As the Majority Leader in the Hawaii State Senate, and as a 2006 candidate to Congress (Hawaii CD2), I have two goals in mind with this post.
Hawaii’s legislative session begins on January 21, our state budget is in shambles and I am searching for new legislative proposals that have the potential for significant progressive change, but won’t cost public a dime.
Fat chance you say?
Well I know the ideas are out there. Last year I introduced a solar hot water heater mandate that passed into law. As a result, beginning in 2010, every new home built in Hawaii will be required to have a solar hot water heater or other energy efficient device. This will save homeowners an average of 25% to30% off their electric bill. Installing solar as part of a new homes design and construction is also the most efficient and most economical time to make the installation (as opposed to a retrofit). This idea did not cost the state a dime, actually lowered the costs to homeowners and avoids the burning of millions of gallons of imported oil.
So, I need to follow up that legislative home run with another.
Some ideas now on the table include: Allowing the use of unemployment benefits to support obtaining a college degree and/or starting a small business. Mandating fuel efficiency standards for all new cars sold in the state, or at the minimum all new government vehicles. I am looking for others, and thought mining the minds of Kossack policy wonks who might be familiar with progressive initiatives occurring in other area’s, would prove especially fruitful.
So please, send me your best and brightest tangible proposals and I will do what I can to put them into action here in Hawaii. There are only two caveats: The idea must be tangible and specific and it must have no financial implications to the state budget whatsoever (no new taxes and no new expenditures).
The second goal of this post was to reintroduce myself to those who frequent this particular neighborhood of the blogosphere. During my prior Congressional run (I finished in the middle of a pack of ten credible candidates), I was introduced to the Daily Kos and began posting on a semi regular basis. Since then I have been mostly absent from this space but did begin posting in own blog that can be found at http://www.garyhooser.com Please visit me there, and if any of you whom I communicated with during the 2006 elections would like to restart the conversation, please let me know. Aloha for now. gh