Dear Neighbor,

On Thursday, May 1, 2014, the 2014 Legislature adjourns sine

die. Latin for without day, adjournment sine die marks the
end of the 60-day legislative session mandated by the
Hawaii State Constitution.

Sessionalways an energetic four months at the State
Capitolwas further intensified this year when the Hawaii
Council on Revenues downgraded its revenue projection for
2014. With this in mind, legislators redoubled their efforts to
move legislation to address the needs of the State while main-
taining a watchful eye on the State budget.

For updates on what bills made it through the legislative process,
please consider joining Senator Brian Taniguchi and me for a
Makiki Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, May 20, 2014,
5:30 pm at the Parish of St. Clement.

I look forward to seeing you in the community and dont hesitate
to contact my office at repbelatti@capitol.hawaii.gov or at (808)
586-9425 if you have specific questions or concerns about the
legislative or budgeting process.

Sincerely,



Della Au Belatti
State Representative, District 24
MAKIKI, TANTALUS, PAPAKLEA, MCCULLY, PWAA, MNOA
APRIL/MAY 2014
District 24 News
The Shortlist
MAKIKI NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD
Thursday, May 15, 2014
7:00 PM
Makiki District Park, Arts & Crafs Bldg.
1527 Keeaumoku Street
Be actve in your community! The Makiki
Neighborhood Board is a great venue to
get informaton, raise questons and ad-
dress issues that involve City or State
agencies. Monthly reports are given by
the Board of Water Supply, Honolulu Fire
Department, Honolulu Police Department
and your State and City elected ofcials.
MAKIKI TOWN HALL MEETING
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
5:30-7:30 PM
Parish of St. Clement, Parish Hall
1515 Wilder Avenue
Please join Representatve Belat and
Senator Brian T. Taniguchi for this post-
session wrap-up. With bills already en-
rolled to the Governor, this will be the
perfect opportunity to discuss the fate of
legislaton from the 2014 legislatve ses-
sion. Also, there will be snacks!
MAKIKI DOG PARK MEETING
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
5:00-7:00 PM
Makiki District Park, Arts & Crafs Bldg.
1527 Keeaumoku Street
Get updated on eforts to establish an
of-leash dog park in Makiki by Advo-
cates for a Makiki Community Dog
Park! Weigh in on the possibility of the
dog park being at the corner of Punahou
Street and Wilder Avenue. Volunteers
and community supporters are needed
to help make a dog park in Makiki a
reality.
State Capitol (April 17, 2014)Representative Belatti, Senator Roz
Baker and the Easter Bunny helped collect and load baskets donated
to the Institute for Human Services by legislative offices during the
Womens Legislative Caucus Annual Easter Basket Drive. Over 100
baskets of donated housewares, toiletries, cleaning products, hygiene
products, toys, baby supplies and other items were donated this year.
2

House & Senate seek to
hammer out differences on
legislation during final
weeks of session
Every session, the Hawaii State
Legislature deals with a handful of
bills that are particularly controver-
sial. Concerned citizens show up by
the dozen, submit hundreds of page
of testimony, and do their best to
persuade lawmakers at every step
of the legislative process. In the last
three weeks of session, these bills
usually return to their originating
bodies substantially amended to go
through the grueling conference
committee process.
This session was no different. The
following is a summary of three
bills that received
significant public
attention, with an
overview of the
differences be-
tween House and
Senate versions,
and how they fared at the end of
session.
SB3122: Relating to the Hawaii
Community Development Au-
thority
SB3122 proposed to allow the Of-
fice of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to
begin residential development in
Kakaako makai, which encom-
passes the area south of Ala Moana
Boulevard in Kakaako. This area
was transferred to OHA as part of
the 2012 ceded lands settlement.
The lands are valued at $200 mil-
lion, but are subject to a 2006 ban
on residential development in the
area that was enacted in response to
concerns about overdevelopment
and access to nearby beaches.
OHA argues that they will be una-
ble to recoup the full value of the
land unless residential construc-
tion is allowed. Others have ex-
pressed concerns about access to
beaches and obstruction of views.
Nearly 800 pieces of testimony
were submitted on SB3122 and
bill hearings extended well into
the afternoons and early evenings.
Some of the major changes made
to the bill by the House included:
Proposal of a 400-foot height
limit for residential construc-
tion; and
Amendments to the purpose
section to add language speci-
fying the State's constitutional
responsibility to improve the
conditions of Native Hawai-
ians.
In committee, conferees met seven
times over two days. Dramatic
proposals emerged in the waning
hours of conference including the
proposal that development be per-
mitted on a parcel of Kakaako
makai that included both OHA and
KSBE lands. Despite these efforts,
agreement was not reached and
SB3122 did not make it through
conference.

SB2054: Relating to Health
SB2054 proposed to
mandate insurance
coverage of treat-
ment for children
with autism spectrum
disorders (ASD),
providing access to diagnostic ser-
vices and allowing for earlier detec-
tion of these disorders. Earlier de-
tection of ASD allows for earlier
treatment and, consequently, great-
ly reduced lifetime care costs and
enhanced quality of life for children
and their families.
Most of the concerns regarding the
bill centered on the potential costs
to the State. An estimate from the
(Contnued on page 3)
In 2011, a stalemate between the House Finance and Senate Ways & Means committees made it
necessary for members of the House & Senate conference committees to gather in one conference room
to complete conference hearings.

