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Legislative Highlights

Swearing in Ceremony, January 2007

• Brought home to the district over $83.9 million in Capital Improvement Project funding and over $10 million in school Repair and Maintenance funds over the past four years.

• Helped to successfully negotiate the 17 year land dispute over Kawainui Marsh between the City and County and the State, which has made it possible for millions of dollars in public and private funds to come in for restoration and rehabilitation efforts. 

• Introduced SB2124, which made funds available from the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund for the purposes of ending Furlough Fridays.

• Authored and secured the passage of critical legislation (SB2646, 2008) that met our state’s 30 year constitutional mandate to protect Important Agricultural Lands, which will result in tens of thousands of acres of our best food producing lands to be protected and providing $10 million in tax credits and loans for farmers on these lands.

• Co-chaired the Senate-House Joint Investigative Committee on the Bureau of Conveyances (BOC), bringing to light over a decade of mismanagement and security risks, and laying out concrete recommendations for changes that have resulted in significant improvements in the BOC over the last 2 years.

• Working closely with other Windward legislators, community college advocates and Windward leaders, Senator Tokuda was able to get over $41 million in funds for Windward Community College’s Library Learning Commons.

Read – “WCC Breaks Ground for Library,” Ka Ohana, June 2010

• As Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, Senator Tokuda was instrumental on providing the University of Hawaii with the authority to promulgate rules to manage and protect the Mauna Kea lands in which they lease. While this was a controversial issue that had been debated since 1998 when the State Auditor first called upon the University to obtain this authority, Jill listened to advocates on both sides and included provisions in the bill specifying consultation and on-island hearing.