Aloha e,

My name is Amber Imai-Hong, I am part native Hawaiian and I was born and raised in Keaau on the East side of Hawai`i Island. After graduating from Waiakea High in 2007, I studied Electrical Engineering at UH Manoa and am currently employed as an avionics engineer. Support of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) has increased greatly since I was in school through robotics, and I have watched as many of my friends have moved away to find jobs in the continental United States. Hawai`i students are smart, and they have proven that they can compete at a global level in robotics, however Hawai`i’s economy does not currently focus on these fields. Please help me support a bill that will help Hawai`i’s economy and allow for more local students to find jobs upon graduation.

The United States is now considered “middle of the pack” in STEM fields, with Hawai`i falling behind the national average. Globally, governments and employers recognize the need for STEM in economic growth and innovation. Currently, Hawaii’s economy relies primarily on tourism and the military. In order to change this and keep up with the rest of the world, we need to be able to grow more STEM industries in Hawaii. For this to happen, we need the legislature, including the BLNR, to follow the rules that have been established. House Bill 1411 helps to clarify the process that is already in place.

Under the current law, standard “procedures do not include contested case hearings under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statues.” This has recently been challenged by a number of parties and HB1411 helps to “clarify the legislature’s intent that land leases, lease extensions, consents to sublease, and any other dispositions of public land are not subject to contested case hearings.” This clarification still allows individuals to “testify in person or in writing before the board of land and natural resources at a public meeting prior to the approval” of a lease or other transfer of land and allows native Hawaiians to exercise the same rights on the property that they were granted before the transfer. It also states that changes in land use, unless insignificant, requires “an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement” and requires “[n]otice of the change and the opportunity for the public to testify.”

Please consider supporting this bill by signing your name in support of HB1411 to help economic development and growth in our state through this clarification.

Mahalo,

Amber Imai-Hong

Photo Credit: Annette Reyes & Ohana