House committee to release report on war preparedness

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The House Select Committee on War Preparedness yesterday approved a list of recommendations on how to deal with the effects of war, including extending unemployment and medical benefits for laid-off workers and providing more construction money for increased harbor security.

The committee also is recommending that lawmakers urge the federal government to parcel out large contracts so local companies can compete for those jobs.

The final report, a culmination of six weeks of meetings, will be released today.

"If it's a prolonged war, chances are we probably have to come back and take a look at some of the recommendations and build on them," said House Vice Speaker Sylvia Luke, D-26th (Punchbowl, Pacific Heights, Nu'uanu Valley). "Even if the committee has completed its work for now, it's not definite that we're not going to continue to do the work.

"We try to get to a point where we can bring the state to some kind of preparedness but ... I don't think we'll ever be completely prepared."

Some of the panel's recommendations have been put into place, including providing additional marketing money for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. Other recommendations would be inserted in resolutions or in existing bills.

Among the 17 recommendations in the committee's report:

• Provide an additional three months of unemployment and medical benefits for workers laid off as a result of the war.
• Provide $3 million in construction money for harbor security.
• Direct the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to work to push discount programs for Mainland relatives of military families.
• Authorize the state to send an official delegation to Japan weeks after the war begins to encourage Japanese nationals to continue to travel to Hawai'i.
• Direct the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to work with the city to encourage more military participation in its "Brunch on the Beach" and "Sunset on the Beach" programs.

House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo, Wilhelmina Rise), put together the war preparedness committee, which is made up of five House lawmakers, the state's chief economist and top Civil Defense chief, and three representatives from the business sector. The panel has discussed the war's possible effects on such areas as tourism, petroleum and food supply, and small businesses.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.