April 29, 2011

GOVERNOR SIGNS OFF ON MORE BILLS

Honolulu –Governor Neil Abercrombie recently signed the following bills into law:

• House Bill 383: Extends the life of the oversight commission on the federal economic stimulus program funds to ensure transparency.  Deadline is extended from 6/30/11 to 12/31/11.
• House Bill 775: Transfers all the money from the photo enforcement revolving fund to the general fund.  The photo enforcement fund – leftover from the Van Cam program – is defunct, but holds $3,480,000.
• House Bill 1015: Allows for federal funds to be disbursed to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands for brownfields cleanup in Kapolei.  This ensures that funds under this grant program will be used before the end of the fiscal year.
• House Bill 1035: Places a moratorium on any enhancement of benefits from the Employees' Retirement System until the system's funded ratio is at 100 percent.  This measure allows for improvement of the ERS and protects its funded status.
• Senate Bill 1293: Establishes an emergency appropriation for the remainder of the current fiscal year to provide financial assistance for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a program helping eligible adults with dependent children. 
• Senate Bill 1260:  Allows the state to use its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocation for tax exempt bonds and tax credit bonds.
• Senate Bill 1318:  Eliminates redundant language on the tax exemption for stevedoring.
• Senate Bill 1301:  Makes exemptions from the state Fair Housing Laws consistent with similar exemptions found in the federal Fair Housing Act.

For more information on these measures and other legislative bills, please visit http://capitol.hawaii.gov.

To date, 33 measures have been enacted. 

The Governor has until July 12, 2011 to sign into law all measures that are passed out of the state Senate and the House of Representatives.  The Legislature adjourns on May 5th.

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