Legislation Update

Two bills we've been lobbying for are still in play. SB1088, which re-defines obstructions to public access and makes it more feasible for citizens to file suits against the gating of existing beach access, cleared the Senate judiciary committee last week and is heading for "cross-over."

That means it will go to the House side of the State Legislature and be assigned for committee hearings. One will probably be the Water, Land & Ocean Resources committee, which already declined to schedule a hearing of the House version of that same bill. Why? You'll have to ask the committee chair and vice-chair, Rep. Ken Ito and Rep. Sharon Har. They decide what gets heard or not. They also killed the joint state/county task force bill we proposed. We have to convince Ito and Har that more must to be done to protect our public rights of way.

But first, we need to get the House Finance Committee to schedule a hearing on Rep. Thielen's bill to establish a two-year moratorium on Kailua Beach's shoreline building setbacks (HB593), which did clear the House WLO committee. Please contact the Finance Chair Rep. Marcus Oshiro and respectfully ask him to grant a hearing on HB593. You can email him at: repmoshiro@Capitol.hawaii.gov

I have no idea why this bill was sent to the House Finance Committee. But we gotta play with the cards we're dealt. In the meantime, here's a reminder why we need action on shoreline setbacks. Sadly, Kailua Beach is beginning to look more like Lanikai every day as houses get built closer and closer to the ocean...