Changes to state regulations regarding e-cigarettes and midwives are among a wishlist of state bills the Hawaii County Council hopes to see pass next year.
At Monday’s meeting of the council’s Government Operations and External Affairs Committee, members introduced a list of proposals and priorities being considered for the the county’s legislative package that will be submitted to the Legislature in January.
Included in the list were 10 broad concepts for bills the council is urging the Legislature to pursue, and seven more concrete draft proposals targeting additional county issues.
Those draft bills included a proposal to grant counties the authority to regulate tobacco products, following up on a county bill passed earlier this year that would prohibit Big Island retailers from selling tobacco or nicotine products that taste or smell like anything other than tobacco.
Despite the passage of the county bill, it cannot take effect because county tobacco regulations are superseded by state regulations. The council’s proposed bill for the Legislature would remove that state preemption, allowing the county regulations to take effect.
The draft measure notes that 31% of Hawaii middle-schoolers and 48% of high-schoolers have tried vapes or e-cigarettes, according to 2019 data.
Another draft bill is a series of proposed regulatory changes establishing a more robust licensure process for midwives and other birth practitioners, allowing them to perform more services.
Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada endorsed the proposal, saying that the Big Island’s rural populations are impacted by a lack of available medical resources, even as midwives who are able to provide vital care during the birthing process aren’t legally allowed to do so, in some circumstances.
“We have so much rural land and so many folks giving birth who are very far away from our hospitals,” Kagiwada said. “We also want to make sure that people have their native and customary practices that can be part, legally, of their birth plan.”
The proposed midwife bill notes that a 2019 state measure established a midwife licensure program that will sunset in 2025, but also did not lead to further legislation incorporating other birth practitioners into the program as was expected.
Other draft bills include a proposal allowing counties to petition the state to redistrict agricultural-zoned land into rural-zoned land; a measure requiring wastewater systems located near the shoreline to include denitrification functions in order to reduce their impact on nearby coral reefs; a proposal to amend agricultural tourism regulations; and an extension of the existing county surcharge on state general excise taxes through 2045.
The final draft measure on the council’s list would accelerate the state’s timeline for converting cesspools into less harmful wastewater systems. While the current deadline is for total cesspool conversion by 2050, this proposal would speed that process along by requiring more than 13,000 “priority level 1” cesspools to be converted by 2035, and another 12,000 “priority level 2” conversions by 2040.
That proposal also includes a series of potential tax credits and other measures by which residents could pay for their cesspool conversions.
Meanwhile, the broader legislative priorities mentioned in Monday’s proposed wishlist include additional emergency planning funds, unspecified bills to lower the cost and increase the availability of home and business insurance, bills relating to wild ungulate management, improved transportation infrastructure, increased food security, preventing squatters and more.
Monday’s council committee voted unanimously in support of a resolution to submit the list for consideration in the 2025 Hawaii State Association of Counties’ legislative package. The resolution will next go before the full council for a final vote.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
