ALOHA,

REPEAL ACT 55 AND ABOLISH THE PUBLIC LAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (PLDC)

There is a movement statewide to undue ACT 55, a law passed in 2011 by the State Legislature and Governor. To determine how your State Senator and State Representative voted on this particular measure and to read the actual bill, click here.

Countless youtubes and articles have arisen about ACT 55 that pit the Governor and the majority of testifiers at odds. This has prompted the Kauai City Council to take action and pass out of committee a resolution that urges the State Legislature to repeal ACT 55 and abolish the PDLC.

FACEBOOK has a page dedicated to a rally to be held at the State Capitol in October to oppose ACT 55 and hearing after hearing thus far in each county has generated hundreds of testifiers in opposition to the PDLC.

I have introduced Resolution 12-270 to follow in the footsteps of the Kauai City Council. My resolution urges the State Legislature to repeal ACT 55 and abolish the PDLC. The text of my resolution is a good place to get the gist of ACT 55 and the ramifications of it so if you are not familiar with ACT 55, please read my resolution by clicking here.

Unfortunately, for our Council District One area, there is a division on this with all State Senators agreeing with ACT 55 and voting for it, and for the House members, Reps Awana and Jordan voted against it while Reps Har and Cabanilla voted for it. Representative Pine voted for it each step of the way on first through third reading, but she failed to show up for final reading and did not vote at all.

I am hoping that my resolution will unite all elected officials and that it garners their support for passage.

To review the entire list of bills and resolutions that I have introduced, please click here.

WHY DID CITY COUNCIL GO AFTER CORPORATIONS FOR CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BUT LEFT OUT LABOR UNIONS?

I have introduced Resolution 12-269 to put fair play, back in play. Here is an excerpt from my resolution:

WHEREAS, on September 12, 2012, the Council adopted Resolution 12-207, CD1, which stated, in part, that "corporations should not receive the same constitutional rights as natural persons and that because money is not speech, limits on political spending will promote the goals of the First Amendment by ensuring that all citizens, regardless of wealth, have an opportunity to have their political views heard"; and WHEREAS, critics of the Citizens United decision claim that the decision would afford corporations greater influence over the outcomes of elections; and WHEREAS, however, legal commentators have noted that the Citizens United decision also applies to labor unions; and . . .

Please click here to read the full text of the resolution. Public labor unions use our tax dollars to promote "their" candidates of choice and this needs to stop. It should be one person, one vote, one contribution per name - and both corporations AND labor unions follow suit as the court case referenced in my resolution states. My resolution advances the principal that was passed in Resolution 12-207 for corporations to be applicable to labor unions as well. This would be fair and consistent.