Carvalho to Legislature: ‘lokahi and aloha’

LIHU‘E — On the day before the opening of the 2013 state Legislature, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. traveled to O‘ahu to talk to Legislators about collaboration.

“We look forward to the next four months working closely with you in the spirit of lokahi and aloha,” Carvalho said before the Senate Ways and Means and the House Finance committees Tuesday afternoon.

And perhaps in the spirit of lokahi (unity) and aloha, Carvalho didn’t ask state legislators for much, at least in financial terms.

“Although I don’t have money requests this year, I do have some issues to bring to your attention and hope that we can work together on solutions that will meet the needs of both the state and the county,” he said.

The two things that Carvalho specifically asked was for consideration of the Kaua‘i County Legislative Package and to provide input on how to address “serious deficiencies” in the Public Land Development Corporation, should amendments be considered.

Regarding the county’s 2013 package, submitted Jan. 3, Carvalho mentioned measures relating to affordable housing credits, lifting of the sunset date of the tort liability legislation, creating a bargaining unit covering lifeguards, and a resolution urging the preservation of the counties’ current share of the Transient Accommodation Tax.

Saying the county is certainly not “out of the woods yet” in regards to the difficult financial situation, Carvalho mentioned county revenues lagging behind 2009 levels and expenses on the rise, and highlighted his administration’s efforts in cutting costs and improving efficiencies.

His testimony, however, lacked much of the punch delivered by Big Island and Honolulu mayors, relating to financial requests to the Legislature.

While Carvalho basically said he was OK with Kaua‘i’s share of TAT, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell asked for the TAT cap to be removed, to increase the counties’ TAT share and to rescind the sunset date to allow the TAT rate to remain at 9.25 percent. Honolulu’s share of TAT is $41 million, while Kaua‘i — which has the state’s highest visitor-to-resident ratio — receives approximately $13 million.

Carvalho praised partnerships with the state and federal governments, Caldwell asked the state to stop charging Honolulu County a 10 percent collection fee in the state General Excise Tax surcharge of half percent to help pay for the Honolulu rail system. In 2012, the GET surcharge generated $191 million to Honolulu and $21.2 million to the state.

Big Island Mayor William Kenoi also talked about unity, though he did not use the Hawaiian word “lokahi.” And in the spirit of unity, Kenoi asked for commitment from the state to fund work on two of the county’s highways.

Carvalho also talked about transportation.

“Our collaboration on Ke Ala Hele Makalae (the path that runs by the coast) has been outstanding, and we truly appreciate the support and partnership of the Department of Transportation Highways Division and the Federal Highways Administration,” he said.

While Carvalho said nothing about a teen drug treatment facility, Kenoi said the state Office of Youth Services reports that 63 percent of the wards confined at the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility come from the Neighbor Islands.

Kenoi’s testimony states a partnership between the OYS and Big Island’s Office of the Prosecuting Attorney will launch the first juvenile intake and assessment center in East Hawai‘i, with $200,000 in grant funding from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Kenoi also praised the state’s proposal to include $800,000 in the budget for each of the next two years to expand this juvenile intake and assessment effort to every island in the state.

While Carvalho praised a state partnership that allowed for the expansion of Hanalei’s Black Pot Beach Park and put out a large brushfire in Koke‘e last year, Kenoi asked the state, again, to transfer the Mauna Kea State Recreation Area and the Hapuna Beach State  Recreation Area to Hawai‘i county.

Before getting into the thick of his message, Carvalho acknowledged and thanked Kaua‘i’s “hard-working” delegation: Senate Vice President Ron Kouchi, (D-Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau), and Reps. Derek Kawakami, (D-14th District), Jimmy Tokioka, (D-15th District) and Dee Morikawa, (D-16th District).

“Also, I wish to thank all of you for working so closely with us as we have tackled the very difficult financial situation of the past four years — at both the state and county level,” Carvalho added.  

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa was also on the agenda to provided testimony in both committee briefings, but his testimony was not available online.