions of law to address impacts to our food security, cultural integrity, and other public interests.

Why these bills are important

HB2103 - Water is one of the most critical considerations in any discussions regarding land use, yet the Land Use Commission must often make decisions over large-scale land use changes without the expertise necessary to assess developers’ assertions regarding water use and availability. 

In addition, in many cases, the Land Use Commission provides the only opportunity for Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to assert their constitutional traditional and customary rights, and have these rights explicitly considered and protected in land use decisionmaking; accordingly, its membership includes a required cultural expert to help the Commission understand and protect Native Hawaiian cultural practices and rights. However, this cultural expert is appointed by the Governor, who may not have the requisite expertise or community connections to identify the best candidates to serve in this role.

HB2103 ensures that the Commission includes a member with water management expertise, and allows the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to assess and nominate a list of candidates to fill the cultural expert seat.

HB1845 - The Land Use Commission makes decisions over land use changes involving up to hundreds of acres or more at a time - decisions that could impact the food and water security of our children and grandchildren, and the environmental and cultural integrity of the islands they inherit. Accordingly, we must maintain the high level of care that is embodied in the six-member approval process for land use district boundary amendments. 

HB1845 would instead allow as little as three commissioners to review and approve large-scale land use changes, risking decisions that fail to adequately understand and address the range of myriad public interests that the Land Use Commission is otherwise tasked with protecting.

HB1844 - Unlike county land use planning and decisionmaking, the Land Use Commission uses a comprehensive, evidence-based process, called a “contested case hearing,” to make its decisions. This process allows the Commission to take cultural practitioner and other expert testimony, allow stakeholders to present and cross examine witnesses and other evidence, and make written findings of fact and conclusions of law to justify its decisions and orders. This in turn ensures objective and transparent decisionmaking that can also comprehensively evaluate the range of interests and rights that may be affected by large-scale land use changes.

HB1844 would prevent the Land Use Commission from applying this careful, objective, and transparent process to the urbanization of lands at the request of the counties. This all but invites impacts to food security, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, climate resilience, housing affordability, and many other important public interests that may not have been adequately examined or even considered in the county general plan process.

Sample testimony for HB2103

Aloha Chair Hashem, Vice Chair Morikawa, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB2103. 

Water is one of the most critical considerations in any decision regarding land use, yet the lack of any required water management expertise on the Land Use Commission (LUC) means that the LUC must often make land use decisions without the ability to properly assess developer’s assertions regarding the availability of water, or to otherwise understand the impacts of large-scale land use changes on regional water security.

In addition, the LUC provides one of if not the only opportunity for Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to assert their constitutional traditional and customary rights and to have these rights explicitly considered and protected in land use decisionmaking; accordingly, its membership includes a cultural expert to help the LUC understand and protect Native Hawaiian cultural practices and rights. However, this cultural expert is appointed by the Governor, who may not necessarily have sufficient expertise or community connections to identify the best candidates to serve in this role.

HB2103 accordingly ensures that the LUC includes a member with water management expertise, and allows the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to help the Governor identify potential Commissioners to appropriately fill the LUC’s cultural expert seat. These are common-sense fixes that will ensure much more prudent land use planning and decisionmaking, while better safeguarding the cultural practices and resources that are the foundation of our islands’ identity and future resilience.

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committee to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB1845

Aloha Chair Hashem, Vice Chair Morikawa, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY OPPOSE HB1845.  

This measure would allow a vote of just three out of a quorum of five commissioners on the Land Use Commission (LUC) to render decisions affecting vast areas of land - decisions that could impact critically important public needs including but not limited to food security, water security and watershed health, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, public trust resources, affordable housing, climate resilience, and more. I am deeply concerned that allowing just three individuals to approve district boundary amendments would invite oversights and decisions that fail to protect the public interest in responsible and thoughtful land use planning of our limited land base.

Given the stakes at play, and the need for multiple perspectives and a wide range of knowledge to protect and balance the community’s needs in land use decisionmaking, the LUC must retain its high standard of care, currently reflected in the six vote requirement for district boundary amendments.

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to HOLD this measure.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB1844

Aloha Chair Hashem, Vice Chair Morikawa, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY OPPOSE HB1844.  

The Land Use Commission (LUC) has long administered a critical, comprehensive process to identify and mitigate impacts to natural and cultural resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, food security, and other public interests that may be affected by the reclassification of conservation, rural, and agricultural lands into the urban district. Unlike existing county land use decisionmaking, the quasi-judicial nature of the LUC district boundary amendment process ensures that data and other information from technical experts, cultural practitioners, and other stakeholders are adequately considered and incorporated in district boundary amendment approvals. The LUC also possesses substantial institutional knowledge regarding how the public’s interest in large-scale land use changes can be consistently protected. One of the key reasons we have these safeguards in place is because of the extreme importance of land in Hawaiʻi, and the significant, myriad, and long-lasting if not irreversible impacts that land use changes can have on the public’s interests.

By forcing the LUC to urbanize lands at the request of the counties, without the careful, comprehensive, objective, and transparent process it currently follows, this measure would all but invite long-term or irreversible impacts to our food security, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, climate resilience, housing affordability, and many other important public interests that may not have been adequately examined or even considered in the county general plan process.

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to HOLD this measure.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter HB2103, HB1845, or HB1844 where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT” for HB2103 and “OPPOSE” for HB1845 and HB1844, input your written testimony, and choose your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

6. Spread the word!

OPPOSE HB1725 HD1: Dangerous Delayed Building Codes

On Friday, we can push back against special interests co-opting government processes intended to keep us safe and resilient in true emergencies. Please take a moment to submit testimony and consider testifying verbally as well - sample testimony and testimony instructions below!

Friday, February 27 at 2pm in room 308, the House Finance Committee will consider HB1725 HD1, which does provide much-needed staff support for the State Building Code Council - but which would also delay building code updates for the better part of a decade. With all of the enhanced protections and energy cost savings provided in each code update - developed through years of research and “lessons learned” from disasters and technological innovations from around the world - this would needlessly compromise the safety of local families, first responders, and entire neighborhoods, as well as the economic and environmental interests of our communities as a whole, without addressing the true root causes of the county permitting delays cited by this measure. 

Sample testimony for HB1725 HD1

Aloha Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi, and Members of the Committee,

My name is [your name], and I am writing in OPPOSITION to HB1725 HD1 as drafted.

My primary concerns are with the code-skipping provisions in Section 5 of this measure, which would saddle Hawai‘i residents with nearly decade-old building standards that do not respond to the rapidly changing realities of our climate crisis – jeopardizing human health and safety as well as our islands’ climate resiliency.

As the climate crisis continues to worsen, all aspects of our society must rapidly adapt. This is particularly true for our built environment. Outdated or nonexistent building codes that do not reflect our climate reality have already led to significant numbers of heat-related indoor deaths in other jurisdictions. The anticipated increase in extreme weather-related events such as fires and floods must also be accounted for via up-to-date building codes, to protect both residents and first responders. Buildings that do not meet modern infrastructure standards may also result in the unnecessary draining of our water and energy resources, exacerbate the impacts of droughts on our water security, drive up our collective carbon footprint, and create long-term and ever-increasing costs for residents and businesses.  

While the health and safety concerns are paramount, there are also concerns regarding the economic impacts of present and future federal funding and insurance requirements that may hinge on our compliance with up-to-date building codes.

Accordingly, I respectfully urge you to HOLD HB1725 HD1, or to remove the provisions found in Section 5 of this measure.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB1725” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. And please don’t forget to spread the word!

SUPPORT HB2581 HD2: Stop Abuse of Emergency Powers

February 25 Update

This Friday, February 27 at 10am in room 308, the House Finance Committee will hear HB2581 HD2, a bill that would establish much-needed guardrails on the definition of an “emergency,” and ensure that the use of sweeping emergency powers by executive branch leaders are to actually protect our health and safety. This bill will prevent current and future Governors and mayors from arbitrarily calling long-standing and complex societal challenges, such as unaffordable housing or “illegal” activity, as “emergencies” in order to suspend our environmental, cultural protection, good governance, procurement, and labor laws indefinitely - as Governor Green attempted to do with his emergency proclamation on (un)affordable housing.

Sample testimony for HB2581 HD2

Aloha Chair Todd, Vice Chair Takenouchi, and Members of the Committee,

My name is [your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB2581 HD2.