3
Department of Human Services
placed the figure at $135 million to
serve children up to nineteen years
of age. There were additional con-
cerns about the potential impact
that mandating coverage would
have on insurance premiums gener-
ally.
This measure received almost 500
pieces of testimony and many fami-
lies with affected children attended
hearings to offer their passionate
testimony.
Some of the major changes made to
the Senate bill as it crossed over
from the House and back to the
Senate included:
An unspecified age of individu-
als for whom coverage would be
mandated from the Senates po-
sition of coverage for individuals
up to twenty-one years of age;
A delayed implementation date
for the insurance to be covered
beginning January 1, 2016; and
Inclusion of an
actuarial analysis
to be conducted
by the University
of Hawaii Eco-
nomic Research
Organization prior
to implementation of the man-
date to determine the costs, with
a focus on determining the cost
of coverage to the States Medi-
caid program.
The conferees for this bill met near-
ly a dozen times over the course of
two weeks reaching agreement on
insurance coverage that included
tighter language on the prescribing
of autism therapies and monetary
caps on annual and lifetime use of
autism benefits. Despite the con-
ferees best efforts, cost concerns
led to passage of a bill providing
for an actuarial analysis that exam-
ines the potential impact of man-
dated coverage. As reported from
the conference committee, this bill
no longer mandates ASD treat-
ment coverage.
HB1866: Relat-
ing to the Ha-
waii Community
Development
Authority
Some bills are
lucky to avoid the conference
committee process when the origi-
nating body for a bill agrees to the
changes made to the bill by the
other chamber. HB1866, relating
to the Hawaii Community Devel-
opment Authority (HCDA), was
one such bill.
HCDA was established in 1976 to
redevelop Kakaako. Since that
time, the HCDA's authority has
expanded to cover development of
Heeia and Kalaeloa.
HB1866, as amended by the Senate,
proposed a number of reforms, in-
cluding:
Setting at 418-foot height limit
for buildings in the Kakaako
mauka area;
Adjusting HCDA board mem-
bership composition; and
Requiring the HCDA to consid-
er requests for variances at pub-
lic hearings that are separate
and subsequent to the initial
presentation of the proposal.
More than 500 pieces of testimony
were received on this measure. Be-
cause the House agreed to Senates
proposed changes, HB1866 Senate
Draft 2 was enrolled to the Gover-
nor for either his signature or veto
before adjournment sine die.
(Contnued from page 2)
signed, a bill may be scheduled for
conference hearing. During these
hearings, House and Senate confer-
ees deliberate differences between
different versions of the same meas-
ure.

Once the two chambers come to a
consensus on a particular version,
conference members can then vote
on the final recommended version
of the bill. After passing through
the conference committee, the
measure is sent to the entire House
and Senate for final reading.

While conference can be a grueling
and stressful time in the legislative
session, measures that sustain the
process are typically sent to the
Governor for his consideration.

Conference Committees: Disagreement,
Deliberation, Compromise & Agreement
Conference is a phase of the legisla-
tive session in which disagreements
between Senate and House drafts of
bills and resolutions are discussed
and deliberated. When the two cham-
bers amend the same bill in different
ways, a final version of the measure
must be agreed upon before the bill
can be sent to the Governor for con-
sideration.

The House and Senate use confer-
ence as a time to either agree to the
non-originating chamber's amend-
ments, disagree to the non-
originating chamber's amendments,
or create a conference draft for the
purpose of compromise between two
different versions of the bill.

Conferees from both chambers are
appointed by the Senate President
and the House Speaker based on sub-
ject matter. Once conferees are as-

Punahou Square Park (above), on the corner of Punahou and Wilder Streets, is the new proposed
location of the off leash dog park in Makiki. Thoughts? Input? Join the Advocates at the All Ad-
vocates Dog Park Meeting on Wednesday, May 7th, 5:00 pm at the Makiki District Park.
4
For the past two years, members of
Advocates for a Makiki Community
Dog Park have advocated for the cre-
ation of an off-leash dog park in
Makiki. The Advocates have worked
with the neighborhood board, state
and city officials, and Toni Robin-
son, the former Director of the Citys
Department of Parks and Recreation
to take steps to achieve this goal.
An off-leash dog park would benefit
the neighborhood by providing a
safe, clean, and enclosed venue for
dog and dog owners to enjoy playing
and exercising. A dog park would
also enable citizens to encourage dog
socialization and training within the
local community, and provide a rec-
reational space for dog-owners in the
Makiki community.
Although the process continues to be
long and involved, the Advocates for
a Makiki Community Dog Park have
taken small steps forward. Most re-
cently, in September 2013, the Advo-
cates met with Department of Parks
and Recreation staff members to dis-
cuss potential locations for an off-
leash dog park in Makiki. At this
meeting, DPR suggested Punahou
Square Park at the corner of Punahou
Street and Wilder Avenue as a poten-
tial location for the dog park, which
is a change from the original pro-
posed location at the Makiki District
Park area.
This new location offers more open
space than the original proposed
Makiki District Park area. The loca-
tion is central, within walking dis-
tance of many homes, and is already
a bustling hub of activity. The Puna-
hou Square Park site also offers two
important components to a dog park -
ample shade and a water supply. The
community now needs to weigh in on
this proposal.
With the support of the Makiki
Neighborhood Board, several elected
officials, and the Department of
Parks and Recreation, the prospect
for an enclosed, off-leash dog park in
Makiki looks promising! However,
there is a critical need for ongoing
community input and support to
make this dog park a reality.
In order to create and establish a
Makiki dog park, members from the
community need to become even
more involved and help move this
project forward. If you think a desig-
nated off-leash dog park would bene-
fit Makiki and you would like to help
the Advocates establish a dog park in
Makiki, please join us for an All-
Advocates Meeting on Wednesday,
May 7, 2014 at 5:00 PM at the Arts
and Crafts Building at the Makiki
District Park.
For any questions about efforts to
establish a dog park in Makiki,
please call (808) 586-9425. We hope
to see you all on May 7th!



Makiki residents continue
to push for an off-leash
dog park in a sea of build-
ings.