Gov. Linda Lingle has sent the state Legislature notice of her intent to veto 28 bills. The governor now has until July 11 to decide whether or not to officially veto these measures. The Legislature can vote to override any vetos with a two-thirds majority. A simple majority would have to vote to convene a special override session. "These 28 bills are of concern due to various factors including technical flaws, potential unintended consequences, or have a significant negative impact on the public," Lingle said in a press release.

HB 0266 "Relating to Labor"

Explanation: This bill attempts to overturn a Honolulu City and County case where the state Supreme Court ruled that the City and County of Honolulu's transfer of refuse workers between base yards was not subject to collective bargaining. This bill constitutes an unacceptable infringement upon management rights currently protected under law. The four county mayors, the University of Hawai'i and all state agencies agree it is essential to allow management to retain the right to direct its work force and oversee governmental operations.

HB 0439 "Relating to the Office of the Ombudsman"

Explanation: This bill allows the ombudsman access to highly confidential tax information about individuals and businesses without the individual or business having to explicitly approve in writing that they want the ombudsman to have this information. Procedures already exist to resolve taxpayer disputes. This measure erodes the statutory assurance of confidentially attached to taxpayer data and creates a perception of potential abuse.

HB 1800 "Relating to Sale of Real Property"

Explanation: This bill unnecessarily increases the income tax withholding on the sale of real property by nonresident sellers from 5 percent to 8 percent. The Tax Department reports that the current 5 percent withholding already results in a very high percentage of payers receiving refunds because the gain on the sale of their property is considerably less than 5 percent of the total sales price.

HB 1867 "Relating to Workers' Compensation"

Explanation: This bill requires an employer or the employer's insurer to continue to pay for medical treatments for an employee who is on workers' compensation, even if an independent medical examiner has determined that the individual is ready to return to work. The medical payments would continue based on the decision of the medical provider, who does not have to be a licensed physician. It would also be difficult to recoup unnecessary payments if the medical treatments are deemed inappropriate.

HB 2199 "Relating to International Trade Agreement"

Explanation: This bill would remove the governor's authority to consent to international trade agreements, thus making it difficult for the state to respond when the Legislature is not in session. This places Hawai'i at a disadvantage relative to other states who can participate in international trade and procurement activities in an increasingly global marketplace.

HB 2265 "Relating to Corrections"

Explanation: This bill would inappropriately transfer the supervisory and counseling functions for paroled individuals from the Hawai'i Paroling Authority to the Department of Public Safety, thereby undermining the historical authority vested in the Paroling Authority. Decisions on incarcerating a parole violator should be done independently from the organization responsible for the operation and management of the jails and prisons.

HB 2299 "Relating to Chapter 803"

Explanation: This bill would revise the "knock and announce" law to overly constrain law enforcement personnel when entering a premise to arrest a suspect, making it more dangerous for law enforcement officers to carry out their duties. Furthermore, because of a June 15, 2006, U.S. Supreme Court decision that changed the rules of evidence under "knock and announce" laws, it would be prudent to revisit this matter in the 2007 legislative session.

HB 2558 "Relating to Vocational Rehabilitation"

Explanation: Returning injured employees to work as soon as possible is medically and economically beneficial to employees, is economically beneficial to employers and is beneficial to the worker's compensation system. This bill is objectionable because it requires employers to offer "permanent" suitable work that could be interpreted to imply employers must offer guaranteed lifelong employment regardless of the circumstances. Further, the bill adversely affects the purpose of the vocational rehabilitation system — to help the permanently disabled — by allowing all injured workers, even those with minor injuries, to qualify for vocational rehabilitation services regardless of the capacity to accommodate them.

HB 2595 "Relating to Family Visits"

Explanation: This bill would require the Public Safety Department to allow family visits of incarcerated persons, but the bill is vague as to whether the department may cancel visits when emergency situations occur. It is important not to jeopardize the safety of the visitors or the inmates. The department recognizes the need to accommodate special visits by family members and has implemented changes to its visitation policies, making this bill unnecessary.

HB 2641 "Relating to Public Works Projects"

Explanation: This bill would mandate that a private construction project be considered a public works project, subject to state prevailing wage and hour laws, if the state or a political subdivision leases or is assigned more than 50 percent of the project space. Expanding public works coverage to mixed public-private structures may inject confusion and discourage leases to public sector entities by private firms who would be saddled with the burden of complying with unfamiliar labor laws.

HB 2691 "Relating to Prevailing Wages"

Explanation: This bill could lead to additional litigation by allowing joint labor-management committees to file lawsuits under the prevailing wage laws of the state. There is no demonstrated need to allow the enforcement of these laws by committees that may have personal interests in singling out certain contractors. The Department of Labor is already vested with the responsibility for enforcement of the prevailing wage and hour statute.

HB 2692 "Relating to Public Works"

Explanation: This bill would make projects financed through Special Purpose Revenue Bonds subject to the requirements of the prevailing wage and hour laws, thereby contradicting the lower cost advantages of using special purpose revenue bonds. These bonds are used by nonprofit organizations to build hospitals, schools, early childhood education centers, affordable housing and similar worthy projects.

HB 2878 "Relating to Special Purpose Revenue Bonds to Assist Tradewinds Forest Products, LLC."

Explanation: This bill would authorize the issuance of up to $25 million in special purpose revenue bonds to build a lumber processing and export mill on the Hamakua Coast. There are serious questions as to whether these bonds would serve a public purpose, whether financing via special revenue bonds is appropriate due to tax qualification questions, whether community concerns have been properly addressed and whether using public bonds to use public forests for private gain is appropriate.