As we have seen in Hawaiʻi and across the continent, the survival of our democracy may hinge upon a meaningful separation of powers, one that includes keeping legislative and judicial “checks and balances” against executive overreach. Unfortunately, executive branch leaders may not always have the same level of respect for this foundational limitation on their authority, and may be tempted to use their emergency statutory authorities to create, amend, or suspend policies that should be developed through the democratic legislative process.

Recent circumstances have highlighted the vulnerability of Hawaiʻi’s own emergency powers statutes to potential misuse by local executive leadership. This includes an emergency proclamation on housing that initially suspended numerous environmental, cultural, good governance, public transparency, procurement, and labor laws, to purportedly support housing construction without any affordability or meaningful residency requirements. While the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court recognized that this did push the limits of the Governor’s emergency authorities, the potential still exists for a future executive to attempt to use long-standing and complex societal challenges – such as unaffordable housing or “illegal activity” --  to declare an “emergency” and thereby indefinitely bypass the checks and balances that protect vital public interests, including in our environment, cultural integrity, and democracy itself.

This measure accordingly provides common sense definitions of “disaster” and “emergency” along with modest guardrails to better protect against the misuse of executive emergency authorities, whether now or in the years and decades to come. Please, do not wait for a constitutional, civil, or environmental crisis before adopting the critical guidance proposed in this measure - by then, it may be too late.

Accordingly, I urge the Committee to PASS HB2581 HD2.  Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "HB2581" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. And please don’t forget to spread the word!

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February 19 Update

HB2581 HD1, which would more clearly define what constitutes a “disaster” for which the Governor’s and mayors’ sweeping emergency powers can be used to address, was passed out of the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee on February 18.

Mahalo nui to the over 50 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Tarnas and Vice Chair Poepoe for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

On Wednesday, February 18 at 2pm in room 325, the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee will hear HB2581 HD1 which would stop the abuse of emergency powers by the governor and mayors.

Please take a moment to support this measure! Sample testimony and instructions below.

What this bill does

HB2581 HD1 would more clearly define what constitutes a “disaster” for which the Governor’s and mayors’ sweeping emergency powers can be used to address.

Why this is important

HB2581 HD1 would ensure that executive branch leaders do not arbitrarily call long-standing and complex societal challenges, such as unaffordable housing or illegal activity, as “emergencies” in order to suspend our environmental, cultural protection, good governance, procurement, and labor laws indefinitely - as the Governor attempted to do with his emergency proclamation on (un)affordable housing.

Sample Testimony for HB2581 HD1

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and Committee Members,

My name is [your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB2581 HD1.

As we have seen in Hawaiʻi and across the continent, the survival of our democracy may hinge upon a meaningful separation of powers, one that includes keeping legislative and judicial “checks and balances” against executive overreach. Unfortunately, executive leaders may not always have the same level of respect for this foundational limitation on their authority, and may be tempted to use emergency statutory authorities to create, amend, or suspend policies that should be developed through the democratic legislative process.

Recent circumstances have highlighted the vulnerability of Hawaiʻi’s own emergency powers statutes to potential misuse by local executive leadership. This includes an emergency proclamation on housing that initially suspended numerous environmental, cultural, good governance, public transparency, procurement, and labor laws, to purportedly support housing construction without any affordability or meaningful residency requirements. While the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court recognized that this did push the limits of the Governor’s emergency authorities, the potential still exists for a future executive to attempt to use long-standing and complex societal challenges – such as unaffordable housing or “illegal activity” --  to declare an emergency and thereby indefinitely bypass the checks and balances that protect vital public interests, including in our environment, cultural integrity, and democracy itself.

This measure accordingly provides common sense definitions of “disaster” and “emergency” along with modest guardrails to better protect against the misuse of executive emergency authorities, whether now or in the years and decades to come. Please, do not wait for a constitutional, civil, or environmental crisis before adopting the critical guidance proposed in this measure - by then, it may be too late.

Accordingly, I urge the Committee to PASS HB2581 HD1.  Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB2581” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

OPPOSE HB1738 HD1: Defend the LUC

February 24 Update

It’s back! Help us defeat SB2007’s companion bill, HB1738 HD1 this Thursday at 2pm. HB1738 HD1 scapegoats the Land Use Commission for housing delays by limiting its oversight over large-scale (25-acre) urbanization proposals, while needlessly compromising our future food and water security, cultural integrity, climate resilience, affordable housing opportunities, and other long-term interests.

Please take a moment to submit testimony and ask your friends to do the same!  And if you are able, consider testifying verbally on HB1738 HD1. Sample testimony and instructions below.

Sample Testimony

Aloha Chair Tarnas, Vice Chair Poepoe, and Members of the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee,

My name is [Name], and I am writing in STRONG OPPOSITION to HB1738 HD1.

This measure once again scapegoats the Land Use Commission (LUC) for housing construction delays, in order to allow developers to avoid the critical protections the LUC provides for our food security, public trust resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, climate resilience, low-income housing needs, and other public interests that may be impacted by large-scale land use changes. 

The LUC has long administered a critical, comprehensive process to identify and mitigate impacts to natural and cultural resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, food security, and other public interests that may be affected by the large-scale reclassification of conservation, rural, and agricultural lands into the urban district. Unlike existing county land use planning and decisionmaking, the quasi-judicial, “court-like” nature of this LUC “district boundary amendment” (DBA) process ensures that data and other information from technical experts, cultural practitioners, and other stakeholders can be formally considered, vetted, and explicitly incorporated in its DBA approvals. 

Throughout its decades of work, the LUC has also demonstrated its ability to consistently balance the public’s interests while overseeing such large-scale land use changes, without creating undue delays. Notably, throughout the 2010s and to the present day, the LUC has consistently met the one-year approval deadline for completed DBA petitions, as well as the 45-day approval deadline for DBAs needed to accommodate HRS § 201H-38 “affordable housing” projects.

By limiting the LUC’s jurisdiction to DBAs involving more than 25 acres, this bill will needlessly limit a critical land use oversight mechanism that consistently and efficiently safeguards the public trust, Native Hawaiian rights, and other public interests in large land use changes - for little to no benefit to housing development. Please do not support this thinly veiled giveaway to developer profit margins at the expense of our local communities.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB1738” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) on HB1738 if you are able. 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Spread the word!

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February 18 Update

SB2007, which would remove the Land Use Commission's oversight over proposed land use changes involving up to 25 acres of land, was deferred by the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committees on February 17 and is essentially defeated for this session. 

Mahalo nui to the over 50 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Lee and Inouye and Vice Chairs Wakai and Chang for deferring this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

Defend the Land Use Commission (again) from a “zombie bill” that once again seeks to scapegoat the Land Use Commission for housing construction delays. This bill will reduce the Commission's ability to preserve our food security, protect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, respond to the climate crisis, and ensure housing for all income levels, when approving large scale land use changes.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 17 at 1:01pm in room 224, the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committees will hear SB2007.

Please take a moment to submit testimony on this measure, sample testimony and instructions below.

What this bill does

SB2007 would remove the Land Use Commission (LUC’s) oversight over proposed land use changes involving up to 25 acres of land.

Why this is important

SB2007 would prevent the LUC from using its time-tested, transparent, and accountable process to review certain large land use change proposals, and ensure conditions that can safeguard our food security, cultural practices, public trust resources, climate resilience, and housing affordability and job creation needs - public interests that are not considered or adequately accounted for in county land use processes and decisionmaking.  

Sample testimony for SB2007

Aloha Chairs Lee and Wakai, Vice Chairs Inouye and Chang, and members of the Committees,

My name is [Name], and I am writing in STRONG OPPOSITION to SB2007.

This measure once again scapegoats the Land Use Commission (LUC) for housing construction delays, in order to allow developers to avoid the critical protections the LUC provides for our food security, public trust resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, climate resilience, low-income housing needs, and other public interests that may be impacted by large-scale land use changes. 

The LUC has long administered a critical, comprehensive process to identify and mitigate impacts to natural and cultural resources, Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, food security, and other public interests that may be affected by the large-scale reclassification of conservation, rural, and agricultural lands into the urban district. Unlike existing county land use planning and decisionmaking, the quasi-judicial, “court-like” nature of this LUC “district boundary amendment” (“DBA”) process ensures that data and other information from technical experts, cultural practitioners, and other stakeholders can be formally considered, vetted, and explicitly incorporated in its DBA approvals. 

