The Sunshine Blog: Take Our Post-Session Quiz. Were You Paying Attention To This Year's Political Deal Making?
Short takes, outtakes, our takes and other stuff you should know about public information, government accountability and ethical leadership in Hawaii.
By The Sunshine Editorial Board
May 5, 2024 · 6 min read
Questions that must be asked: Back by popular demand, The Sunshine Blog’s apparently annual quiz. Well, at least this is the second year we’ve put one together. Here’s to many more to come.
You can find the answers at the end. No peeking!
Questions:
1.) What was the first bill passed in the 2024 legislative session to become law?
2.) What state agency was proposed by the Senate to help rebuild Lahaina?
3.) All of the following are invasive species targeted by lawmakers except one: little fire ants, coconut rhinoceros beetle, coqui frog, feral chickens, brown tree snake, rose-ringed parakeet, two-line spittlebug. Which one?
4.) How much money are Hawaii taxpayers expected to save by 2030 thanks to a major tax cut?
5.) Which state lawmaker sang “Old McDonald Had A Farm” during a House floor session?
6.) A bill approved by lawmakers removes the salary cap for the Hawaii superintendent of education and makes permanent an annual performance review. How much does the job currently pay?
7.) Who said, “A climate impact fee on visitors would provide the needed resources to protect our environment and increase awareness of the impacts of climate change”?
8.) What day is Kimchi Day in Hawaii?
9.) Which state lawmaker has a sign on her Capitol office door that says she will not accept gifts from lobbyists?
Sign of the times at the Capitol? (Chad Blair/Civil Beat/2024)
10.) In dollars, what is the size of the state budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1?
11.) Who killed the bill to establish comprehensive public financing of Hawaii elections?
12.) Bills to legalize marijuana for recreational use and to increase the amount that is decriminalized died this session. Under Hawaii law, people caught with how many grams of pot face a $130 fine?
13.) Which GOP state representative said upon announcing his reelection bid that the late but legendary Democrat Dan Inouye is his role model?
14.) How many people submitted testimony in April against the bill to allow HECO to impose a new fee on customers to help prevent wildfires — only to see their testimony posted online after the House Finance Committee passed it?
15.) Who said “Somehow there have been allegations about strong-arming, arm-twisting, bullying of members”?
16.) Which state lawmaker long known for his firm opposition to same-sex marriage changed his mind this year?
17.) There are 25 senators and 51 representatives in the Legislature. How many of them were appointed by Gov. Josh Green to fill vacancies?
18.) How many metal detectors are at the Hawaii State Capitol?
19.) Under a new law, how many official state snails does Hawaii have?
20.) Which lawmaker cast the most no votes on bills and resolutions in 2024?
Answers:
1.) House Bill 129 was the first bill signed into law by Gov. Josh Green, on March 6. It requires that mandatory Hawaii election recounts occur when the difference in votes cast is equal to or less than 100 votes or one-quarter of 1% of the total number of votes cast for the contest, whichever is lesser.
2.) The Hawaii Community Development Authority. The Senate bill from Sens. Angus McKelvey and Donovan Dela Cruz was not heard in the House.
3.) Feral chickens are not invasive species, according to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council, but they are a nuisance, so the Legislature included them in a bill that appropriates about $20 million for biosecurity. The council also considers feral cats to be invasive, but they are not targeted for eradication.
4.) Taxpayers are estimated to save $5 billion by 2030. The bill will double the standard deduction that state taxpayers can claim when they prepare their 2024 taxes next year, and then adjust income tax brackets and standard deductions upward in a series of steps in later years as Hawaii’s minimum wage increases.
5.) Rep. Mark Nakashima from the Big Island. He was pushing for passage of his bill to allow for the sale of raw milk. It died.
Perhaps the raw milk bill will come back again next year. (Claire Caulfield/Civil Beat/2021)
6.) DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi earns $240,000 a year. Senate Bill 3207, which was passed and sent to the governor, proposed raising the cap to $300,000. The Board of Education sets the actual salary.
7.) Gov. Josh Green in his 2024 State of the State address. The Senate killed the so-called “green” fee, making it the third consecutive year the idea has failed at the Legislature.
8.) Nov. 22 of each year is Kimchi Day, which honors Korean Americans in the islands, thanks to a new law.
9.) Rep. Terez Amato, a Democrat from Maui in her first term.
10.) The fiscal year 2025 state budget is $19.2 billion. That’s the main budget bill. Lawmakers also passed separate bills for Maui wildfire recovery and wildfire prevention totaling more than $800 million.
11.) Rep. David Tarnas, chair of the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee. His committee colleagues said they agreed with the decision.
12.) Under a 2019 law, people may possess 3 grams or less of pakalolo, which is about six joints, depending on who’s doing the rolling.
13.) Rep. Gene Ward, who has served a total of 26 years in the House. And counting.
14.) The committee received testimony from 1,100 individuals opposing Senate Bill 2922, all of them from victims of the Aug. 8 wildfires. House Finance Committee Chair Kyle Yamashita would not explain to Civil Beat why the testimony was not posted.
15.) Senate President Ron Kouchi. He said the 13 senators that rejected Alapaki Nahale-a‘s appointment to continue serving as a University of Hawaii regent simply voted their conscience. We are not bullies, he insisted.
16.) Sen. Mike Gabbard, who voted with reservations on House Bill 2802. Voters will be asked this fall to vote on a constitutional amendment that would repeal the Legislature’s authority to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.
17.) Green appointed five members: Reps. Luke Evslin, Trish La Chica, Tyson Miyake and May Mizuno, and Sen. Troy Hashimoto.
18.) There are three metal detectors at the Capitol, a recent addition due to security concerns. Two are located on the Rotunda level and one is in the chamber-level entrance.
19.) Hawaii has nine official state snails — one for each of the main Hawaiian islands and one for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
20.) Sen. Brenton Awa, who is generally opposed to spending taxpayer money and expanding the size and scope of government. On Day 59 of the session, for example, the Republican voted no on dozens of bills and resos, often the only legislator to do so. They included measures to control dangerous dogs, to highlight the dangers of illegal fireworks, to make it unlawful to operate a weed whacker within 100 feet of a residential zone and to allow the use of credit and debit cards to pay towing companies.