Establishes an exemption from applicable county permit requirements for repetitive construction projects for facilities under the control of the Department of Education, University of Hawaii, or School Facilities Authority. Repeals 1/1/2030.
Establishes the State Permitting Office within the Department of Transportation to process building and infrastructure permits for construction of state-owned buildings, state roads and highways, and other construction on state lands. Appropriates moneys.
Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to establish three additional permanent mental health practitioner positions within the Division of Student Success' Counseling and Student Development Center.
Establishes that development of a fixed guideway system in a county having a population greater than 500,000 is a function of state government. Authorizes the Department of Transportation to develop a fixed guideway system in a county having a population greater than 500,000. Requires the Department of Transportation to transfer the fixed guideway system to the respective county upon completion. Transfers functions of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation to the Department of Transportation.
Establishes a Journalistic Ethics Commission within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Establishes a Journalistic Code of Ethics. Requires news media outlets to provide training in the ethics of journalism to journalists and editors in their employ. Establishes a Journalistic Ethics Review Board to be administratively attached to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Requires the Journalistic Ethics Review Board to handle complaints and appeals regarding violations of the Journalistic Code of Ethics. Requires the Journalistic Ethics Commission to submit annual reports to the Legislature. Establishes penalties for violations. Requires the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii to conduct an analysis of the journalism program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Social Sciences. Requires the Board of Regents to report to the Legislature.
Requires the Hawaii State Energy Office to conduct a statewide environmental assessment for, and subsequently administer, a Geothermal Resources Characterization Program under the direction of the Hawaii Groundwater and Geothermal Resources Center at the University of Hawaii. Appropriates funds.
Maddy summarySB 1643 lowers the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) threshold for driving under the influence of intoxicants. This bill directly affects all drivers operating vehicles on public roads, as it would make it illegal to drive with a lower BAC level than currently permitted. The key provision changes the legal limit for DUI offenses, tightening the standard for impairment. The bill is currently pending in committee review (referred to TCA, JDC) and has not yet become law.
Maddy summarySB 570 prohibits Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources from establishing or enforcing bag limits (restrictions on how many goats hunters can take) in public hunting areas. This directly affects the department's regulatory authority and hunters participating in goat hunting within designated public lands. The bill prevents the department from implementing any new or existing rules limiting goat harvests, maintaining current hunting access without numerical restrictions.
Reestablishes the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii as an organized research unit within the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) that is administered by a director appointed by the University of Hawaii's board of regents with direct lines of reporting to the chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, provost of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and dean of JABSOM. Requires funds expended from the Research and Training Revolving Fund for JABSOM and the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii to be used for research and research-related purposes only. Repeals provisions that required the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii to be administratively affiliated with JABSOM.
Requires counties to commission a comprehensive economic impact analysis before issuing tax increment bonds and make the analysis publicly available. Requires counties issuing tax increment bonds to conduct publicly available biennial independent audits and report to the Legislature. Requires counties issuing tax increment bonds to establish a review board to oversee tax increment bond projects. Restricts the amount of total outstanding tax increment bonds that may be excluded from the calculation of a county's debt limits from exceeding twenty per cent. Conforms county debt limit statements law to exclude tax increment bonds from the debt limit of the counties if a constitutional amendment authorizing the use of tax increment bonds and excluding tax increment bonds from determinations of the counties' funded debt is ratified.