Throughout its decades of work, the LUC has also demonstrated its ability to consistently balance the public’s interests while overseeing such large-scale land use changes, without creating undue delays. Notably, throughout the 2010s and to the present day, the LUC has consistently met the one-year approval deadline for completed DBA petitions, as well as the 45-day approval deadline for DBAs needed to accommodate HRS § 201H-38 “affordable housing” projects.

By limiting the LUC’s jurisdiction to DBAs involving more than 25 acres, this bill will needlessly limit a critical land use oversight mechanism that consistently and efficiently safeguards the public trust, Native Hawaiian rights, and other public interests in large land use changes - for little to no benefit to housing development. Please do not support this thinly veiled giveaway to developer profit margins at the expense of our local communities.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “SB2007” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Spread the word!

SUPPORT SB2046 SD1: No Jet Fuel In Water

February 24 Update

The “No Jet Fuel in Water Bill,” SB2046 SD1, has a hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10am, and due to watered-down amendments made at the behest of the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, your testimony is needed now more than ever.

Despite the common-sense premise of the original draft of this measure – that jet fuel released from large underground storage tank systems, including the Red Hill facility, must be fully cleaned up – Governor Green’s Department of Health has pushed for amendments to only require the Navy to clean up its mess “to the extent practicable.” 

This is unacceptable. We need this bill to keep moving if we want to have an enforceable cleanup standard for the Navy, but we also need the Judiciary Committee to recognize that its current language is now so vague as to be practically unenforceable, thanks to the testimony of the Green administration.

Sample Testimony

Aloha Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Gabbard, and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,

My name is ______ and I strongly urge you to PASS, WITH CRITICAL AMENDMENTS, SB2046 SD1. 

As originally drafted, this bill would have made clear that any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank system - such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - must be completely cleaned up. 

Unfortunately, Hawaiʻi Department of Health testimony in the last hearing resulted in amendments that replaced its clear, enforceable, and common sense standard for jet fuel remediation with a vague and practically unenforceable “as much as practicable” standard. This change, combined with the removal of a rebuttable presumption regarding the source of jet fuel surrounding an underground storage tank facility after a confirmed release, all but assures that the Navy will evade true accountability for the Red Hill catastrophe.

After having ignored years of public outcry, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense prior to the 2021 catastrophe, the Navy must not be allowed to ignore the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai. There should be NO jet fuel in our precious and once-pure drinking water or in our environment, especially when it has been released by the reckless operation of a decrepit underground storage tank facility after years of objections by Hawaiʻi's residents. 

Please stand with the elected and agency officials of the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative, the Oʻahu community, and all who care about our precious wai, and ensure that SB2046 SD1 moves forward with the clear and enforceable remediation standard and rebuttable presumption found in the original draft of this common sense measure. If overbreadth is a concern, I respectfully recommend including provisions that would limit this requirement to underground storage tank systems with a capacity of 1 million gallons or more.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB2046" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony. (No verbal testimony on this bill)

5. Spread the word!

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February 3 Update

SB2046, the “no jet fuel in water” bill, and SB2093, requiring the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) to meet more frequently, were both passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees on February 2.

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Bill Background & Info

Here we go! Critical Red Hill bill needs our support for a hearing on MONDAY - please submit written testimony ASAP (sample verbiage and testimony instructions below) and consider attending the hearing on Monday, February 2, at 3 pm in Hawaiʻi State Capitol Conference Room 224 or via Zoom (must submit written testimony to testify verbally - see below).

What this bills does

SB2046 would require the Navy to remediate all jet fuel-related contamination (including compounds created when jet fuel breaks down over time) from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, to below-detectable levels (using the most sensitive detection technology available). 

Why this bill is important

There should be no jet fuel in our water. Period. After ignoring public demands, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense for years leading up to the November 2021 Red Hill water crisis, the Navy must be held legally accountable to fully clean up the mess it created. Unfortunately, over four years later, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful investments in remediation efforts, assuring us that its jet fuel in our aquifer will go away "naturally" over the course of decades. SB2046 would make clear that we will not stand idly by as the Navy ignores the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai - and that of our children and grandchildren.

Sample testimony for SB2046 ("No Jet Fuel in Our Water")

Aloha Chair San Buenaventura, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair McKelvey, Vice Chair Richards, and members of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees,

My name is [Your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB2046, which makes clear that any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank system - such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - must be completely cleaned up.

Well over four years after the November 2021 Red Hill fuel spill, and nearly three years after the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative called for the complete clean up of this contamination, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful efforts to remediate our island's sole source aquifer. After having ignored years of public outcry, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense prior to the 2021 catastrophe, the Navy must not be allowed to now ignore the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai.  

This bill would establish an enforceable legal standard that will also be binding on the federal government: there should be NO jet fuel in our precious and once-pure drinking water or in our environment, especially when it has been released by the reckless operation of a decrepit underground storage tank facility after years of objections by Hawaiʻi's residents. 

I urge you to PASS SB2046.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (you’ll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB2046" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

6. Spread the word!

OPPOSE SB3148: No Private Beaches

February 19 Update

SB3148, which would allow public lands, including beaches, to be leased or used exclusively by hotels, resorts, and other private interests, was deferred by the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts on February 18 and is essentially defeated for this session.

Mahalo nui to the over 342 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Lee and Vice Chair Inouye for deferring this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

One of the worst bills we have ever seen, seeking to allow the Board of Land and Natural Resources to privatize beaches and other public lands without even considering impacts to public use, access, and enjoyment, has a hearing this Wednesday at 1:01pm before the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts Committee in room 224.

Please submit testimony on this Governor’s package measure, SB3148 - sample verbiage below - and let our legislators know that the DLNR’s attempt to abdicate its public trust kuleana is simply unacceptable.

What this bills does

SB3148 seeks to allow public lands - including beaches - to be leased or otherwise used exclusively by private entities like hotels and resorts, without any consideration of potential impacts to public use, access, or enjoyment.   

Why this is important

SB3148 seeks to allow the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to treat private and exclusive hotel and resort uses of public lands and beaches as "public uses" under the public trust doctrine, entitled to a favorable presumption equal to or superseding the public's right to use, access, and enjoy these places. In other words, this bill would justify the privatization of our public beaches as consistent with the public trust.

Sample testimony for SB3148

Aloha Chair Lee, Vice Chair Inouye, and Members of the Committee,

My name is [your name] and I am STRONGLY OPPOSED to SB3148.

This Governor's package bill is a shameless, confused attempt by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to ignore the public's right to use, access, and enjoy public lands and beaches, when allowing hotels and resorts to lease and exclude the public from such spaces for decades or longer.

As described in this measure's justification sheet, this bill intends to make private activities listed under HRS §171-10 equal to public use under the public trust doctrine. Doing so would create a favorable presumption in favor of hotel and resort uses of public lands and beaches under the public trust - even when such uses would exclude the public.

In other words, the DLNR, through this bill, is trying to make the privatization of our beaches a default option under the public trust. 

It is dumbfounding to see the primary trustee agency for our public trust lands, waters, and resources seek the ability to sell our public beaches to the highest bidder, for generations at a time. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the DLNR has failed to demonstrate an understanding of the public trust, its duties under the trust, or the incredible harms that it can inflict and has inflicted, through the abdication of its trust obligations to present and future generations.

Please do not let the DLNR sell out our public beaches and undermine the rights of our present and future generations under the public trust, for nothing more than its administrative convenience. Please HOLD this terribly misguided measure.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify,

[your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB3148” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

SUPPORT HB1929: Protect Molokaʻi From Invasive Pests

February 19 Update

HB1929, which would provide funds for a biosecurity plan to protect Molokaʻi from invasive pests found elsewhere in the islands, was passed by the House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems on February 18. 

Mahalo nui to the over 60 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Chun and Vice Chair Kusch for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

On Wednesday, February 18 at 9:30am in room 325 the House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems will hear HB1929 which would protect Molokaʻi from coconut rhinoceros beetles and other invasive pests.

Please take a moment to support this measure! Sample testimony and instructions below.

What this bill does

HB1929 would provide funds for a biosecurity plan to protect Molokaʻi from invasive pests found elsewhere in the islands.

