Sen. Will Espero

Requires the University of Hawaii at Manoa to provide its nonsupervisory blue collar employees in collective bargaining unit (1) and supervisory blue collar employees in collective bargaining unit (2), or one of their family members, with tuition waivers comparable to the tuition waivers provided to faculty and their family members. Effective 5/12/2059. (SD1)

Requires weigh-in of commercial maritime cargo vehicles with cargo of 55,000 pounds or more immediately upon departing a commercial harbor. Requires report to Department of Transportation on every container or load of such poundage that arrived in a State harbor for transport on state highways.

Requires a mutual benefit society to allow a special meeting to be called upon the written request of not less than one thousand of its members.

Requires health care professionals serving as a primary care provider to maintain liability insurance. Requires the insurance commissioner to establish uniform, minimum amounts of insurance for all health care professionals, regardless of their professional specialty or certification.

Requires the Contractors License Board to adopt rules to define "incidental and supplemental to the performance of work" to clarify the percentage of a craft or trade in which a specialty contractor may engage without a license while performing work in a craft and trade for which contractor is licensed.

Provides a bidder of a public works construction project with two working days after the closing of bids to provide the name of each joint contractor or subcontractor and the nature and scope of the work to be performed by each joint contractor or subcontractor.

Permits the acquisition of raw milk and raw milk products by consumers through a raw milk subscription program if certain conditions are met. Requires program subscribers to sign a waiver of understanding that raw milk and raw milk products are not pasteurized. Requires farms and dairies producing raw milk or raw milk products to register annually with the department of health as Hawaii raw milk producers and receive a raw milk subscription program permit before selling or distributing raw milk or raw milk products.

Temporarily disallows the deduction for dividends paid by real estate investment trusts for a period of 15 years, but with an exception for dividends generated from trust-owned housing that is affordable to households with incomes at or below 200% of the median family income.

Appropriates funds to the department of human services to create one full-time program specialist position within the adult protective and community services branch to oversee the foster grandparent program and senior companion programs in Maui county.

Establishes an add-on payment of forty per cent to the medicaid base rate for medicaid enrollees at long-term care facilities that have medically complex conditions requiring higher level of care. Appropriates funds for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to cover increased costs. (SD1)