State Senator Sam Slom displayed all the emails and testimony in support of the Hawaii Superferry (the tall pile of paper) and the ones in opposition (the little pile). It is quite obvious that the public wants the Superferry service to continue. The Senate passed the Superferry bill by a margin of 20 - 5. The House also passed it with a 39 - 11 vote.
Legislature Called Back into Special Session
for Hawaii Superferry and Confirmations
The State Legislature which adjourned its regular session in early May, was called back into a Special Session October 24.
The primary reason was to reach a temporary settlement to allow the $350 million Hawaii Superferry to restart interisland ferry service after being sidelined in August by Supreme Court and Maui Circuit Court decisions requiring an Environmental Assessment prior to restarting service.
The State Senate also had executive nominations to confirm, including Department heads and Judge Randy Lee and an amendment to the state’s extended sentencing law which was struck down by the Supreme Court in September.
The Senate announced committee reorganizations after the defection of Mike Gabbard to the Democrat Party.
In other legislative news, Democrat House Vice Speaker Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu was arrested by HPD officers in mid-October on DUI after they say he tested more than double the legal limit for alcohol. He was a supporter of tougher DUI laws.
Governor Linda Lingle named Paul T. Tsukiyama as director of the Office of Information Practices (OIP), the state agency that oversees the implementation and administration of Hawaii’s open record laws. His appointment is effective November 9, 2007.
Tsukiyama currently heads the labor and personnel section of the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of the Corporation Counsel. Prior to joining the Corporation Counsel in 1997, he was the director of the Special Prosecution Division of the City’s Department of the Prosecuting Attorney. He also served as supervisor of the Prosecuting Attorney’s White Collar Crime Branch and was a deputy prosecuting attorney. A graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Tsukiyama earned his juris doctor from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon.
Superferry employees and supporters rallied at the State Capitol. Hundreds of people testified in support of the Superferry at 3 public hearings; thousands more sent in letters and emails in support too.
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