Why this is important

HB1929 would help to keep the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) and other invasive pests not found on Molokaʻi from devastating the food security, ecological integrity, cultural practices, and ways of life of this island, a kīpuka of Hawaiian cultural practices and values that may be the key to our islands’ and planet’s future resilience.

Sample Testimony for HB1929

Aloha Chair Chun, Vice Chair Kusch, and Committee Members,

My name is [your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB1929.

Molokaʻi is known as a “kīpuka” island, where Native Hawaiian values, practices, and relationships between and among people and ʻāina continue to persevere, despite the dynamic changes our islands have seen over the last two centuries. Notably, climate scientists and cultural practitioners alike agree that places like Molokaʻi, still steeped in time-tested, indigenous wisdom, may hold the key to our future resilience as humanity contends with an ever-destabilizing climate.  

Unfortunately, Molokaʻi remains at constant risk of exposure to potentially devastating invasive pests, such as the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB). The introduction and establishment of such invasive species on the island may permanently impact the ecological integrity, cultural practices, food security, and ways of life for Molokaʻi and its people. This in turn may not only rob all of Hawaiʻi and the world of the unique beauty and cultural heritage maintained by Molokaʻi Nui A Hina, but also inhibit us from learning and applying the knowledge and insight that has been maintained by its communities in the highly uncertain decades to come.

While Molokaʻi has been able to get the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity to promulgate temporary rules to restrict the movement of CRB host material to the island, a much more comprehensive, long-term strategy is needed to truly protect the island from the devastating impacts of the CRB and other invasive pests. This measure would accordingly provide critical resources for the development of a much-needed biosecurity plan for the island.

Therefore, I respectfully urge the Committee to PASS HB1929.  Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB1929” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

SUPPORT HB2101: Stop Commercial Aquarium Collection

February 19 Update

HB2101, which would prohibit the commercial collection of marine life for the aquarium trade, was passed out of the House Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land on February 18. HB2101 was, however, amended to apply to only Hawaiʻi Island instead of statewide.

Mahalo nui to the over 255 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Lowen and Hashem and Vice Chairs Perruso and Morikawa for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

On Wednesday, February 18 at 8:45am in room 411 the House Committees on Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land will hear HB2101, which would permanently ban the harmful collection of critical marine species for the aquarium trade across the islands.

Please take a moment to support this measure! Sample testimony and instructions below.

What this bill does

HB2101 which would prohibit the commercial collection of marine life for the aquarium trade, and prevent the Division of Aquatic Resources from re-opening the aquarium collection industry after it was shut down for most of the last decade.

Why it is important

HB2101 would make it clear that the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources must not waste its extremely limited time and resources developing, implementing, monitoring, and enforcing proposed regulations to reopen the commercial aquarium collection industry, which has already been shut down for nearly a decade - and to instead focus on much more important priorities, as our fisheries and reefs face unprecedented threats.

Sample testimony for HB2101

Aloha Chairs Lowen and Hashem, Vice Chairs Perruso and Morikawa, and Committee Members,

My name is [your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB2101.

After years of controversy and concern, including from Native Hawaiian subsistence fishing communities, the aquarium collection industry was finally shut down by court order in 2017 - and has remained shut down for the better part of the last decade. Please enact this now longstanding status quo into law, and make clear that Hawaiʻi’s waters should not be reopened for the ornamental aquarium trade, as the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is currently proposing.

Reef fish - including and particularly the herbivorous species targeted by aquarium collectors - are essential components of a healthy nearshore ecosystem, including the coral reefs that protect our shorelines from rising seas and coastal erosion. They are also critical components of traditional and customary subsistence fishing practices, have cultural and spiritual significance, and are a precious resource for residents and visitors alike. 

When the industry was still active, commercial aquarium collection - driven by the immense profit to be made by selling certain reef species for purely ornamental purposes - had a disproportionate and significant impact on our nearshore waters. The removal of hundreds of thousands if not millions of reef fish per year undermined coral reef biodiversity and ecological functions; compromised our cultural, subsistence, and recreational practices; and promoted the belief that our public trust resources should be prioritized for corporate exploitation. Accordingly, the majority of Hawaiʻi residents as well as the Board of Land and Natural Resources itself has voiced support for the permanent ban of commercial aquarium collection in Hawaiʻi’s waters.

Nonetheless, DAR is now moving forward with rules that would immediately reopen West Hawaiʻi Island’s waters to commercial aquarium collection, and that lay the groundwork to do the same throughout Hawaiʻi. DAR’s justification for this costly, time-consuming endeavor is that state law somehow mandates it to do so. It is now incumbent on the legislature to make clear that DAR should not and must not expend more of its limited resources attempting to re-start an already defunct industry, and instead focus on addressing our myriad and much more pressing marine resource management needs. 

Therefore, I strongly urge the Committees to PASS HB2101.  Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter “HB2101” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “SUPPORT”, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Don’t forget to spread the word!

SUPPORT SB2760, SB2048, SB2488: Strengthen Invasive Species Response

February 11 Update

SB2048, prohibiting the sale of invasive pests or products infested with pests, was passed by the Senate Committees on Agriculture and the Environment and Commerce and Consumer Protection on February 11. 

Mahalo nui to the over 21 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Gabbard and Keohokālole and Vice Chairs Richards and Fukunaga for passing this measure.

SB2488, which restores HISC funding back to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, where HISC housed, rather than Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, was passed by the Senate Committees on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment on February 11. 

Mahalo nui to the over 24 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Lee and Gabbard and Vice Chairs Inouye and Richards for passing this measure.

SB2760, which would implement a suite of practical, much-needed fixes to fill longstanding gaps in the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s statutory authorities, was passed by the Senate Agriculture and Environment and Commerce and Consumer Protection Committees on February 19.

Mahalo nui to the over 17 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Gabbard and Keohokālole and Vice Chairs Richards and Fukunaga for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

Three common-sense and much-needed measures to boost Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity framework need your support! Please take a moment now to submit testimony on one or all of the bills below, and help secure stronger protections for our food systems, natural resources, cultural practices, and ways of life from the generations-long impacts of invasive pests.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 11 at 10am, the Senate Committees on Agriculture and the Environment and Commerce and Consumer Protection will hear SB2760 and SB2048. These measures address long-standing gaps in Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity framework and will help mitigate the ongoing and future impacts of invasive species on our native ecosystems, cultural practices, food security, public health, economy, and overall quality of life.

Later that day, at 1pm, the Senate Committees on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Agriculture and Environment will hear SB2488, which would allow the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) and its partners to continue and expand their vital role in Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity strategy, and avoid looming disruptions that may soon occur under current law. 

What these bills do

SB2760 proposes a suite of practical, much-needed fixes to fill longstanding gaps in the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s (DAB’s) statutory authorities. It expands the entities who DAB should work with on our wide range of biosecurity issues, expands the types of potential pest host material DAB can regulate, and extends the validity of interim biosecurity rules from one year to two—ensuring needed emergency protections remain in place while permanent rules are developed.

SB2048 prohibits the sale of invasive pests or products infested with pests. This measure clarifies DAB’s authority and responsibility to intervene before the sale of infested plants, mulch, or other materials leads to another invasive species crisis.

SB2488—similar to HB1601—restores HISC funding back to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, where HISC housed, rather than DAB, which does not have the experience, expertise, or staff capacity to administer these funds - especially on top of its many other new biosecurity responsibilities it is struggling to uphold. This bill also creates a dedicated executive director position for HISC, whose ability to fully focus on our biosecurity needs would supercharge HISC’s ability to fulfill its mission.  

Why these bills are important

For years, DAB (previously the Department of Agriculture) has cited a lack of authority and clarity as reasons for slow or inadequate response to invasive species threats. This has contributed to the multiple, simultaneous invasive species crises we are now experiencing across the islands, including little fire ants, coconut rhinoceros beetles, coqui frogs, and others.

SB2760 and SB2048 address many of these challenges by clarifying responsibilities, expanding regulatory authority over pests and infested materials, and allowing interim rules to remain in effect long enough to be meaningful—especially given how long it often takes to adopt permanent rules.

SB2488 corrects a funding shift made last year that redirected HISC funds from DLNR to DAB, creating a significant risk of funding delays and even indefinite disruptions to critical biosecurity efforts. DAB has no experience administering these funds, and continues to face staffing and capacity challenges in implementing its historical and new biosecurity responsibilities. As a result, there is a real and significant risk that DAB’s administration of HISC funds may result in funds not being distributed in a timely manner, or at all, to critical programs, including the island invasive species committees, 643PEST.org, and the Plant Pono Program. By restoring funding to DLNR and establishing an executive director position to work full-time on facilitating HISC’s mission, SB2488 protects and strengthens HISC’s ability to coordinate biosecurity actions and respond quickly and effectively to new and ongoing invasive species threats.

