Honolulu Weekly

Joey Manahan / What was your biggest accomplishment this session?

“As the Chair of the House Committee on Tourism Culture and International Affairs, I took the initiative to make various improvements to the Hawaii Tourism Authority and tourism laws including expanding the scope of a tourism emergency to include a national or global economic crisis and requiring 12.5% of the two percent increase in the transient accommodations tax beginning July 1, 2010 to be deposited into the tourism special fund for fiscal year 2010-2011. These initiatives will increase HTA’s marketing capacity by $12-15 million in fiscal year 2010. I personally worked with the House leadership, my counterparts on the Senate Tourism Committee, as well as the Finance and Ways and Means Chairs of the House and Senate respectively to ensure the passage of HB754.

Our committee also held informational briefings to ensure that HTA’s new president and CEO would have good knowledge and understanding of our local and host culture and its importance to the overall well being of our tourism industry. We also held an informational briefing with Mayor Hannemann prior to the HTA making its decision to renew the Pro Bowl contract to highlight the importance of this event to our State and our communities while ensuring the event stays in Hawaii.”

With which piece of 2009 legislation are you most proud to be affiliated and why?

“I introduced a bill to help local farmers be able to provide locally grown produce to our hotels—HB1471. I worked with the hotel industry as well as my colleagues in the house and Senate to be able to pass such a measure.”

What was the biggest disappointment of the session and how might a similar disappointment be prevented in the future?

“The biggest disappointment for me was having no clear direction from the administration as to how to balance an unprecedented $2billion budget shortfall. To make matters worse, the governor made a public spectacle of vetoing our proposals that attempted to balance the budget, but that’s politics, I guess. ”

Debating which issue turned out to be the biggest distraction from your priorities?
“There were many debates that probably should not have taken place, but the one that sticks out in my mind is a bill that would allow us to hang our clothes on a clothesline. One would think that this would not require any legislation, but apparently, it does.”

What’s one thing you wish voters better understood about you or the political process as a whole?
“The legislative process is not easy and it requires a great deal of patience and understanding of people. I am grateful to my colleagues who helped me this session, and I am especially grateful to my constituents who have afforded me this honor.”