Budget, public lands on Hawaii legislative agenda

HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii legislative session is more than halfway over and with more than 700 bills still on the table, this week is packed with committee hearings reviewing the pros and cons of each initiative.

 

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is planning to hear testimony Tuesday about the $23.3 billion House budget proposal.

 

Finance Director Kalbert Young says he plans to ask senators to increase the budget to fund more of the governor's programs because the House draft falls short of his request.

 

The Senate Committee on Education will debate Monday a project to lease public school lands to fund school infrastructure.

 

On Tuesday, lawmakers are considering several proposals including a bill to allow homeless people to sleep in parking lots and a bill about pesticide reporting requirements.