ACTION ALERT: (1) Iwi Desecration and (2) Cattle Industry Giveaway bills scheduled for hearings June 23 and 24! *Sample testimonies provided*

ACTION ALERT 1 of 2: Desecration "For the Keiki" Bill, SB3103 SD2, Tuesday, June 23

SB3103 SD2, which would create a new "school facilities agency" and give it the power to exempt development projects from historic preservation, environmental, and public spending laws, has been scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, June 23, at 1 p.m. before Chair Justin Woodson's Lower and Higher Education Committee ("LHE").    See the hearing notice here.

As a recap, this bill would allow development projects to proceed without complying with the procurement code, and without preparing an environmental assessment or impact statement.  The bill would also allow the agency's ​projects to break ground without historic preservation review, without an archaeological inventory survey, without consultation with any island burial council or cultural monitor or anyone at all, and could knowingly plow through Native Hawaiian or other ancestral graves or priceless historic artifacts without consequence. 

More information here:  Shady Deals and Desecration, "For the Keiki".

You can help stop this bad bill right now!  E-mail your testimony to LHETestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov ​or submit your testimony via the bill status page, and call or e-mail the LHE committee members (Do you know these legislators? Do they represent your district? Your voice could be even more critical to stopping this bad bill!).

Sample script:
​
"Dear Chair Woodson, Vice Chair Hashem, and Members of the Lower and Higher Education Committee,

Please stop SB3103 SD2.  While I support addressing our school facility needs, an agency exempt from procurement, environmental, and historic preservation laws will invite far more harm than good.  These laws keep our children safe, uphold the trust of taxpayers, and stop the outright desecration of all ancestral remains, Native Hawaiian or otherwise.  Please do not vote for its passage.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Signed,
​(your name)"

ACTION ALERT 2 of 2: Cattle Industry Giveaway Bill, HB2035 HD1, Wednesday, June 24

HB2035 HD1, a public land giveaway to cattle ranching interests, has been scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, June 24, at 12:30 p.m. before Chair Kai Kahele's Water and Land Committee ("WTL") and Chair Mike Gabbard's Agriculture and Environment Committee ("AEN").  See the hearing notice here.

As a recap, this bill would give large private cattle ranches even more control over tens of thousands of acres of ecologically and culturally significant public "pasture" lands they currently pay dollars per acre for, and transfer over 100,000 acres of these lands to the Department of Agriculture's non-agricultural park program, where they may be developed without complying with any state or county laws concerning "the development or improvement of land" and the "constructing of buildings thereon."  

More information here: Clear-cutting and "streamlined" development of native forests, public hunting grounds.
 
You can help stop this bad bill right now!  E-mail your testimony to WTLTestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov and AENTestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov or submit your testimony via the bill status page, and call or e-mail the WTL and AEN committee members (Do you know these legislators? Do they represent your district? Your voice could be even more critical to stopping this bad bill!).

Sample script:
​
"Dear Chairs Kahele and Gabbard, Vice Chairs Keith-Agaran and Ruderman, and members of the Senate Water and Land and Agriculture and Environment Committees,
​
I OPPOSE HB2035 HD1 because it will let private ranches ignore the public interest in up to 100,000 acres or more of public lands, by enabling the destruction of natural and cultural resources, the blocking of access to hunting grounds and cultural sites, and the development of agricultural facilities without environmental review or land use legal protections. Nothing is stopping private ranches from continuing to use public lands for their cattle operations, in balance with the many other interests and concerns of hikers, hunters, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, conservationists, and others in these lands.  Please HOLD this measure and protect the public trust in our limited public lands.

Thank you,
(your name)"