From Ige Campaign April 25, 2014

Friend,

With the final days of the Legislature upon us, there has been much confusion with the last minute request from the governor for the House and Senate to fund $40 million for the Turtle Bay Conservation Easement, and who has and has not been supporting this effort.

This is a disservice to those who care so deeply and have worked for years on this issue. If this is an issue you are following, I urge you to look at my, and the Senate's, voting record on SB 894, which shows our support for the conservation of the Turtle Bay/Kawela Bay area and our efforts to collaborate on a solution.

Here is a part of today's Star-Advertiser story:

Sen. David Ige, the lead Senate negotiator on the budget, told reporters that the Senate had come up with a creative solution to fund the Turtle Bay deal.

The state, Ige said, could restructure the debt on the Hawaii Convention Center and use a portion of the interest savings about $3 million to cover debt service in the state budget for the $40 million in bonds for Turtle Bay.

"It would be an opportunity for us to within the existing resources acquire the easement," said Ige (D, Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea).

Ige, who is challenging Abercrombie in the Democratic primary, rejected claims by some conservationists that he was holding up the money for the deal.

Read the entire story here

Through this proposal, we avoid having to cut funding from other important projects in our capital improvement budget while still investing in land preservation. This is a solution that works within existing resources, is smart financing, and creates an opportunity for the state to avoid any additional appropriation, taxes or fees.

Respectfully,

David Ige