OPPOSE HB1258 and HB686

Take action to OPPOSE HB686 and HB1258— 2 bad bills that both have hearings on Tuesday, Feb. 16th.

Bad Bill #1- OPPOSE HB686- Anti-protester bill

HB686 is a bill introduced by the Hawaiian Electric Company to turn criminal trespass at “critical electricity infrastructure” (aka ANY facility used to support the generation, transmission, or distribution of electricity) into a Class C Felony.

Although HECO says it introduced this bill to better deter crime, this bill would criminalize peaceful protesters. In fact, HB686 is modeled after similar anti-protester bills being introduced across the U.S. on behalf of the fossil fuel industry (read all about it here).

Instead of trying to work with communities who have concerns over the power plants located in their neighborhood—or wind turbines that are being put up next to their homes and school—the Hawaiian Electric Company is pushing this bill to prosecute protesters as felons. To put this into perspective, the maximum prison sentence for a Class C Felony is 5 years per each offense convicted and up to a $10,000 fine for the first offense.

This bill has a hearing in the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 16th at 2 PM (see agenda here). Please OPPOSE HB686 by logging into your Capitol account and submitting testimony before the hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 16th @ 2 PM (instructions on how to testify here). Then, call the Committee Chair Rep. Nakashima at 808-586-6684 and leave his office a voicemail asking he defer this bill.

Bad Bill #2- OPPOSE HB1258- Sneaky Water Code bill

Don’t be fooled by a title that says “Relating to Hawaiian Home Lands”, because HB1258 has nothing to do with that. Instead, this deceptive bill would completely open up the state’s water code…without any reason or explanation. We oppose this bill.

The State Water Code manages all fresh water resources in Hawai‘i. It declares all water in Hawai‘i a public trust, includes strong protections for our water resources and ecosystems, and mandates the protection of traditional and customary rights for Hawaiians. The State Water Code is an important tool to also regulate water use permits.

So why are our legislators hearing this super sneaky bill to unnecessarily amend the state water code? Tell them DO NOT touch the state water code, especially during an all-remote legislative session where the Capitol is closed to the public.

This bill has a hearing in the House Water and Land Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 16th at 8:30 AM (see agenda here). Please OPPOSE HB1258 by logging into your Capitol account and submitting testimony before the hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 16 (instructions on how to testify here). Then, call the Committee Chair Rep. Tarnas at 808-586-8510 and leave his office a voicemail asking he defer this bill.

Your testimony this session is crucial, especially because we can’t physically mobilize in opposition to these bills. Please take action today against HB686 and HB1258. Mahalo!