Sample testimony for SB2760

Aloha Chairs Gabbard and Keohokālole, Vice Chairs Richards and Fukunaga, and members of the Committees, 

My name is [Name], and I am writing in strong support of SB2760.

Invasive plants, animals, and diseases have already caused immense harm across Hawaiʻi—damaging watersheds, threatening native species, undermining cultural practices, and impacting food security, public health, and our economy. Once invasive species become established, the damage is often irreversible, making prevention and rapid response absolutely essential.

SB2760 addresses long-standing gaps in the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity’s authority by clarifying who the department can work with, expanding its ability to regulate high-risk materials that spread invasive species, and allowing interim biosecurity rules to remain in effect long enough to be meaningful. These are common-sense fixes that will help agencies act more quickly and effectively to stop invasive species before it is too late.

At a time when Hawaiʻi is facing multiple invasive species crises, SB2760 will help ensure that our biosecurity system is proactive rather than reactive, and that agencies have the tools they need to protect our ʻāina, waters, and communities.

I respectfully urge you to PASS SB2760.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for SB2048

Aloha Chairs Gabbard and Keohokālole, Vice Chairs Richards and Fukunaga, and members of the Committees, 

My name is [Name], and I am writing in strong support of SB2048.

Hawaiʻi’s history has shown us how devastating invasive species can be once they become established. Invasive pests have harmed our native ecosystems, threatened food security, increased pesticide use, and damaged cultural practices and livelihoods across the islands. Preventing the spread of invasive species at the point of sale is one of the most effective ways to stop new infestations before they cause irreversible harm.

SB2048 would prohibit the sale of invasive pests or products infested with pests, such as plants and mulch. The sale of infested materials has played a significant role in the spread of destructive pests like little fire ants and coconut rhinoceros beetles, yet the Department of Agriculture still has not adopted rules to make this highly harmful conduct illegal. This bill makes clear that the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity has both the authority and responsibility to intervene before unscrupulous business practices lead to yet another invasive species crisis.

I respectfully urge you to PASS SB2048 to protect Hawaiʻi’s environment, agriculture, public health, and communities.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for SB2488

Aloha Chairs Lee and Gabbard, Vice Chairs Inouye and Richards, and members of the Committees,

My name is [Name], and I am writing in strong support of SB2488.

This bill would restore funding for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), where the Council is housed and where such funding has been successfully administered for years, while also adding much-needed capacity to the council by establishing an executive director position.

DLNR and its dedicated staff have the experience and expertise to ensure that Hawai'i Invasive Species Committee (HISC) funds get to the programs that we depend on, to protect our homes, farms, lands, and waters from invasive pests. These include the highly effective island invasive species committees, 643PEST.org, the Hawaiʻi Weed Risk Assessment, and the Plant Pono Program, among others.

In contrast, the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) has limited expertise in the breadth of HISC’s work, continues to struggle with implementing the new authorities and staff positions it was given last year, and has a track record of inadequately administering biosecurity funding and ignoring invasive species threats generally. Having DAB administer FY26-27 HISC funds on top of DAB’s current challenges, a change that was enacted last year, would only hinder HISC’s partners and programs with potential funding disruptions and bureaucracy - at a time when Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity crises need faster responses, not undue delays. 

Placing HISC funds back in the DLNR would ensure continuity in HISC’s and its partners’ efforts, and avoid disruptions to our biosecurity framework that we simply cannot afford. 

Lastly, this bill would also strengthen HISC by creating a dedicated executive director position. A full-time director would ensure that HISC has staff that can focus fully on its mission, including by coordinating work between meetings, representing HISC in key discussions, and otherwise ensuring invasive species response efforts move quickly and effectively.

SB2488 will both protect and give a critically-needed, timely boost to our islands’ ability to address our invasive species crises. I urge you to please PASS this measure.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB2760", “SB2048”, “SB2488” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

OPPOSE HB1673 HD1 & SUPPORT HB1926 HD1: Protect Our Wai

February 18 Update

HB1926 HD1 which provides unspecified funding for the Red Hill WAI Policy Coordinator office, was passed out of the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee on February 17. 

Mahalo nui to the over 55 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Lowen and Vice Chair Perruso for passing this measure.

HB1673 HD1, which repeals the prohibition against placing landfills above the underground injection control line on Oʻahu enacted last year, was deferred by the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee on February 19 and is essentially defeated for this session.

Thank you to the over 70 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in opposition to defeated this amended measure.

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Bill Background & Info

Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 17, two separate measures will be considered in the Hawaiʻi House and Senate that will jeopardize our future water security and provide key funding for the Red Hill WAI Policy Coordinator, to support the clean up of our ʻāina and wai contaminated by the US Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Please take a moment to testify on these bills - sample testimony and testimony instructions below!

First, at 9am in room 411, the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee will hear HB1673 HD1, a bad bill that as currently drafted would repeal last year’s prohibition against the siting of landfills above drinking water aquifers on Oʻahu.  

During that same hearing, the Committee will also consider HB1926 HD1, which would provide unspecified funding for the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative (WAI) Policy Coordinator’s office, to support its facilitation of the timely clean up of our ʻāina and wai contaminated by the Red Hill Underground Storage Tank Facility.

What these bills do

HB1673 HD1 repeals the prohibition against placing landfills above the underground injection control line on Oʻahu, a policy enacted last year to protect additional drinking water aquifers from catastrophic contamination. 

HB1926 HD1 provides unspecified funding for the Red Hill WAI Policy Coordinator office, including for public engagement, environmental monitoring, groundwater modeling, remediation research, and independent  water testing and expert review of the Navy’s water data.

Why these bills are important

In 2025, the Hawaiʻi Legislature made a much-needed policy call by prohibiting the siting of landfills above drinking water aquifers on the island of Oʻahu, given the inevitability of groundwater contamination from highly toxic landfill leachate whether in the near future, or decades from now. By repealing this prohibition, HB1673 HD1 is a dangerous bill that will risk creating another “Red Hill water crisis” for future generations, as city administrations and Honolulu Board of Water Supply chief engineers are pressured over time into allowing a new landfill to be located above a drinking water source – as was already attempted last year.  

Meanwhile, a lack of transparency and candor from the Navy, unexplained Navy water testing anomalies, hidden water samples, a lack of meaningful proactive remediation efforts by the Navy, and a growing unwillingness to hold the Navy accountable to public concerns by both the Hawaiʻi Department of Health and EPA make public engagement, independent remediation research, and objective expert assessments of the Navy’s Red Hill cleanup efforts absolutely critical if we wish to heal our poisoned wai and ʻāina. HB1926 HD1 is a hopeful measure that provides state funding to meet these critical needs, while making clear our expectation that the federal government must reimburse us for these expenses. 

Sample testimony for HB1673 HD1

Aloha Chair Lowen, Vice Chair Perruso, and Members of the Committee,

My name is [Name], and I am writing in strong opposition to HB1673 HD1.

The latest draft of this measure would needlessly remove a critical and common sense state-level protection against the placement of future landfills above drinking water aquifers on Oʻahu.  

As we continue to navigate the Red Hill water crisis, it is incumbent upon all of us to do what it takes to protect what water sources we have left from foreseeable future contamination, if we wish to do right by our islands and the future generations who will inhabit them long after we are gone. Accordingly, the legislature rightly passed a law last year to prevent the siting of landfills above Oʻahu’s drinking water aquifers, given the inevitability of a landfill’s highly toxic leachate eventually contaminating any underlying groundwater. Please do not roll back this critical protection by passing this measure as drafted.

While there may or may not now be an additional layer of protection provided by City’s recognition of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s “no-pass zone,” this is no reason for the legislature to abdicate its own responsibility to safeguard our precious wai, and that of our children, grandchildren, and future generations. As we saw just last year, the tremendous pressure that may be placed on current and future city administrations and current and future chief engineers of the Board of Water Supply could very well lead to city-level decisions to site a landfill above a drinking water aquifer, if this measure is passed. 

