REPORT TITLE:
West Hawaii, Referendum


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes an advisory referendum for the creation of a West
Hawaii county.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2723
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO WEST HAWAII.
 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Hawaii county is the largest land mass in the
 
 2 Hawaiian islands.  It has two distinct population bases, the
 
 3 eastern region centering around Hilo, the more established area,
 
 4 and the western region, centering around Kona, with a distinctly
 
 5 different character.
 
 6      County services are spread very thinly throughout the
 
 7 island.  It has been proposed that a splitting of the island into
 
 8 two counties, one east, one west, would allow more efficient and
 
 9 directed service for each.
 
10      The purpose of this Act is to establish an advisory
 
11 referendum on the question of whether West Hawaii should be
 
12 established as a separate county.  The proposed division between
 
13 the counties would be a straight line running from Upolu Point in
 
14 the north to South Point in the south.
 
15      SECTION 2.  At the 2000 general election, there shall be an
 
16 advisory referendum on the question of the need for the creation
 
17 of the county of West Hawaii, to be voted on by the residents in
 
18 county council districts 6, 7, 8, and 9.  The chief election
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1 officer of the State shall submit the following question to the
 
 2 electorate in those districts with instructions as follows:
 
 3      The proposal shall read:  "Shall a new county of West Hawaii
 
 4      be established west of a straight line between Upolu Point
 
 5      and South Point?"
 
 6      The chief election officer shall publish a notice of the
 
 7 referendum proposal and descriptive information concerning the
 
 8 proposed new county, in a newspaper of general circulation in the
 
 9 county at least thirty days before the date of the referendum.
 
10 The notice of the referendum shall also be available at all
 
11 public libraries in council districts 6, 7, 8, and 9 and the
 
12 office of the county clerk.
 
13      The ballot shall print the question and the question shall
 
14 have designated spaces to mark YES or NO.  The proposal shall be
 
15 considered approved only if approved by a majority of all the
 
16 votes tallied upon the question, this majority constituting more
 
17 than fifty per cent of the total votes cast at the election.
 
18      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
19 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much
 
20 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, for the
 
21 purpose of funding the advisory referendum established in this
 
22 Act.
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1      SECTION 4.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 2 office of the lieutenant governor for the purposes of this Act.
 
 3      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.
 
 4 
 
 5                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________