The purpose of this message is to request your assistance in sending in testimony for a bill being heard by the House Committee on Higher Education on Tuesday, February 5 at 2 p.m.
Sending in testimony is quite simple. I would hope that everyone who got involved in this issue over the past year would send in testimony. Even if you live on the Neighbor Islands or outside of Hawaii, doesn’t mean that you care less than those who live on Oahu. In fact, testimony from people near and far will show the strength of the Warrior Nation. Just a simple couple of sentences would do much to help in this issue.
During the testimony for the transferring of Aloha Stadium to UH, I was disappointed that only Tony Guerrero and Shannon Wood wrote testimony in support of this idea.
Testimony must be received no later than 2 p.m. on Monday, February 4 at 2 p.m. Information on how to send in this testimony follows. I would like to encourage you to enlist the support of your friends and family members (maybe 10 people) to follow your lead in sending in testimony.
House Bill 3436 was introduced by 49 members of the State House to address the deferred maintenance concerns at the University of Hawaii.
HB 3436 proposes an appropriation of a total of $113.25 million, which includes a total of $25 million for deferred maintenance project for the UH Manoa Athletic Department.
It is very important to have people testify in support of this bill, which is the only legislative proposal specifically focusing on the deferred maintenance issue.
I urge all of you who have been concerned about this issue to testify in person or by written testimony. Your testimony can be as simple as an email to the House Higher Education Committee. It can simply say that you support House Bill 3436 and include just a one sentence statement of why you support this measure.
Please contact Torano Harris from my office at 586-8455 or at RepTakaiStaff@gmail.com if you need further assistance or if you have any questions.
I’ve heard that one reason why people didn’t testify in the past was that they were unaware of what this issue was and what specifically the bill stated. What follows is a whole bunch of stuff that should help you.
I look forward to seeing you or your testimony at the hearing. Please come through for the UH athletic programs and the UH athletes.
Mahalo, K. Mark Takai
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Here’s what you need to do to testify:
Persons wishing to offer comments should submit testimony by 2 p.m. on Monday, February 4. Please include your name (with position and organization, if applicable).
Your testimony should be directed to Chair Jerry Chang and the members of the House Higher Education Committee. The testimony must also include the date and time of the hearing (Tuesday, February 5 at 2 p.m. in Capitol Room 309) and the bill number (HB 3436).
You can submit testimony in ONE of the following ways:
PAPER: 5 copies (including an original) to Room 311 in the State Capitol; or
FAX: For comments less than 5 pages in length, transmit to 586-8529 (Oahu) or 1-800-535-3859 (Neighbor Islands).
EMAIL: For comments less than 5 pages in length, transmit to HEDtestimony@Capitol.hawaii.gov.
If you are available, you can testify in person at the hearing on Tuesday, February 5 at 2 p.m. in Capitol Room 309.
Testimony submitted will be placed on the Legislative Web site after the hearing adjourns. This public posting of testimony on the Web site should be considered when including personal information in your testimony.
We introduced this bill to address our commitment of $25 million for specific UH Athletic projects and more than $100 million for the 10 UH campuses. The breakdown for each campus is as follows:
University of Hawaii system–$1,500,000
University of Hawaii at Hilo–$16,500,000
University of Hawaii at West Oahu–$300,000
University of Hawaii Community Colleges–$31,500,000
University of Hawaii at Manoa–$63,4500,000
The $25 million breakdown for UH Manoa athletics is as follows:
Cooke field, field replacement–$1,500,000
Cooke field, bleacher replacement–$500,000
Les Murakami stadium, renovations–$2,300,000
Stan Sheriff center, renovations–$750,000
Gym I and gym II, renovations–$750,000
Lower campus road, resurfacing–$350,000
Health, physical education, and recreation classrooms, renovations–$5,000,000
Coaches offices, renovations–$100,000
Duke Kahanamoku aquatic center, renovations–$500,000
Women’s locker rooms, improvements and for Title IX compliance–$3,200,000
Men’s locker rooms, improvements–$1,000,000
Master plan for lower campus–$750,000
Cooke field, mauka structure and seats–$5,000,000
Cooke field, mauka rest rooms and locker rooms–$2,300,000
Softball stadium, improvements–$1,000,000
Here are some web links that will provide additional information for this bill:
HB 3436 information: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus2.asp?billno=HB3436
HB 3436 bill:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/Bills/HB3436_.pdf
HB 3436 hearing notice: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/hearingnotices/hed-hlt_02-05-08_.htm
Discuss this topic here: Testimony sought for HB 3436