HB 3116 "Relating to Hawai'i Children's Health Care Program"

Explanation: This bill fails to achieve its intended purpose of providing health insurance to uninsured children who are ineligible for any state or federal health care coverage. The bill would allow families who would otherwise qualify for federally supported Medicaid QUESTinet to participate in this program, thus crowding out those who genuinely need the coverage. This bill also does not prohibit children previously enrolled under private healthcare plans from being enrolled in the 100 percent subsidized program if they meet the eligibility requirements.

HB 3118 "Relating to Corporations"

Explanation: This bill mandates a task force based on a false premise that corporate shareholder interests are at fundamental odds with community interests. The bill's preamble contends that corporations are incentivized to deliberately cause harm, ignoring that businesses must be responsible to their customers and their employees, otherwise they will fail. Corporations are some of our most generous donors to many worthy community causes. This measure moves the state in the wrong direction and would have the task force consider proposals granting tax relief to these "responsible corporations," forcing taxpayers to subsidize firms who may not be able to succeed in the marketplace.

HB 3261 "Relating to Ingenuity Corporation Charter"

Explanation: This bill creates a private, for-profit organization within Hawai'i statutes that would have no attachment or oversight from any government department, opening both the state and the corporation to legal challenges. The bill may actually hurt inventors in Hawai'i by giving them no direct representation on the corporate board, limiting their return on investment, and prohibiting them from suing the corporation.

SB 2004 "Relating to Historic Preservation"

Explanation: This bill provides unnecessary regulation of an active recreational and historical sand bar site in Kane'ohe Bay. The Department of Land and Natural Resources already enforces safety, security and sanitation regulations covering the sandbar that recognize the unique qualities of this geographic feature, without the need to designate it a state monument. The general public was not consulted in advance about the designation as a monument and the community is split as to whether a monument designation is appropriate.

SB 2006 "Prohibiting Sales of Opihi"

Explanation: This bill establishes a permanent statewide ban on the sale of edible opihi without conducting an analysis to determine if such a ban is needed. The bill makes it difficult to enforce the ban since it allows one-half gallon per person per day for personal consumption, will encourage a black market in this delicacy and would adversely hurt families who gather opihi for their livelihood, as they have done for centuries.

SB 2076 "Relating to Leasehold Conversion"

Explanation: Although the idea to provide an incentive to fee owners to sell their fee interest in residential property has merit, this bill is too narrow to help the general public. This is because the bill caps the total value of the sales that would qualify for tax incentives to $800,000, which would cover only one or two homes or a few condominium units statewide.

SB 2133 " Relating to Health"

Explanation: This bill limits the use of vaccines that contain a preservative called thimerosal. The limit could adversely affect the ability of the medical community to provide inoculations to people in Hawai'i seeking protection from the flu and other communicable diseases. The bill is too general and does not focus on those thought most susceptible to thimerosal, namely very young children. The medical community has expressed significant concerns that this bill could have negative implications for the public health and safety of the community.

SB 2150 "Relating to Boating"

Explanation: This bill prohibits the transfer of small boat harbors to the counties through June 30, 2007. This bill places the counties, which are public bodies that are directly responsible to their citizens, at a disadvantage when compared to private parties who could still seek to operate state-owned small boat harbors.

SB 2166 "Relating to Minors"

Explanation: This bill goes beyond its stated intent of helping minors without guardians, by allowing some minors as young as fourteen years of age to consent to surgery and treatments to induce abortion who may not have the maturity or fully understand the long-range consequences of their decisions. Parental rights and obligations are undermined when the State sanctions in law that a child may avoid, for whatever reason, the involvement of a parent or responsible adult. The bill further requires the health insurer to participate in this concealment by keeping this information from the responsible adult.

SB 2190 "Relating to Employment Security"

Explanation: This bill would result in a permanent increase in unemployment insurance costs while providing only temporary relief to employers who pay into the unemployment trust fund. This measure would increase the cost of doing business in Hawai'i, could adversely impact the long-range financial viability of the trust fund, and would further discourage unemployed persons from returning to the workforce. Additionally the bill would make it more difficult to terminate employees who engage in misconduct. It is bad public policy to allow employees to collect unemployment insurance who are terminated for acts that endanger the safety of others in the workplace.

SB 2244 "Relating to Expungements"

Explanation: This bill allows convictions for violations to be erased from a person's criminal record, regardless of the number of prior convictions on the person's record. This measure will make it harder for firms to do criminal history background checks of people who come in contact with children, the elderly and disabled. The law enforcement community has additional concerns because this bill mandates the return of fingerprint and photograph records, jeopardizing the integrity of the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center database.

SB 2727 "Relating to Neurotrauma"

Explanation: This bill adds a new requirement that money in the neurotrauma special fund must be used to assist individuals with traumatic brain injuries. The amount in the neurotrauma fund, including anticipated deposits (about $1 million), is not sufficient to provide services to the number of people who annually suffer from traumatic brain injuries. (Estimated annual cost $57 million.) Because the cost to provide direct services is significantly greater than the funds available, the state will be subject to adverse legal actions and future liabilities. The bill misleads the public into thinking the state can cover these extensive costs.

SB 2997 "Relating to Procurement"

Explanation: The Procurement Code promotes transparency, fair treatment, competition and public confidence in the government's procurement of goods, services and construction. This bill is objectionable because it would exempt the High Technology Development Corporation, the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i Authority and the Hawai'i Strategic Development Corporation from the Procurement Code.

SB 3035 "Relating to Continued Temporary Total Disability Benefits to Injured Employees"

Explanation: This bill would extend temporary total disability payments to employees deemed ready to return to work. Further it gives the claimant, not the employer, the right to request a hearing to determine if the payments should be discontinued, thus providing no mechanism for an employer or his/her insurance company to stop payments they believe are unjustified. This allows the claimant to choose to not return to work. Disability determinations should remain in the hands of the healthcare profession.

SB 3181 "Relating to Solid Waste"