Feds to pay half of ADB security tab
By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Congress has approved $1.6 million in federal reimbursement to Hawai'i's law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with the Asian Development Bank conference last May.
The $17.1 billion spending bill for the Treasury Department and the Postal Service in fiscal 2002, passed Thursday, also includes $2.7 million for the federal war on drugs in Hawai'i and customs operations at the state's airports.
State and local police have said they spent about $3.3 million contending with protests and providing extra security during the ADB conference in Honolulu. Lawmakers decided to follow the precedents of 50 percent reimbursement for police costs of the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and the 2000 International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington.
Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, a top member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he knew House members negotiating the final version of the bill would oppose the reimbursement because Hawai'i had volunteered to be the host of the ADB conference.
"They were also concerned that such action would provide further precedent for a 50 percent reimbursable rate," Inouye said in a statement. "In the end, I was pleased that the Senate conferees prevailed (in the House-Senate conference)."
Under the Treasury-Postal bill, the state's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program will receive $1.9 million to gather, analyze and disseminate to police information on drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations in Hawai'i, especially those involving crystal methamphetamine.
"Drug trafficking continues to increase, entering our state through our Neighbor Islands," Inouye said. This challenges police because the islands don't have the resources to support ongoing drug interdiction, the senator said.
"This is where HIDTA and the sharing of drug intelligence and resources is critical," he said. "With this upcoming fiscal year funding, I hope that additional support can be provided by HIDTA to the Big Island in its fight against crystal meth."
The measure also provides $750,000 for part-time and temporary customs inspectors at Honolulu International Airport, and it requires the Postal Service to develop a new procedure for mail that is sent to addresses on the same island where it originates. That would simplify the current practice of flying all mail in the state to O'ahu for sorting and then returning it to respective islands.
