Following her State of the State address yesterday, Gov. Linda Lingle offered a peek at a her Legislative proposals in 14 key areas:

TAX RELIEF

• Allow families supporting children or elderly to claim a tax credit for their care, as well as claim an additional personal exemption for children under 18.

• Allow the first $25,000 from personal retirement accounts like IRAs and 401Ks to be tax exempt, like public and private pension systems.

• Decrease the tax on each mobile phone from 66 cents to 43 cents per month.

• Give a $20,000 tax deduction to parents saving for their child's education.

PROTECTING KEIKI AND KUPUNA

• Allow foster children reasonable visitations with their siblings before and after adoption or award of legal guardianship.

• Add family members to list of people required to report child abuse and neglect.

• Require a follow-up visit by professional child-care welfare staff when children are reported as abused or neglected.

• Allow a child to stay in his or her caregiver's home, even if no legal arrangements exist, as long as it is appropriate and safe.

• Empower the Office of Youth Services with additional investigative authority.

• Create a tax credit that would allow seniors and the disabled to make their residences accessible.

• Increase penalties up to $50,000 for insurance violations committed against those age 62 and older.

• Require caregivers to report known or suspected abuse of vulnerable adults.

• Conduct criminal history background checks, including arrest records, on firms hired by the state to care for elderly or vulnerable individuals.

• Offer low-interest loans and grants to help community care homes make modifications to accommodate more Medicaid clients.

INCREASING AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES

• Allow state housing agencies to start projects when they have initial increments of construction funds.

• Reinstate the Hawai'i Community Development Authority's ability to sell 1,388 affordable housing units to make them available to needy families.

• Permanently ensure that 50 percent of the conveyance tax is deposited into the Rental Housing Trust Fund to build more affordable rentals.

• Infuse the Rental Housing Trust Fund with an additional $25 million.

• Add $25 million in bond proceeds to the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund to build more for-sale and rental housing.

• Appropriate $26 million to complete the purchase of the Kukui Gardens affordable housing project in downtown Honolulu.

• Increase by $100 million the lending level under the Housing Loan and Mortgage Program (Hula Mae) to build more multi-family units statewide.

PROTECTING THE FOOD SUPPLY

• Provide an incentive to land owners who designate their lands as Important Agricultural lands.

• Restrict the construction of residential structures on agriculturally designated lands without proof of farming revenues.

• Increase the loan ceiling from $50,000 to $200,000 for farm and ranch operations on Hawaiian Home Lands.

• Upgrade agricultural irrigation systems and reservoir infrastructure statewide.

• Develop a radio frequency identification and tracking system that can trace locally grown produce from farm to table.

• Allow the Department of Health to obtain samples from private farms for disease outbreak control.

• Encourage hiring of professional epidemiologists to help identify potential disease outbreaks.

• Amend the Milk Act to help establish a fair price for wholesale milk produced by local dairies.

• Continue supporting the Hawai'i Seal of Quality and Buy Local Buy Fresh programs.

• Open a joint inspection facility at Kahului Airport, allowing customs, border control, federal and state agricultural inspections at a single location.

• Identify high-risk shipments for inspection by providing Department of Agriculture inspectors with information on shipping container contents which might be carrying an invasive species to Hawai'i.

PROTECTING KEIKI AND KUPUNA

• Allow foster children reasonable visitations with their siblings before and after adoption or award of legal guardianship.

• Add family members to list of people required to report child abuse and neglect.

• Require a follow-up visit by professional child-care welfare staff for children reported as abused or neglected

• Allow a child to stay in his or her caregiver's home, even if no legal arrangements exist, as long as it is appropriate and safe.

• Empower the Office of Youth Services with additional investigative authority.

• Create a tax credit that would allow seniors and the disabled to make their residences accessible

• Increase penalties up to $50,000 for insurance violations committed against those age 62 and older.

• Require caregivers to report known or suspected abuse of vulnerable adults.

• Conduct criminal history background checks, including arrest records, on firms hired by the state to care for elderly or vulnerable individuals.

