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HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii lawmakers negotiated final details on dozens of bills ahead of a major legislative deadline, rushing around the capitol and huddling in groups and trying to reach last-minute agreements.
They ironed out details on how to tackle the state's overheated classrooms, passing a bill late Friday to set aside $100 million for air conditioning and other ways to cool the state's public schools.
Anything that didn't pass out of committee by the end of the day Friday will die, unless lawmakers bend the rules to revive them.
Committees passed several notable bills during the busy morning but postponed many difficult decisions until late in the day.
One successful bill would help Hawaii lawmakers learn what it will take to set up a ferry system. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of running ferries between the islands or around individual islands, and the state would contribute $50,000 to the department to get it started.
"I'm stoked about it," Rep. Matt LoPresti said. "We really need an alternative transportation between the islands. It's inconceivable to me that as an island state...we lack an interisland ferry system."
An intra-island ferry on Oahu could help ease traffic congestion in Honolulu, which ranks among the worst in the nation, LoPresti said.
Another bill would require law enforcement agencies to test 500 rape evidence kits. The state would contribute $500,000 to that effort under the bill passed by a legislative committee Friday.
That will help the state chip away at a backlog of untested evidence kits. Like many police departments around the U.S., the Honolulu Police Department has about 1,500 rape kits that haven't been tested.
"This is a way of us catching possibly serial rapists," Rep. Dee Morikawa said.
The bill also would require law enforcement agencies to conduct an inventory of their untested sex assault evidence kits by Sept. 1.
A legislative panel approved a bill to clarify gaps in a medical marijuana dispensary law passed last year, addressing a shortage of physicians willing to prescribe marijuana and allowing for inter-island transport of marijuana for laboratory testing.
A committee also approved a bill to create and pay for a full-time counselor position in the Hawaii Office of Veterans Services with a focus on female veterans. Supporters of the bill say female veterans deal with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual assault and unemployment.
Aiming to bring in more state revenue, a committee advanced a bill that would allow online brokers such as Airbnb to collect taxes on behalf of people advertising private rentals on the websites, but House and Senate negotiators removed part of the bill that targeted illegal camping ads by requiring online brokers to verify the legality of their listings.
Bills that passed committees Friday will go to the full House and Senate for final votes before the legislative session ends on May 5.
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Associated Press writer Marina Riker contributed to this report.
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