b'2019 State Report HAWAII Petroleum Marketers Association State ReportHI JULY 9th By the NumbersthatHPMAMarked True End to Hawaii Legislative Session Although the 2019 Hawaii legislative session officiallyadjourned on May 2,July 9 marked the date by whenWith a legislative session Governor David Ige needed to sign bills into law, veto bills, oris only four months long, Hawaii allow bills to become law without his signature. It wasnt untillawmakers are indeed under pres- Hawaii Alohathe governor vetoed bills that the House and Senate could decidesure to enact legislation. Final bill whether or not to convene a special session to override any of thetallies below reflect a less than 10% vetoed bills.success rate for legislators:Kimo Haynes Of the numerous anti-tobacco bills that were tracked by HPMA,HPMA President S.B. 1405 was the lone measure that was enrolled to the gov- Bills introduced by the state House ernor. Even then, S.B. 1405 was eventually vetoed. Of the 20of Representatives .1,597anti-tobacco bills and 23 minimum wage-increase bills that wereBills introduced by introduced this session, none survived. However, two bills thatthe state Senate 1,545were enacted into law remain under close watch by HPMA:Bills enrolled to theH.B. 852 (Act 122)This bill established a new State Energygovernor for signature 304 Office and a Chief Energy Officer position under the HawaiiBills signed by the governor 270Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. A major change is that although the State Energy Office remainsBills that became law withoutunder DBEDT, it is only for administrative purposes, and thethe governors signature .16 DBEDT director is no longer the State Energy Coordinator. Ad- Total number of bills enactedditionally, Act 122 provides funds for a study on carbon pricing.into law.286 H.B. 314 (Act 236)The measure requires a gift certificate is-Bills vetoed by Gov. Ige 18suer to redeem the remaining value of the certificate for cash if the certificate has a balance of less than $5. This creates severalVetoes overriddenoperational challenges for retailers. Interestingly, the bill wasby the Legislature .0locked in conference committee with the House disagreeing with the Senates amendments. In the waning hours of the Legislature, on adjournment day to be exact, the House agreedWhat we have to put up with in Hawaiito the Senates version and the bill was quietly enrolled to Gov. Ige for signature.On balance, the legislative session was productive. Outgoing HPMA President Jim Yates commended members for investing the necessary time to address a multitude of legislative issues this session. [See By the Numbers section.]There were many duplicative bills this year that required us to methodically review each bill, Jim noted. With the benefit of our members input, HPMAs lobbyists developed strategies and tactics that enabled us to effectively weigh-in on those measures. The 2019 session was the first in a biennial legislature. Bills that were deferred this session will automatically carry over to next years session. SWPMA News / Autumn 201925'