Commission staff outlines key bills and state budget requests for monitoring, studies and Mesonet support

Commission staff provided a legislative and budget briefing on Feb. 18 covering bills the commission is tracking and requests included in the governor’s budget package that would fund monitoring and technical studies.

Bills and tracking highlights - HB 306 (penalty increases): the bill that would raise civil penalties has been amended; staff reported language is now blanked for amounts but that the measure has incorporated many elements of the commission’s administrative proposal and that the Honolulu Board of Water Supply supports the concept. - HB 510 / SB 145 (water shortage): staff said two water‑shortage bills remain active; staff had sought authority to set shortage criteria by rule and allow commission declaration, and were discussing scope (House language as reported removed the outside‑WMA declaration; the Senate companion still includes it). - HB 915 (dual‑line systems): would allow the…