03-02-2009, 12:41 PM
Aloha,
There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight with Senator Takamine, and Reps Jerry Chang and Clift Tsuji at UHH in room UCB 127 which is the new building. This is a good chance to give them some feedback on issues of interest to us on Hawaii island, including HB 345 which cuts funding for public funding of our council races till 2014. It has already passed the House but could be stopped or modified in the Senate.
Here's another bill -- HB 215 -- that adds to the fact that Hawaii is one of the worst states in the nation on corporate political contributions! Now they want to RAISE the $$$$ limits. Last week the House Finance Committee heard testimony at something like 1 a.m. Saturday on HB 215--a revamping of the entire elections law (prepared by the Campaign Finance Commission), basically reorganizing existing law to make it clearer. However, since HB 539 was alive (now supposedly "dead") when House Judiciary heard the other bills, HB215 has a hole in it when it comes to donations by individuals or corporations. That hole now needs to be filled. The word on the street is that it will be filled this afternoon, at FIN decision making (about 4:30), by the original HB 539, limiting direct corporate treasury donations to $25,000, only to their own PAC. So we need to let ALL our legislators know that the public wants to put a stop to ALL CORPORATE donations
Our legislators need to be held accountable to the Democratic Party platform that they swore to uphold. So far, very few of them are doing so. (Here's a link to view the Hawaii Democratic Party platform...it's as green as the dysfunctioning Green Party's!) Link:http://www.hawaiicountydemocrats.org/PDF/convention/2008_party_platform.pdf
Takamine, Chang and Tsuji are part of the old Democratic Party machine which is in its death throes elsewhere. And Dem. voters as well as Greens and Independents in Puna, Ka'u, Kohala and Kona are working together to form a progressive arm to provide more transparency in government, not less, and to push for sustainable living issues. Our opposition, obviously, is the big money guys such as House Speaker Calvin Say who last year was able to get Russell Kokubun's Hawaii 2050 Sustainable Hawaii killed after it sailed through the Senate.
There will be more info in the near future about this Progressive Democrats grassroots campaign. Any help you can give now in communicating with your legislators about the above-mentioned bills as well as sustainability issues would REALLY be appreciated. MALAMA PONO.
There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight with Senator Takamine, and Reps Jerry Chang and Clift Tsuji at UHH in room UCB 127 which is the new building. This is a good chance to give them some feedback on issues of interest to us on Hawaii island, including HB 345 which cuts funding for public funding of our council races till 2014. It has already passed the House but could be stopped or modified in the Senate.
Here's another bill -- HB 215 -- that adds to the fact that Hawaii is one of the worst states in the nation on corporate political contributions! Now they want to RAISE the $$$$ limits. Last week the House Finance Committee heard testimony at something like 1 a.m. Saturday on HB 215--a revamping of the entire elections law (prepared by the Campaign Finance Commission), basically reorganizing existing law to make it clearer. However, since HB 539 was alive (now supposedly "dead") when House Judiciary heard the other bills, HB215 has a hole in it when it comes to donations by individuals or corporations. That hole now needs to be filled. The word on the street is that it will be filled this afternoon, at FIN decision making (about 4:30), by the original HB 539, limiting direct corporate treasury donations to $25,000, only to their own PAC. So we need to let ALL our legislators know that the public wants to put a stop to ALL CORPORATE donations
Our legislators need to be held accountable to the Democratic Party platform that they swore to uphold. So far, very few of them are doing so. (Here's a link to view the Hawaii Democratic Party platform...it's as green as the dysfunctioning Green Party's!) Link:http://www.hawaiicountydemocrats.org/PDF/convention/2008_party_platform.pdf
Takamine, Chang and Tsuji are part of the old Democratic Party machine which is in its death throes elsewhere. And Dem. voters as well as Greens and Independents in Puna, Ka'u, Kohala and Kona are working together to form a progressive arm to provide more transparency in government, not less, and to push for sustainable living issues. Our opposition, obviously, is the big money guys such as House Speaker Calvin Say who last year was able to get Russell Kokubun's Hawaii 2050 Sustainable Hawaii killed after it sailed through the Senate.
There will be more info in the near future about this Progressive Democrats grassroots campaign. Any help you can give now in communicating with your legislators about the above-mentioned bills as well as sustainability issues would REALLY be appreciated. MALAMA PONO.