I respectfully urge you to HOLD HB1673 HD1.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB1926 HD1

Aloha Chair Lowen, Vice Chair Perruso, and Members of the Committee,

My name is [Name], and I am writing in SUPPORT of HB1926 HD1.

In recent months, we have seen continued efforts by the Navy to evade public scrutiny and community accountability, regarding its monitoring and clean-up of the ʻāina and wai contaminated by its Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. This includes a refusal to explain countless “irregularities” in its water sampling and reporting, to properly maintain water samples needed to understand what may have poisoned its water system as well as our aquifer, to answer questions posed at Fuel Tank Advisory Committee meetings, and most recently, to meet with the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative. Most concernedly, there also has been no meaningful investment in proactive remediation research that can actually clean the contamination within Oʻahu’s sole-source aquifer.  

Clearly, we need much greater state-level investments in remediation research, independent groundwater modeling and environmental testing, objective expert assessments of Navy water testing procedures and data analyses, and public engagement, to protect our children, grandchildren and future generations from having to live with the constant threat of water insecurity and contamination. HB1926 HD1 would provide for these necessary investments, while making clear our expectation that the federal government will reimburse us for any expenses Hawaiʻi incurs in cleaning up the Navy’s mess.      

Accordingly, I respectfully urge you to PASS HB1926 HD1.

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (you’ll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email).

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "HB1673" or “HB1926” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information, select “OPPOSE” for HB1673 and “SUPPORT” for HB1926, write or copy/paste your testimony, and select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4).

6. Spread the word!

2026 Priority Bill Tracker

SUPPORT HB1567: Energy Affordability and Equity

February 6 Update:

HB1567, which requires the Public Utilities Commission to design fairer utility rates that protect our communities and ensure reliable, affordable electricity for all, was passed out of the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee on February 5. The bill was amended to make baseline energy affordability and medically fragile protection programs optional and to remove the stakeholder advisory group provisions.

Mahalo nui to the over 29 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Lowen and Vice Chair Perruso for hearing and passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

Please take a moment to support affordability and equity in electrical bills and disconnections! HB1567, uplifting the need to mitigate high energy costs and the harms of utility disconnections on vulnerable households, has a hearing this Thursday, February 5 at 9:00am in the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, in room 325. Your testimony will help keep this important measure alive and moving this session.

What HB1567 does: 

HB1567 directs the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to ensure that electricity for essential needs remains affordable, and to establish cutoff protections for households that may be especially harmed by energy disconnections. Among its provisions, the bill specifically directs the PUC to identify the minimum amount of energy needed to provide essential electric services for all residents; to develop fairer billing structures that keep the cost of electricity for these services affordable; and to work to ensure continued delivery of electricity to meet critical medical needs of vulnerable residents, such as those who rely on oxygen machines or refrigerated medications, in the event of weather events, emergencies, or their inability to pay their electrical bills.

Why this is important:

Hawaiʻi’s high energy costs and low income levels have resulted in alarming rates of utility disconnections, making clear the urgent need for rate reforms. In 2024, 10,000 residential households experienced energy disconnections—over three times the number of disconnections before the pandemic. Many if not most of these households include extremely low-income families, renters, kūpuna, and/or medically vulnerable residents, who may be forced to choose between paying for electricity or other essential needs like rent, food, and healthcare. 

Ensuring affordable, reliable access to electricity is not just an economic issue, it is a matter of public health, resilience, and humanity. 

Sample Testimony:

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "HB1567" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

SUPPORT SB3000 & HB1568: Climate Bills

Two of the most important proposals this session to fight back against the fossil fuel industry will be heard next week. Please testify and show our legislators and the world that Hawaiʻi will not stand idly by, as we witness oil and gas megacorporations continue to destroy our planet, and our children’s future. 

This Monday, February 9 at 10:15am, the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee will hear SB3000, which provides the state and insurance providers legal tools to make fossil fuel companies pay for the suffering and destruction their lies and coverups will inflict on our islands.

Then, on Tuesday, February 10 at 9:05am, we have been informed that the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee will likely hear HB1568, to stop Hawaiʻi from importing methane—a greenhouse gas 80 times worse for our planet than carbon dioxide—and from being used to market methane-based “liquified natural gas” to nations throughout the Pacific (stay tuned for an update when the notice is formally posted).

What these bills do

SB3000 would help keep home insurance affordable and available in Hawaiʻi, by empowering the state Attorney General and Hawaiʻi insurance providers to sue major oil and gas corporations, for the harms and costs of preparing for and recovering from climate-driven disasters.

HB1568 bans the importation or storage of methane-based liquified natural gas, or “LNG,” the development of infrastructure to deliver and burn LNG, and prohibits the issuance of permits to otherwise allow LNG to become Hawaiʻi’s next fossil fuel addiction.

Why these bills are important

Hawaiʻi is drowning - literally and figuratively - in skyrocketing home insurance rates, as well as from ever-worsening sea level rise, floods, and other climate disasters that are driving this insurance crisis. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of the climate crisis continue to make trillions of dollars per year, even as they work to condemn our children, grandchildren, and generations yet unborn to a future of unprecedented devastation.

SB3000 will allow Hawaiʻi to do its part in the fight against the fossil fuel companies that are drowning our islands and killing our planet, by allowing the state and insurance providers to file suit and make these corporations pay for the damage they are inflicting on our ‘āina and people.  Funds recovered from these lawsuits will also help to stabilize our insurance rates, and keep insurers from leaving Hawaiʻi.  

Meanwhile, HB1568 would put the brakes on the Governor’s proposal to lock us into an indefinite dependency on fossil fuel giant JERA, and its planet-killing methane-based LNG.  Cost overruns alone for the $2 billion LNG infrastructure investment could leave HECO customers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars or more; maintenance issues, human error, or a hurricane, earthquake, or fire - as seen as recently as this Tuesday - would make matters even worse. However, the true costs of the JERA-Hawaiʻi proposal -  by embracing LNG and marketing this fossil fuel to nations across Oceania - would be immeasurable.  The blanket LNG prohibition in this bill may be the only way to ensure that Hawaiʻi does not help a fossil fuel corporation lead us down a path of existential destruction.

Sample testimony for SB3000

Aloha Chair Keohokālole, Vice Chair Fukunaga, and members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB3000. 

After decades of deception and lies by the fossil fuel industry, the climate crisis they’ve created has already severely disrupted or destroyed thousands of lives and livelihoods in our islands, and threatens to destroy countless more. To add insult to injury, even residents not yet directly impacted by climate disasters are being forced to pay skyrocketing, climate-driven insurance premiums, while oil and gas corporations continue to rake in trillions of dollars in profits every year.  

This is unacceptable. 

SB3000 would accordingly allow Hawaiʻi to do its part to fight back against the fossil fuel companies that are killing our people and our planet, authorizing the state and insurance providers to file suit and make these corporations pay for the harms they cause.  Funds recovered from these lawsuits will also help to stabilize our insurance rates, and keep insurers from leaving Hawaiʻi.  This measure is a bold but common-sense approach to make the truly responsible parties pay for the crisis we are experiencing, while providing urgently needed relief to their victims - Hawaiʻi’s people.

As we witness our children and grandchildren inherit a world and a future of unprecedented destruction, doing nothing is not an option. The legislature must act. We must act. Hawaiʻi can once again take the lead in responding to our climate crisis in a truly rational manner, while also protecting our people and future generations from its physical, spiritual, and financial harms that will only worsen over time.       

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committee to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for HB1568:

Aloha Chair Lowen, Vice Chair Perruso, and Members of the Committee,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT HB1568.  

Climate experts agree: with a global warming potential 80 times higher than carbon dioxide, and with a lifecycle climate impact worse than coal, we must significantly cut down our use of methane as an energy source by the end of the decade. Doing so may be the best and only way to buy us desperately needed time, before the climate crisis spirals beyond our control.

Despite this, the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office has put forward a short-sighted proposal for Hawaiʻi to embrace methane, or liquified natural gas (LNG), as a “temporary” “bridge” fuel, with no specific strategy to transition to a renewable alternative by 2045.  To make matters worse, the Governor has signed a “Strategic Partnering Agreement” with fossil fuel giant JERA, to force Oʻahu’s HECO customers to invest in this planet-destroying corporation through their electrical bills - and with the vision of using Hawaiʻi to market LNG to other Pacific nations.  In other words, Hawaiʻi is poised to lead Oceania in accelerating the end of humanity, and humankind as we know it.  

