counties explicit authority from the state to make crucial decisions around short-term rentals. In years prior, the counties’ efforts to phase out short-term rentals have been handicapped by federal intervention over definitions of what qualifies as a short term rental. SB2919 and a similar House bill, HB1838, both give the counties the authority to define what qualifies as a short-term rental and strengthen their ability to phase them out altogether.

Social media simplifies testimony
Keeping up with each legislative session takes work. This is one of the contradictions of this democratic process. So many bills fly through each session that impact the lives of working families, and yet working families struggle to keep up with the fast-paced movement of bills.

Local 142 has set up a system on our social media accounts that makes updates and testimony submissions a piece of cake. On either platform, you’ll find a link in our main profile that leads you directly to a list of bills the ILWU supports.

The 2024 Hawai’i State kicked off with a bang. The ILWU Political Action Committee, under the direction of Brandon Wolff of the Hawaiʻi Longshore Division, is working around the clock to move essential bills through the legislative process.

This year’s priority bills include a set that strengthens Hawaiʻi labor law, lifting up all workers across the islands, a set that focuses on pressing issues in Lahaina related to housing, and several other labor solidarity bills.

A new system to mobilize members to submit testimony is also in place. The system utilizes strategic mass texting and a real-time social media strategy, allowing members to engage a complex legislative system quickly and seamlessly.

From the CBA to state law
One set of bills that Local 142 supports aims to strengthen laws to elevate and protect all workers in Hawaiʻi. SB2711 would require that if a business is sold to another owner, the new owner would have to keep the incumbent employees. Currently, this is only required if a collective bargaining agreement includes a “successor clause.”

Like SB2710, SB2711 would not just benefit ILWU members or only union members across the board - it would benefit all employees who could be subject to layoffs due to the sale of their company.

Lahaina housing high priority
All eyes are on Lahaina this legislative session. There are many bills coming from the Lahaina community that address issues that have either stemmed from or been made worse by the Lahaina fires.

Local 142 is focusing our support on the Lahaina bills that focus on housing. SB2227 and its companion bill HB1857 give the governor the authority to suspend state foreclosure laws in times of emergency such as this. This could provide homeowners with more flexibility and breathing room in emergencies to defer their mortgages with little to no penalty.

SB2908 and its companion bill, HB2188, prohibit rent increases in affected areas after a severe storm warning or issuance of an emergency proclamation. This provides much needed tenant protection from rental increases when housing security is particularly essential and tenants can be more at risk.

Short-term rentals generate an average of four times the revenue that a long-term rental generates, making each home in Hawai’i a lucrative investment to outside investors who care little for our communities or local families. On Maui alone, there are around 15,000 short-term rentals. That’s 15,000 homes that could be part of the rental or local homeowners pool.

Over 50% of short-term rentals are owned by people who don’t live in Hawaiʻi; of those owners, 27% own 20 properties or more. As with hotels in Hawaiʻi, private equity firms are getting in on the short-term rental market and starting to buy up homes that should be for Hawaiʻi’s local families.

So it is no wonder SB2919 was among the highest-engaged bills in the first weeks of the session, with 562 pages of testimony submitted. Reducing short-term rentals remains a big battle ahead. Member testimony will be critical in the coming months.

If a bill has a hearing scheduled and is therefore accepting testimony, the bill will be at the top of the list with a small icon that reads “testimony open.” If the testimony submission period is closed, the small icon will read “Hearing today” and include the time.

All bills listed can be clicked on, which will lead you to the bill itself and to the button to submit testimony. Testimony is as easy as signing in, clicking the “Support” option, writing “support” in the text box, and clicking submit.

This takes all the headaches of tracking, finding, and submitting testimony out of the process. Just visit the Local 142 Facebook or Instagram during your morning or evening scroll, see which bill needs testimony, and take 1 minute to follow the links and submit.

As members of Hawaiʻi’s largest private union, we build power by getting organized in our union and come legislative sessions or elections; we exert power by making our collective voice heard.

SB2711 has the potential to substantially alleviate worker stresses, especially in the hotel industry. Hotels are bought and sold regularly, which puts employees at risk of losing their jobs. This issue may worsen as private equity firms look increasingly to Hawaiʻi hotels as short-term investments for their buy, flip, and sell business model. SB2711 would provide stronger protections for employees in such scenarios.

Following the Lahaina fires, rents increased immensely as some landlords capitalized on the intensified need for housing units and the government’s emergency subsidies. This has put many of our members with little options for housing and stressed over their housing future. These bills strengthen state law related to emergency proclamations by making rent hikes illegal in times like this.

Short-term rentals under fire But no bill received more attention than SB2919, which would give