• Offer low-interest loans and grants to help community care homes make modifications to accommodate more Medicaid clients.

INCREASING AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES

• Allow state housing agencies to start projects when they have initial increments of construction funds.

• Reinstate the Hawaii Community Development Authority's ability to sell 1,388 affordable housing units to make them available to needy families.

• Permanently ensure that 50 percent of the conveyance tax is deposited into the Rental Housing Trust Fund to build more affordable rentals.

• Infuse the Rental Housing Trust Fund with an additional $25 million.

• Add $25 million in bond proceeds to the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund to build more for-sale and rental housing.

• Appropriate $26 million to complete the purchase of the Kukui Gardens affordable housing project in downtown Honolulu.

• Increase by $100 million the lending level under the Housing Loan and Mortgage Program (Hula Mae) to build more multi-family units statewide.

HEALTHCARE

• Regulate medical malpractice insurance coverage by capping non-economic damages at $250,000 and requiring damages to be allocated based on degree of negligence.

• Revamping the Certificate of Need process to expedite approvals of medical services in short supply.

• Allow doctors and other medical service providers to collect payments directly from health insurance companies rather than attempting to collect from the patient.

• Allow unions to design and operate workers' compensation programs for their members.

• Increase the number of nurses by allowing those pursuing a master's degree in nursing to apply for a registered nursing license.

• Establish a statewide hospital emergency surveillance systems to provide early detection of bioterrorism threats and other public health emergencies.

• Establish a statewide work site wellness program and provide necessary liability waivers to employees can participate in wellness activities

• Require a minimum of 45 minutes of physical education in grades K-5 and 60
minutes per day in grades 6-12.

INCREASING SAFETY ON THE HIGHWAYS

• Allow information regarding whether a person was wearing a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet to be used when determining negligence in vehicle accidents.

• Allow the State Highways Division to spend revenues accumulating in the State Highway Fund for operations and maintenance of our state roads, while ensuring the continuation of current deposits into that fund.

• Prohibit drivers between the ages of 15› and 18 from using a cell phone or any other electronic device while operating a motor vehicle.

• Permit the courts to require the use of an ignition interlock system for a convicted drunk driver to operate a vehicle.

• Ensure Hawai'i laws conform to federal requirements that prohibit a person convicted of a DUI from driving a commercial vehicle.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• Create tax-free Life-Long Learning Accounts that would enable employer-matched portable individual savings accounts to pay for career-building skills.

• Allocate up to $100 million from the Employees Retirement System to encourage and financially support innovation and new technology in the state.

• Support legislation to allow the state to rehire retired staff in hard-to-fill and technical positions.

• Enhance the Music Enterprise Learning Experience (MELE) program to develop a trained workforce in production technology, music industry business and artistic creativity, including a state-of-the-art training center.

• Establish Rapid Response Training programs through the universities and colleges to provide custom courses in areas not currently addressed by the state's educational system.

• Strengthen the Kama'aina Come Home Program through enhanced data tracking
and outreach to former residents.

• Enhance the ability of the Office of Technology Transfer Program to help local innovative businesses secure and match bridge financing provided through federal programs.

EDUCATION

• Amend the state constitution to allow voters in each country to decide whether to have a local school board.

• Further empower the charter school movement by granting autonomy and powers to the Charter School Panel, removing the statutory cap on charter schools and ensuring funding for new charter schools is included in the budget.

• Allowing aspiring teachers who receive support from he Hawaii Educator Loan Program to attend any state-approved teacher education program and allow them to get credit for loan repayments for teaching at public charter schools, as well as traditional public schools.

• Create a Hawaii Commission on Higher Education comprised of university presidents to oversee federal education funds, award scholarships, set standards and implement procedures for public schools in Hawaii.

• Broaden the number of schools and children participating in the FIRST (Fostering Inspiration and Relevance from Science Technology), HiEST (Hawaii Excellence through Science and Technology) and robotics academies.