This measure may be the only way to ensure the Governor and Hawaiʻi State Energy Office cease and desist in their efforts to bring LNG to Hawaiʻi, and to other places far beyond our shores.  

To be clear, cost overruns alone for the proposed $2B LNG infrastructure investment could leave HECO customers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars or more; maintenance issues, human error, or a hurricane, earthquake, or fire - like we’ve seen as recently as this past Tuesday - would make the financial consequences even worse. 

However, the true costs of the current Hawaiʻi-JERA proposal - to have us embrace LNG, and market this fossil fuel to nations far and wide - would be immeasurable. 

This bill may be the only way to ensure that Hawaiʻi does not help a fossil fuel corporation lead us down a path of existential destruction – a path that may condemn our children and grandchildren to a future of unthinkable devastation. 

Accordingly, I respectfully but strongly urge the Committee to PASS this measure.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB3000" or “HB1568” where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able! 

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

SUPPORT SB2002: Free the Water Commission

February 5 Update:

SB2002, the “Free the Water Commission” bill, was passed out of the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Military Affairs Committees on February 4.

Mahalo nui to the over 53 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs Lee and Fukunaga and Vice Chair Inouye for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

SB2002, to free the Water Commission from undue political influence, is being heard by the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Military Affairs Committees this Wednesday, February 4 at 3:01pm in room 016 (watch online here). Please take a moment now to submit written testimony and provide verbal testimony on Wednesday if can! 

What SB2002 does:

SB2002 would protect the Water Commission and its staff from the influence of opportunistic and politically connected special interests, allowing them to implement the state Water Code in the public’s interest, and without fear of political retribution. The bill would also allow the Water Commission to hold water code violators accountable with meaningful fines. Moreover, it would provide for a member of the nominating committee for new Water Commissioners to be appointed by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ CEO, ensuring that the committee takes into account the unique Hawaiian rights and interests that have been historically ignored or undermined by Commission decisions.

Why this is important:

First, this bill would address political vulnerabilities that could allow powerful corporate interests to unduly influence the critically important work of the Water Commission. Currently, the Commission’s Chair is a member of the Governor’s cabinet, as is its legal counsel, the Attorney General. Both individuals have considerable power over the Water Commission and its staff, and both answer directly to the Governor. As a result, powerful interests who have the Governor’s ear could substantially interfere with the Commission’s implementation of the Water Code, and the Public Trust Doctrine. 

This bill would accordingly allow Commission members to decide amongst themselves who among their volunteers should serve as their Chair, and would further allow the entire Commission to choose an “executive director” as the lead Commission staff person. Annual performance reviews for the executive director would ensure that any employment decisions are based on a documented and objective assessment of their performance, rather than political opportunism or retribution. Finally, the Commission would be able to hire their own legal counsel, rather than rely on the Governor-serving Attorney General.

Second, this bill would authorize the Water Commission to impose meaningful fines against those who could otherwise over pump our aquifers and drain our streams dry with impunity – notwithstanding the law or the needs of the community. The current $5,000 daily fine the Commission is authorized to levy is wholly insufficient to hold multinational corporations - or the Department of Defense - accountable if and when their water code violations impact priority public needs, including for affordable housing. Without the increased fines authorized under this measure, millions of gallons of water per day could be illegally monopolized by deep pocket entities for a fraction of a cent per gallon in penalties, harming our precious water resources, and the houses, schools, farms, small businesses, and others that rely on them.

Finally, this bill would allow the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ CEO to appoint a member of the Water Commission Nominating Committee, to help in its nomination of new commissioners; this change would ensure that the committee recognizes the importance of the unique Native Hawaiian water rights and interests that have been historically ignored or undermined by Commission decisions.

Sample testimony

Aloha Chairs Lee and Fukunaga, Vice Chair Inouye, and members of the Senate Water, Land, Culture and the Arts and Public Safety and Military Affairs Committees,

My name is ______ and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB2002, to enable the Water Commission and its staff to implement the Water Code without fear of political retribution.

This bill would address political vulnerabilities that have allowed powerful special interests to unduly interfere with the work of the Commission and its staff. Currently, a Governor appointee - the Board of Land and Natural Resources Chairperson - chairs the Water Commission and dictates its agenda. In addition, the Attorney General, who is also appointed by the Governor, is the sole provider of legal advice to the Water Commission. Both of these appointees have considerable power over the Water Commission and its staff. Accordingly, those with influence over the Governor, including corporate water hoarders, can substantially interfere and have interfered with the work of the Commission, through his political appointees.

By requiring the Commission to choose its own Chair, select its own executive director, and retain its own legal counsel, this measure will provide important layers of political insulation necessary for the objective management of our water resources, as otherwise required by the Water Code, constitution, and public trust. These provisions, as well as a staff performance review process to ensure an objective, apolitical basis for staff employment decisions, would also allow Commission staff to fulfill their constitutional and statutory obligations without fear of political retribution.   

In addition, I support this measure’s authorization of meaningful fines for water code violations, based on a careful assessment of the circumstances of each case; such authority is critical to protecting the public interest from deep pocket water code violators who could easily shrug off the Commission’s current maximum daily fine.   

Finally, I also support the inclusion of an appointee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ CEO in the Water Commission Nominating Committee, especially given the Commission’s historical disregard of Native Hawaiian water rights in its decisionmaking. Such an appointee will ensure that the nominating committee considers prospective commissioners’ understanding of Hawaiian water rights in making recommendations to the Governor for new commissioners.

Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Committees to PASS this measure. Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify. 

Sincerely, 
[Your Name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB2002" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

6. Spread the word!

SUPPORT SB2046 & SB2093: Red Hill Bills

February 3 Update:

SB2046, the “no jet fuel in water” bill, and SB2093, requiring the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) to meet more frequently, were both passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees on February 2. SB2093 was amended to ensure that at least one of the quarterly FTAC meetings occurs outside of work hours to ensure more public participation and accessibility.

Mahalo nui to the over 143 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chairs San Buenaventura and Gabbard and Vice Chairs McKelvey and Richards for passing this measure.

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Bill Background & Info

Here we go! Two critical Red Hill bills need our support for a hearing on MONDAY - please submit written testimony ASAP (sample verbiage and testimony instructions below) and consider attending the hearing on Monday, February 2, at 3 pm in Hawaiʻi State Capitol Conference Room 224 or via Zoom (must submit written testimony to testify verbally - see below).

What these bills do:

SB2046 would require the Navy to remediate all jet fuel-related contamination (including compounds created when jet fuel breaks down over time) from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, to below-detectable levels (using the most sensitive detection technology available). 

SB2093 would require the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee to meet once per quarter, rather than only twice a year, ensuring greater public access, transparency, and accountability in governmental responses to the ongoing Red Hill water crisis.

Why these bills are important:

There should be no jet fuel in our water. Period. After ignoring public demands, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense for years leading up to the November 2021 Red Hill water crisis, the Navy must be held legally accountable to fully clean up the mess it created. Unfortunately, over four years later, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful investments in remediation efforts, assuring us that its jet fuel in our aquifer will go away "naturally" over the course of decades. SB2046 would make clear that we will not stand idly by as the Navy ignores the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai - and that of our children and grandchildren.

The Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) has significant potential to accelerate Red Hill response efforts, and to ensure that all relevant parties - including government agencies, elected officials, and the Navy itself - hear from each other and the public, and openly discuss their ongoing efforts as well as community questions and concerns in real time. However, FTAC only meets twice a year, leading to overstuffed agendas, limited discussions, and truncated testimonies.  By increasing the frequency of FTAC's meetings, SB2093 will ensure much greater transparency, accountability, and action in the governmental response to the ongoing Red Hill water crisis.

Sample testimony for SB2046 ("No Jet Fuel in Our Water")

Aloha Chair San Buenaventura, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair McKelvey, Vice Chair Richards, and members of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees,

My name is [Your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB2046, which makes clear that any jet fuel released from an underground storage tank system - such as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility - must be completely cleaned up.

Well over four years after the November 2021 Red Hill fuel spill, and nearly three years after the Red Hill Water Alliance Initiative called for the complete clean up of this contamination, the Navy has failed to make any meaningful efforts to remediate our island's sole source aquifer. After having ignored years of public outcry, whistleblower complaints, and basic common sense prior to the 2021 catastrophe, the Navy must not be allowed to now ignore the harms it has inflicted on our ʻāina and wai.  

