Protect
Hawaii's Farmlands
Ask
the Governor to VETO SB 2646
An urbanization bill passed stealthily by the state legislature has the potential to dramatically change the landscape of Hawaii, opening up farmlands statewide to unbridled development. Cloaked as an incentive for “agricultural protection,” SB 2646 would encourage land speculation and sprawling development on existing agricultural land with little public input. Legislative leaders in the House, knowing how unpopular this policy would be, had to resort to insider political games to get the Senate to go along. True farmland protection doesn't come from giving away the farm, but from genuine leadership that will create policies to promote sustainability and food security for Hawaii, regardless of how strong the pro-development lobby may be. Read Cynthia Oi's take on the measure.
The measure could open up hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural lands statewide for sprawling development. Heavy lobbying by the developer’s Land Use Research Foundation and large landowners such as Alexander & Baldwin tilted the scales at the last minute. Despite the rhetoric of "agricultral protection," the bill allows a large landowner to urbanize a portion of their land in exchange for designating a percentage as “important agricultural land.” Sen. Russell Kokubun -- who voted against the measure -- warned his fellow senators in a floor speech on the final day that the measure would ease the development of luxury estates and golf courses with little public input or recourse. The Senate supported SB 2646 in a 14-10-1 vote. The House passed the bill 29-18-4. Please take action:
- We have a chance to convince the Governor that this bill is a disaster for sustainability and smart planning. The measure is antithetical to the Governor's stated belief that Hawaii must move away from an economy based on land speculation and development. Please contact the Governor and ask her to veto SB 2646: 586-0034, governor.lingle@hawaii.gov.
- Please, take a second and thank the legislators who voted against this blatant pro-development measure. Click here to send an email to all those who stood up to the development lobby.
- Accountability is also critical. If you want to politely express your disappointment with those who supported the measure, send an email both to the first bunch here and the second bunch here. A list of all legislators and how they voted on SB 2646 with their phone numbers is at the bottom (or here).
| Supported
SB2646, |
||||
| NAME | YES | NO | PHONE | |
| BAKER, Rosalyn (D) | X |
586-6070 | senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| BUNDA, Robert (D) | X |
586-6090 | senbunda@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| CHUN OAKLAND, Suzanne (D) | X |
586-6130 | senchunoakland@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| ENGLISH, J. Kalani (D) | X |
587-7225 | senenglish@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| ESPERO, Will (D) | X |
586-6360 | senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| FUKUNAGA, Carol (D) | X |
586-6890 | senfukunaga@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| GABBARD, Mike (D) | X |
586-6830 | sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| HANABUSA, Colleen (D) | X |
586-7793 | senhanabusa@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| HEE, Clayton (D) | X |
586-7330 | senhee@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| HEMMINGS, Fred (R) | X |
587-8388 | senhemmings@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| HOOSER, Gary L. (D) | X |
586-6030 | senhooser@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| IGE, David Y. (D) | EXCUSED |
586-6230 | sendige@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| IHARA, Les, Jr. (D) | X |
586-6250 | senihara@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| INOUYE, Lorraine R. (D) | X |
586-7335 | seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| KIM, Donna Mercado (D) | X |
587-7200 | senkim@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| KOKUBUN, Russell S. (D) | X |
586-6760 | senkokubun@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| MENOR, Ron (D) | X |
586-6740 | senmenor@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| NISHIHARA, Clarence (D) | X |
586-6970 | sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| SAKAMOTO, Norman (D) | X |
586-8585 | sensakamoto@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| SLOM, Sam (R) | X |
586-8420 | senslom@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| TANIGUCHI, Brian T. (D) | X |
586-6460 | sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| TOKUDA, Jill N. (D) | X |
587-7215 | sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| TRIMBLE, Gordon (R) | X |
586-7100 | sentrimble@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| TSUTSUI, Shan S. (D) | X |
586-7344 | sentsutsui@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| WHALEN, Paul (R) | X |
586-9385 | senwhalen@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Supported,
SB 2646, pro-development bill? |
||||
| NAME | YES |
NO |
PHONE | |
| Awana, Karen Leinani (D) | X |
586-8465 | repawana@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| BELATTI, Della Au (D) | X |
586-9425 | repbelatti@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Berg, Ph.D., Lyla B. (D) | X |
586-6510 | repberg@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Bertram, Joe, III (D) | EXCUSED |
586-8525 | repbertram@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Brower, Tom (D) | X |
586-8520 | repbrower@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Cabanilla, Rida T. R. (D) | X |
586-6080 | repcabanilla@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Caldwell, Kirk (D) | X |
586-8475 | repcaldwell@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Carroll, Mele (D) | X |
586-6790 | repcarroll@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Chang, Jerry L. (D) | X |
586-6120 | repchang@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Ching, Corinne W.L. (R) | X |
586-9415 | repching@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Chong, Pono (D) | X |
586-9490 | repchong@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Evans, Cindy (D) | X |
586-8510 | repevans@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Finnegan, Lynn (R) | X |
586-9470 | repfinnegan@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Green, Josh, M.D. (D) | X |
586-9605 | repgreen@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Hanohano, faye P. (D) | X |
586-6530 | rephanohano@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Har, Sharon (D) | X |
586-8500 | rephar@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Herkes, Robert N. (D) | X |
586-8400 | repherkes@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Ito, Ken (D) | X |
586-8470 | repito@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Karamatsu, Jon Riki (D) | X |
586-8490 | repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Lee, Marilyn B. (D) | X |
586-9460 | replee@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Luke, Sylvia J. (D) | X |
586-8530 | repluke@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Magaoay, Michael Y. (D) | X |
586-6380 | repmagaoay@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Manahan, Joey (D) | X |
586-6010 | repmanahan@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Marumoto, Barbara C. (R) | X |
586-6310 | repmarumoto@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| McKelvey, Angus (D) | X |
586-6160 | repmckelvey@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Meyer, Colleen Rose (R) | X |
586-8540 | repmeyer@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Mizuno, John (D) | X |
586-6050 | repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Morita, Hermina M. (D) | X |
586-8435 | repmorita@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Nakasone, Bob (D) | EXCUSED |
586-6210 | repnakasone@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Nishimoto, Scott Y. (D) | X |
586-8515 | repnishimoto@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Oshiro, Blake K. (D) | X |
586-6340 | repboshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Oshiro, Marcus R. (D) | X |
586-6200 | repmoshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Pine, Kimberly (R) | X |
586-9730 | reppine@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| RHOADS, Karl (D) | X |
586-6180 | reprhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| SAGUM, Roland D., III (D) | X |
586-6280 | repsagum@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Saiki, Scott K. (D) | X |
586-8485 | repsaiki@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Say, Calvin K. Y. (D) | X |
586-6100 | repsay@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Shimabukuro, Maile S. L. (D) | X |
586-8460 | repshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Sonson, Alex M. (D) | EXCUSED |
586-6520 | repsonson@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Souki, Joseph M. (D) | X |
586-9444 | repsouki@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Takai, K. Mark (D) | X |
586-8455 | reptakai@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Takamine, Dwight Y. (D) | X |
586-6680 | reptakamine@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Takumi, Roy M. (D) | X |
586-6170 | reptakumi@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Thielen, Cynthia (R) | X |
586-6480 | repthielen@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Tokioka, James Kunane (D) | X |
586-6270 | reptokioka@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Tsuji, Clift (D) | X |
586-8480 | reptsuji@capitol.hawaii.gov | |
| Wakai, Glenn (D) | X |
586-6220 | repwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov | |