Gov. David Ige (D-HI) notified key lawmakers of his intention to veto 30 of the 343 bills passed by the Hawaii State Legislature in 2022, including House Bill 1600 and Senate Bill 2076.
“The governor is not required to veto every bill on the list, but he cannot veto any bills that are not on this list,” according to the governor's website.
Ige said several factors influenced his decision whether to veto a bill, “including legal considerations, program effectiveness and compliance issues.”
HB 1600 and SB 2076 are being considered for line-item vetoes. HB 1600 relates to the state budget. According to Ige's website, the bill “adjusts and requests appropriations for fiscal biennium 2021-2023 funding requirements for operations and capital improvement projects of executive branch agencies and programs.”
SB 2076 relates to broadband service infrastructure. It requires the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Broadband and Digital Equity Office to determine a “governance structure to operate, maintain and oversee broadband assets.” The bill also appropriates funds for three full-time positions for the office and a statewide broadband initiative to be administered by the University of Hawaii.
Ige said the bills are being considered for “line-item vetoes of specific appropriations. In addition, the state must operate within the federal Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements contained in the American Rescue Plan Act.”
He also plans to veto House Bill 1567, which concerns criminal pretrial reform. The bill "eliminates the use of monetary bail and requires defendants to be released on their own recognizance for certain nonviolent offenses, subject to certain exclusions.” It also requires the department of public safety to provide videoconferencing to a defendant wanting to participate in a bail report interview via videoconference.
Ige is vetoing the bill, he said, because there hasn’t been sufficient time to assess changes to the state’s criminal pretrial system made in 2019. The bill also does not adequately address several important issues, including “the need to secure the appearance of defendants, and it deprives judges of the ability to exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis.”
Meanwhile, the governor recently signed off on 105 more bills into law, bringing the total number signed so far this year to 220.