Legislative updates
By Lauren Zirbel
This legislative session has been filled with a spirit of "Kumbaya" in comparison to last year. Many of the issues industry expected to come to a head this year have simply dissolved into nothing… for now! This is likely because every single state elected official is up for re-election and no one wants to increase taxes.
But that doesn't mean HFIA hasn't been hard at work protecting your business' interests! HFIA has testified on and tracked many bills that directly affect the food industry. There are both good and bad bills still moving along at the State Capitol.
On the bad end of the spectrum the House is still considering a bill that would require employers to provide meal breaks for employees who work more than a total of five hours a day. This bill, HB1699, imposes penalties for failure to provide meal breaks. The bill was passed by the House Judiciary committee but must still be scheduled and passed by House Finance committee in order to cross-over to the Senate. A bill increasing the minimum wage was also heard and passed out of its first committee in the House but has not been scheduled in its next committee to this date. Thankfully, Representative McKelvey chose to defer a measure in House Economic Revitalization and Business Committee which would have required employers to provide a minimum amount of paid sick and safe leave to employees.
HFIA opposes labeling mandates across the board and as such opposed a bill which received a hearing this year, which would have established labeling requirements for Hawaii-grown tea. Thankfully Senator Baker deferred this bill in her committee. HFIA also opposed bills which received a hearing this year that would have increased the tax on sugar and mandated a warning label for all products containing aspartame. Senator Green deferred both of these bills.
One of the major positive bills HFIA is pushing this year is the fee assessment on all single use bags. This bill will help retailers on the neighbor islands deal with the ten fold increase in cost they are seeing due to plastic bag bans. Honolulu County is threatening to follow the neighbor islands down the path of plastic bag bans so it is imperative that the legislature pass a fee bill this year to create some uniformity between counties. Without a fee bill consumers will not decrease their use of single use bags but instead shift to using an equal amount of paper bags at increased cost to retailers and ultimately consumer food prices. This not only does nothing to help the environment, it unfairly impacts consumers pocketbooks - increasing all peoples most basic cost of living - food. Single use bag fee legislation has had overwhelming amounts of supportive testimony at the state legislature this year. Retailers, businesses, environmental groups, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and consumers have voiced strong support for this legislation.
HFIA is supporting a bill that serves as an alternative to harmful legislation introduced and deferred this year that would have made pseudoephedrine (PSE) prescription only. This bill brings Hawaii into a network that is used across the United States and is completely free called NPLEx. NPLEx can be accessed on any computer with access to the Internet and it allows up to the minute tracking of PSE sales. This tool has helped law enforcement control individuals who are not using PSE for its intended purpose. The House committee on judiciary has moved the bill forward as has the Senate Committee on Health.
HFIA is in strong support of the efforts made by the legislature in addressing the unemployment insurance tax increase with HB 2069. This bill sets the maximum weekly benefit amount at seventy-five per cent of the average weekly wage from April 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. The bill also sets, for calendar year 2012, the employer contribution rate at schedule F. HFIA supports keeping the employer contribution rate at schedule F for two years because businesses are still trying to recover for the recession and can not afford increases in their UI tax.
HFIA will continue to keep you up to date on hearings and opportunities for you to submit testimony on bills that affect your business. We greatly appreciate your support of our legislative advocacy!
Government relations
Hawaii Food Industry Associations primary function is to project YOUR voice in Government. You must join HFIA to receive our email action alerts on legislation.
