Winter 2002Convention Edition 2003
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Convention Edition 2003 | Fall 2003 |
 President's Message (Maile Bay)First Saunders Award to Jean Aoki (Mary Anne Raywid)Ray of Hope for School Governance Change (Mary Anne Raywid)Initiative and Referendum FormsAction Needed Now to Support Clean Air (Kay Maxwell)Busy Year Ahead for Judiciary Study Committee (Jean Aoki)Thanks for Evaluation Efforts! (Jean Aoki)Two New Studies Approved at ConventionLeague of Women Voters of Hawaii Board of Directors 2003-2005Administration Blows to EducationHawaii Pro-Choice License PlatesBig Vote of Thanks (Suzanne Meisenzahl & Mary Anne Raywid) |
President's MessageThank you everyone for attending the League's convention on Saturday, May 10, 2003. Everyone enjoyed Andrea Dean's videos especially her provocative interviews on lower voter turn out. Congressman Ed Case gave an excellent overview and perspective on the workings and actions occurring on The Hill in Washington, D.C. since his being elected.
Closer to home, the League witnessed the first legislative session since Hawai'i's first Governor Quinn where we have had a bipartisan relationship between the executive office and the legislative branch. Many of us expected great debate with this change. Nonetheless, the dynamic appeared to be similar to more recent years. Special interest efforts passed through both houses, such as SB 377 that provides a $75 million tax credit over six years for development at Ko Olina Resort and Marina and at Makaha Resort. The talking points for the bill expressed the need for jobs on the Waianae Coast, but the bottom line is that this bill provides funds for specific developers, not merely an industry like tourism. The Governor is too in favor of this measure. Despite attempts to dress up this tax credit as a legitimate job incentive measure, it remains a special interest initiative. In attempting to respond to special interest legislation, the LWVHawai'i continues to work with its partners in the Clean Elections Coalition. Each year in recent times, we have supported a bill to provide for public funding of election campaigns as an approach to combat special interest supported candidates. This year that measure again failed even after passing through the House, when Senator Cal Kawamoto again bottled it up in his committee. Although SB 377, the Ko Olina bill passed, more than a handful of our legislators voted no on their respective floors in opposition to this special interest measure. The League acknowledges the following individuals for their courage to vote no: Senators Hooser, Ige, and Ihara; and Representatives Caldwell, Evans, Hale, Hiraki, Kaho'ohalahala, Lee, Marumoto, Morita, Nishimoto, M. Oshiro, Schatz, Takai, Takumi, Thielen, and Wakai. We want to extend to all members an invitation to support the Clean Election Coalition as a means of combating special interests. We must come out in force to support this initiative for next year's legislative session to make sure it gets passed. Please call the office to see how you can help.
Maile M. Bay League of Women Voters of Hawaii President - Maile Bay
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