This bill would establish an enforceable legal standard that will also be binding on the federal government: there should be NO jet fuel in our precious and once-pure drinking water or in our environment, especially when it has been released by the reckless operation of a decrepit underground storage tank facility after years of objections by Hawaiʻi's residents. 

I urge you to PASS SB2046.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Sample testimony for SB2093 (Transparency and Accountability in Red Hill Response)

Aloha Chair San Buenaventura, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair McKelvey, Vice Chair Richards, and members of the Senate Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Environment Committees,

My name is [Your name] and I STRONGLY SUPPORT SB2093, which will help the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) realize its potential in navigating our Red Hill water crisis through greater public transparency and accountability.

With government regulators, state and federal elected officials, Navy leaders, and community representatives among its members, FTAC has tremendous potential in identifying and addressing the myriad issues and community concerns surrounding our Red Hill water crisis. However, by meeting only twice a year, FTAC's potential has been squandered. Performative presentations in hours-long meetings that occur only once every six months simply do not allow for the timely updates, robust conversation, and public testimonies and questions that are essential to ensuring our future water security and the safety of present and future generations.

By requiring FTAC to meet at least once a quarter, this measure will ensure that FTAC is able to more meaningfully address our ongoing and evolving water crisis, including through timely updates, public access, transparency, and community accountability for FTAC and its members.

I urge you to PASS SB2093.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Testimony instructions

1. Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (you’ll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)

2. Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.

3. Enter "SB2046" or "SB2093" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."

4. Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!

   Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.

5. If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)

6. Spread the word!

SUPPORT HB1601: Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council Funding

January 30 Update:

HB1601, which ensures funding for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and its programs and partners is not disrupted by months of bureaucratic delays, was passed out of the House Agriculture & Food Systems Committee on January 30.

Mahalo nui to the over 34 individuals and organizations who submitted testimony in support and special thanks to Chair Chun and Vice Chair Kusch for passing this measure.

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HB1601 Bill Background & Info

What does HB1601 do?

HB1601 restores Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) funding back to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), where the Council is housed, and who has a long and proven track record of ensuring funds reach HISC programs and community partners protecting Hawaiʻi from invasive species and their impacts.

Why is this needed?

Last year, an omnibus biosecurity measure inexplicably gave all of HISC’s funding for FY26-27 to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) to administer, instead of to the normal recipient, DLNR. This risks significant delays and bureaucracy that could severely hinder Hawaiʻi's ability to respond quickly against invasive species. 

DAB has limited experience and expertise in the breadth of HISC’s work and is still struggling to implement the new authorities and staff positions to implement the new authorities and staff positions it was given last year, and has a track record of inadequately administering biosecurity funding and ignoring invasive species threats generally. Putting DAB in charge of handling HISC funding on top of its ongoing challenges means HISC’s highly effective partners and programs, including but not limited to the island invasive species committees, 643PEST.org, and the Plant Pono Program, could be left in financial limbo for months, if not indefinitely.    

HB1601 would address this problem by putting HISC funding back under DLNR, which has successfully administered HISC funds for years, has extensive institutional knowledge of where HISC funding needs to go, and has staff assigned to manage and distribute the funding. 

HB1601 will be heard in its first committee on Friday, January 30 at 9:30am in the House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems in room 325. Please take a moment to support this simple, common-sense fix that ensures critical invasive species funding flows directly to frontline biosecurity efforts, without bureaucratic delays.

Sample testimony

Aloha Chair Chun, Vice-Chair Kusch, and members of the House Agriculture & Food Systems Committee, 

My name is [Name], and I am writing in strong support of HB1601.

This bill would restore funding for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), where the Council is housed, and where such funding has been successfully administered for years. 

DLNR and its dedicated staff have the experience and expertise to ensure Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council (HISC) funds get to the programs that we depend on, to protect our homes, farms, watersheds, and ocean waters from invasive pests. These include the highly effective island invasive species committees, 643PEST.org, the Hawaiʻi Weed Risk Assessment, and the Plant Pono Program, among others.

In contrast, the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) has limited expertise in the breadth of HISC’s work, continues to struggle with implementing the new authorities and staff positions it was given last year, and has a track record of inadequately administering biosecurity funding and ignoring invasive species threats generally. Having DAB administer FY26-27 HISC funds on top of the Department’s current challenges, as the law currently requires, would only hinder HISC’s partners and programs with potential funding disruptions and bureaucracy - at a time when Hawaiʻi’s biosecurity crises need faster responses, not undue delays. 

HB1601 will help ensure that invasive species response funds are deployed in a timely, transparent, and effective manner. I urge you to please PASS this measure

Mahalo nui for the opportunity to testify.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

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What’s at Stake for Hawaiʻi in 2026

Originally published in the January 2026 Mālama Monthly.

Next Wednesday, January 21, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature will reconvene to consider laws and policies with the potential to shape our island home for generations to come. With 2026 being an election year, legislators may be particularly responsive to community engagement, including on several key issues that are set to take center stage—bringing opportunities for transformative action and a more resilient future for Hawaiʻi:

Water Resources

After decades of political interference undermining the Water Commission’s work, including in the wake of the Lahaina tragedy, proposals were finally put forward to reduce its vulnerability to political pressure from the Governor’s office. As the Commission is soon anticipated to tackle hot-button issues including its issuance of water use permits for West Maui, revisiting its permitting decisions in Nā Wai ʻEhā as ordered by the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, the proposed designation of Waiʻanae as a water management area, and stream flow restoration decisions across the islands, the need for greater political insulation is even more critical. 

In addition, recent developments reflecting the Navy’s continued denial, misdirection, and gaslighting in responding to the Red Hill catastrophe call for measures to increase the transparency and accountability of supposed watchdog entities like the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee.

Invasive Species and Biosecurity

Hawaiʻi’s invasive pest crisis continues to worsen. Coconut rhinoceros beetles have begun spreading out of West Hawaiʻi, have munched their way across Oʻahu, and are now well established on Kauaʻi—where conditions increasingly mirror those on Oʻahu. Meanwhile, little fire ants continue to infiltrate new communities on Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi; octocorals continue to spread in Puʻuloa; and other pests like the queensland longhorn beetle threaten to deepen the crisis every day.

With the new Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity not living up to its name, accountability and interventions to break its pattern of long-standing delays and inaction may be absolutely critical for our ʻāina. Enhanced biosecurity measures, including support for the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council and the island invasive species committees, research and quarantine facilities, and investments in community-driven invasive species management and eradication efforts will also be critically needed in the absence of action by the Department.

Military Live-Fire Training

Despite community calls for the Army to comply with well-established legal processes in its quest to “retain” Hawaiian lands for the continued bombing, burning, and contamination of ʻāina, Governor Green has persisted in his pursuit of a fast-tracked, uninformed, and half-baked land deal at the request of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Whether and how the legislature responds to competing demands from both the Governor and the constituents they serve with regards to military live-fire training is unclear, but discussions around this issue are almost certain to take place. 

Housing, Development, and the Environment

We continue to stand in strong defense of the Hawaiʻi Land Use Commission, ensuring it retains the authority and expertise needed to navigate and balance the complex public interests affected by large-scale developments. We also will work to ensure the safety and resilience protections in our building code are not compromised in an effort to fast-track development for unaffordable housing. 

Climate Resiliency & Clean Energy

The impacts of climate destabilization are already being felt and will only intensify. Hawaiʻi must stay on course toward its clean energy goals by investing in energy sources that are truly clean, renewable, and safe. That means rejecting a return to dirty, expensive, and dangerous fossil fuels like liquefied natural gas, and refusing to gamble our livelihoods on high-risk technologies such as nuclear power.

Get Involved This Session

Our staff and volunteers are ready to sift through the thousands of bills to track measures in our priority areas once they are introduced in a couple of weeks. Want to join in the fun? Take a look at our Volunteer In-District Lobby Program here, sign up for our Hawaiʻi CapitolWatch email alerts here and bookmark our action alert page here. 

Also consider signing up for the Environmental Legislative Network, a network for activists, community leaders, students, professors, elected officials, and others to share news and calls to action regarding Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural public trust resources - simply email us at hawaii.chapter@sierraclub.org to be added to the ELN email list.

2026 Legislative Calendar

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