Hawaii lawmakers wrap up session featuring tax cuts, zoning reform and help for fire-stricken Maui

HONOLULU -- Hawaii lawmakers connected Friday wrapped up a legislative league heavy focused connected addressing Maui's needs aft past year's deadly Lahaina wildfire. They besides took connected Hawaii's lodging shortage, taxation cuts and measures to enactment distinctive Hawaii cultivation products similar java and macadamia nuts. In a much lighthearted move, they adopted the “shaka” arsenic the authoritative authorities gesture.

Here is simply a look astatine immoderate of the large authorities passed during the 60-day league that began connected Jan. 17:

MONEY FOR MAUI AND WILDFIRE PREVENTION

Lawmakers appropriated $1 cardinal to screen assorted costs stemming from the Lahaina disaster, including $500 cardinal for exigency lodging for displaced residents and $124 cardinal successful rental assistance for those ineligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A designation of however planetary warming has raised wildfire risks statewide prompted legislators to allocate funds for much firefighting equipment, a authorities occurrence marshal and wood restoration.

HOUSING AND VACATION RENTALS

Lawmakers tackled Hawaii's acute lodging shortage with bills to betterment zoning and boost abrogation rental regulations.

The zoning measurement requires the counties to let 2 further dwellings connected each residentially zoned batch with the purpose of promoting higher density development.

House Speaker Scott Saiki, a Democrat, told reporters connected Wednesday this differed from caller past attempts to code the state's lodging shortage. Those chiefly progressive subsidies for affordable lodging construction.

“We’re seeing successful different states, and adjacent successful different countries, that governments are looking astatine zoning arsenic 1 of the barriers to lodging development,” Saiki said. “And it was clip for Hawaii to instrumentality a look astatine that arsenic well.”

The Aug. 8 wildfire enactment a spotlight connected abrogation rentals by exposing what a ample stock of Maui dwellings were being rented to tourists connected a short-term basis. This pushed lawmakers to walk a measure giving counties the authorization to signifier retired abrogation rentals and marque them disposable for residents. Gov. Josh Green signed the measurement into instrumentality connected Friday.

Maui's politician acted connected this measure instantly by announcing region authorities that would signifier retired abrogation rentals operating successful areas zoned for apartments. The measure would impact 2,200 West Maui units successful and astir Lahaina and astir 5,000 much elsewhere successful the county.

BOOST FOR FARMERS

Lawmakers passed measures creating standards for java and macadamia nuts, 2 of Hawaii's astir high-value crops.

The java measure requires java containing Hawaii-grown and processed java to incorporate nary little than 51% Hawaii-origin java opening successful July 2027. The authorities said existing instrumentality allows java blends identified arsenic being from the Kona, Kau and Kauai java increasing regions to incorporate lone tiny amounts of beans from these places. This deceives consumers and harms java growers, it said.

On macadamia nuts, lawmakers passed authorities that would unit macadamia-nut processors of iconic brands similar Mauna Loa to disclose whether their products incorporate nuts grown extracurricular Hawaii. Currently, immoderate well-known Hawaii macadamia seed processers merchantability imported nuts successful island-themed packaging without indicating wherever the nuts are from.

TAX CUT

Lawmakers approved taxation cuts amounting to $5 cardinal implicit the adjacent six years, said Rep. Kyle Yamashita, the chairperson of the House Finance Committee and a Democrat. The cuts are successful the signifier of a higher earned income taxation credit, increases to the modular taxation deduction and adjustments to income taxation brackets.

Lawmakers besides removed the wide excise taxation connected aesculapian bills for patients with Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare health insurance.

Rep. Lauren Matsumoto, the caput of the House number caucus, said these are bills her Republican caucus has agelong pushed for.

“Our champion bills that we passed this twelvemonth is erstwhile we did them bipartisanly, erstwhile we worked collaboratively and had input from everybody,” she said.

STATE GESTURE

Lawmakers moved to marque the “shaka” the authorities motion and admit Hawaii arsenic its birthplace. The manus awesome is sometimes known extracurricular the islands arsenic the “hang loose” motion associated with surf culture. People successful Hawaii show the shaka to accidental hullo and bye arsenic good arsenic acknowledgment and aloha.