• Establish endowed chairs at the University of Hawai'i for professors in the fields of science, math and engineering.

• Establish creative academies in Hawai'i schools modeled after the STEM and construction academies.

ENERGY FOR TOMORROW

• Offer a tax credit to low-income residents for the installation of renewable technology in the home.

• Create a new renewable energy division in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to focus and heighten importance of achieving greater energy independence.

• Establish a "One-Stop Permit Shop" for renewable energy projects.

• Establish an endowed Chair for Power Generation and Distribution Engineering at the University of Hawaii.

• Protect funds paid by electricity users to support energy-efficiency and demand-side management programs from legislative raids and other state encumbrances.

• Expand the definition of "renewable" energy producer to include growers and producers of organic materials for the production of biofuels and related natural fuels to allow producers to directly lease public lands.

PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES

• Increase the State Disaster Loan Program amounts to repair residences from $35,000 to $50,000 and businesses from $75,000 to $100,000. Set the interest rate at 1 percent the Small Business Association Rate.

• Allow utilities to respond to emergency power needs immediately without prior Public Utilities Commission approval.

• Revamp the disaster loss mitigation program to provide homeowners with a credit for installing hurricane protection devices, building a safe room or in-home shelter, covering up to 35 percent the cost of the improvements.

• Increase insurance coverage from $750,000 to $1 million under the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund.

• Prohibit price gouging and unfair building practices during a declared state disaster.

• Extend current civil liability exemptions to care homes and private schools that provide Shelter-in-Place facilities during officially designated state emergencies.

PRESERVING AND PROTECTING NATURAL RESOURCES

• Update Hawai'i's 1993 law to ensure communities are properly notified about incidents involving hazardous substance spills.

• Allow the state to remove a grounded vessel by any means necessary to minimize damage to natural resources and ensure safe navigation.

• Allow administrative fines to be imposed for damage to stony coral and live rock on a per square meter basis.

• Increase fines for environmental violations on public lands from $500 per day to $2,000 per day or $10,000 per violation, and set up a penalty system for violations in State Conservation Districts.

•Allow the Legacy Lands Fund to receive donations and grants, while permitting funds to be used for both the maintenance and acquisition of legacy lands.

INCREASING CONNECTIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY TO GOVERNMENT

• Automate filing of claims and access to information about work-related health programs, including workers' compensation, temporary disability, and prepaid healthcare.

• Revamp and modernize the Bureau of Conveyances to accept electronically-filed documents and signatures.

• Connect all state department Web sites to ease residents' access to government information, while upgrading navigational tools.

ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY

• Strengthen Hawai'i's sex-offender laws in the area of Internet/electronic enticement, including establishing new mandatory penalties, and creating mandatory five-year jail time for child pornography.

• Allow prior convictions of dishonesty to be considered in a court trial.

• Enhance treatment and reintegration programs for criminal offenders while keeping the community safe from premature release of prisoners.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS

• Improve the regulation of mortgage brokers and mortgage solicitors by requiring criminal history background checks, licensing tests, education standards and periodic examinations. This will help thwart the efforts of unscrupulous brokers who prey on the elderly and those in financial difficulty.

• Prohibit health plans from removing a member because of a medical condition.

• Protect those with terminal or chronic illnesses from unscrupulous brokers who trade in the life insurance policies of the sick, by requiring disclosure of the consequences to the consumer and providing the right to rescind the contract.

• Protect homeowners from those who prey on individuals facing foreclosure by requiring that rescuers provide homeowners with written contracts enumerating services and giving homeowners the right to cancel before services have been performed.

• Increase by five times the fines and penalties against unlicensed building contractors and those who provide work outside of the scope of their license.

• Eliminate the use of complete social security numbers on property records filed with the Bureau of Conveyances in order to deter identity theft.

MILITARY

• Adopt the Interstate Compact to help children from military families who often must transfer from school to school.

• Provide vehicle tax and registration fee exemption for private vehicles of Hawaii residents serving in the military.