LIHUE — The state House of Representatives will not hold a special session to override bills on Gov. David Ige’s intent-to-veto list. “When we polled members of the Senate, there wasn’t indication on a vote on any of the items
LIHUE — The state House of Representatives will not hold a special session to override bills on Gov. David Ige’s intent-to-veto list.
“When we polled members of the Senate, there wasn’t indication on a vote on any of the items on the veto list that indicated they would want to come back and try again,” said Ronald Kouchi, state Senate president, who represents Kauai and Niihau.
It takes a two-thirds Senate vote to override the governor’s veto.
“So the intention is to see what the (veto) message is, and see if those issues could be worked out to get them passed next year,” Kouchi said. “The sense was that if there are vetoes, we’ll work to find a middle path.”
State Rep. Dee Morikawa, D-16, majority floor leader, said most of the bills on Ige’s intent-to-veto list have problems.
“It’s not something we should go into special session for,” she said. “It’s not practical. We can take them up next time.”
On June 23, Ige announced 15 bills that were passed during the legislative session that he plans to veto.
Those bills include:
w HB 727, which would allow the state Department of Transportation to allow motorcycles and motor scooters on shoulder lanes.
w SB 562, which would require the attorney general to defend any civil action against the county based on negligence, wrongful act or omission of a county lifeguard for services at a designated state beach park under an agreement between the state and a county.
w SB 1240, which would require the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to define “sustainable” and establish a policy for sustainable collection practices through take limits. This bill also prohibits the DLNR from issuing new aquarium fish permits to use fine meshed traps or fine meshed nets and prohibits the transfer of permits after five years.
Ige has until today to veto any of those measures by returning them to the Legislature with his statement of objections. The House and Senate will review the governor’s rationale for returning any measure and consider those concerns next session, according to a release from the Hawaii State Legislature.
Rep. Nadine Nakamura, D-14, supports the decision not to open a special session and said she would rather use the next session to improve the bills and address concerns.
But she said she’s disappointed two measures, the lifeguard liability bill and the one for a private-public partnership position bill, didn’t make the cut.
