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Senate Committee on Ways and Means adopts three concurrent resolutions after brief public testimony
Summary
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means voted to adopt HCR 61, HCR 182 and HCR 183 in a single unamended motion after brief testimony from community groups, a university representative and agency commenters; the vote was recorded as all present voting aye and one senator excused.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means voted to adopt three concurrent resolutions — HCR 61, HCR 182 and HCR 183 — during a public hearing streamed online, the committee recorded.
Committee members moved to pass all three resolutions in one unamended motion after brief public testimony that highlighted state and county financing workflows and property tax classification issues. The committee chair made the recommendation and cast an aye vote; the resolutions were adopted with no recorded opposition and one senator excused.
At the hearing, Angela Melody Young, testifying on behalf of CARES, said the resolution raised procedural questions about record-keeping and administration across different levels of government, including whether physical notes should be provided at the beginning, the end or continuously. Young said, “what stands out is the workflow of every state,” and urged the committee to consider county processes and financing integration when reviewing the measures. She also suggested researching county general obligation bonds and long-term projects such as Aloha Stadium, which she said is anticipated to have a build-out horizon of about 30 years.
Karl Manum, testifying on behalf of the University of Hawaii, said the university submitted written testimony in support and was present to answer questions. Other parties listed on the record as in support or commenting included Hawaii Children’s Action Network, the Grassroots Institute of Hawaii, the ACLU, the Chamber of Commerce, the Hawaii Food Industry Association, the Hawaii Renewables Fuels Coalition and DOTAX (Department of Taxation) comments; the record does not identify named individual representatives for each organization in every instance.
The chair recommended taking the three resolutions together and recommending passage unamended; there was no recorded debate after that recommendation. The roll call recorded the chair and vice chair voting aye, followed by Senator Aquino, Senator DeCoite, Senator Elefante, Senator Hashimoto, Senator Inouye, Senator Kanuha, Senator Kidani, Senator Lee and Senator Fevella each recorded as voting aye. Senator Wakai was recorded as excused. The committee announced the measures were adopted.
The committee opened the hearing with technical and procedural instructions for remote testimony, including a one-minute time limit for each remote speaker and a statement that remote audio and video would remain muted and disabled until a speaker’s turn. The committee also told participants that if the hearing ended abruptly because of technical difficulties, it would reconvene to complete outstanding business on Wednesday, April 16 at 10:50 a.m., and that a public notice would be posted on the committee website.
Votes at a glance: HCR 61 — adopted (recommendation: pass unamended; mover/second not specified); HCR 182 — adopted (recommendation: pass unamended; mover/second not specified); HCR 183 — adopted (recommendation: pass unamended; mover/second not specified).
The committee did not record any amendments to the measures during the hearing, and no formal objections or no votes were recorded on the measures during this session.
