Governor Lingle Issues Executive Order

Read Governor Lingle's executive order on state furloughs here.

Race for Council District V begins

With the filing deadline for Council District V looming (deadline to file to run is tomorrow, June 25th), the race is heating up. Go here to see the latest list of candidates.

The Honolulu Advertiser also reported today that former State Senator Matt Matsunaga is considering a run. Read the full article here.

Furlough plan laid out

Go here to view the Governor's furlough plan in its entirety. The attachments at the bottom outline the agencies' specific schedules and closure plans, by departments.

The closure of the Bureau of Conveyances (as part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources) on certain Fridays (Attachment B FY10) may affect credit unions.

Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

S. 896, The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, was signed into law on June 2, 2009. Among the provisions of the bill is the increase of the NCUA's borrowing authority from Treasury from $100 million to $6 billion. NCUA will also have the ability to borrow as much as $30 billion through December of 2010. The bill also establishes a Temporary Corporate Stabilization Fund.

HCUL's thank you letter to Congresswoman Hirono.
HCUL's thank you letter to Congressman Abercrombie.

City Council District 5 Special Election

A special election to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Councilman Duke Bainum will be held on August 7, 2009. The election will be conducted entirely as a “Vote-By-Mail” election. All registered voters as of the voter registration deadline will automatically be mailed a packet containing the Vote-By-Mail ballot and return envelopes. No polling places will be open on August 7, 2009. Ballots will be mailed approximately 20 days prior to the election. Voted ballots must be received by the City Clerk no later than 6:00 p.m., August 7, 2009 in the return envelopes provided. Submission of an “Absentee ballot” application form to receive a ballot packet is not required unless the registered voter transfers into the district after the voter registration deadline or if the voter is unable to receive mail at the address listed in the general county registry.

The last day for candidates to file nomination papers will be June 25, 2009. The last day to register to vote in this special election will be July 8, 2009.

Read the informational brochure here.

Aloha, Councilman Duke Bainum

Councilman Duke Bainum has passed away. He represented the 5th City Council District, which includes a portion of Kapahulu and Kaimuki; Palolo Valley, St. Louis Heights, Manoa, Moiliili, Mc Cully, Kakaako, and a portion of Ala Moana and Makiki.

A Special Election will be held on August 5th to fill the vacancy.

We at HCUL send our condolences to Councilman Bainum's family and staff.

Read the Honolulu Advertiser coverage here.
Read the Honolulu Star Bulletin article here.

2009 End of Session Report

Click here to view the 2009 End of Session Report.

Click here to view the full list of bills of interest from the 2009 session.

Please contact League Legislative Officer Stefanie Sakamoto at 203-6409, or by email at ssakamoto@hcul.org with any questions regarding legislative matters.

House committee approves data breach bill

From CUNA News Now, June 4, 2009:

WASHINGTON (6/4/09)--H.R. 2221, the Data Accountability and Trust Act, passed the House subcommittee on commerce, trade, and consumer protection by a voice vote during a Wednesday markup session.
The bill, which was introduced by House Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), would require businesses to notify affected customers when outside parties gain access to sensitive information due to a security breach.
Although it supports the goal of granting greater information to consumers whose personal information has been compromised by security breaches, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) on Wednesday asked legislators to alter some portions of the bill.
In a letter to ranking subcommittee members, CUNA said that while most businesses lack the contact information needed to alert their customers, financial institutions normally have the means to directly communicate with their account holders.
While any notification of data breach victims should be done by the financial institutions, the cost of this notification should be covered by the entity that compromised the data. Financial institutions should also be allowed to disclose the source of the information leak to their cardholders to avoid any harm that could be done to their reputation, CUNA added.
The bill, as currently drafted, excludes federally insured credit unions from Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversight of their security risk mitigation procedures. However, businesses following standard security precautions of equal or greater quality to those set out by the bill would be deemed compliant by the FTC.
The House subcommittee, during the same markup session, voted 16 to 9 to approve H.R. 2309, the Consumer Credit and Debt Protection Act. This bill would direct the FTC to examine its existing rules and possibly to create new rules governing debt settlements and auto sales. The bill would also enhance the FTC's rulemaking authority as it relates to consumer credit and debt.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has not announced when it may consider these bill.

Aloha, Lt. Governor Gill

Former Lt. Governor Tom Gill passed away today at the age of 87. He was Lt. Governor under the late Governor John Burns, from 1966 - 1970.

Read the Honolulu Advertiser article here.

Lt. Governor

The following people have announced their candidacy for the office of Lt. Governor for the 2010 elections:

Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz
Senator Gary Hooser
Councilman Rod Tam

Governor Proposes Furloughs

Governor Linda Lingle wants state employees to take a work furlough of 3 days per month to make up for the projected loss in revenue. The furlough would be the equivalent of a 13.8% pay cut, and would apply to all state employees, except for the Department of Education, University of Hawaii, the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Hawaii Health Systems coportation. She is asking those departments to take similar furloughs or cut their spending budgets.

Read the Honolulu Advertiser story here.