Governor Linda Lingle has had a “change of heart” and will most probably sign off on a bill that would offer up to $12 million in tax credits for producers of ethanol. “The bill should help stabilize sugar in Hawaii
Governor Linda Lingle has had a “change of heart” and will most probably sign off on a bill that would offer up to $12 million in tax credits for producers of ethanol.
“The bill should help stabilize sugar in Hawaii and allow the industry to move toward a higher-value product,” said Rep. Hermina Morita, D-North Kaua‘i.
Senate Bill 3207 is set to go to the floor of the Legislature next week and will probably be passed without incident, she said.
That’s good news for Kaua‘i’s Gay & Robinson, who have long-planned a ethanol production facility on Kaua‘i. They could be producing sugar-based Ethanol as early as January of 2006, she said.
According to Morita, the governor had initially opposed the bill because she was “misinformed.”
“She has since had a change of heart,” Morita said from her office on Oahu. “We’ve been trying for four years to get this done. The bean counters at the state Department of Taxation have held it up for the last two years.”
It should also help to stabilize gas prices here.
Ethanol is mixed with regular gas and is already being used across the country, particularly in California, Morita said.
Cheaper gas and some $200,000 back to the state coffers in the form of taxes are obvious benefits, she said. The external benefits are just as nice, she said.
“It’ll keep a green belt, offer energy security and give Hawai‘i another sustainable industry, not to mention the thousands of jobs that will be saved as a result,” Morita said.
