After reviewing more than 340 measures, Governor Neil Abercrombie notified the state legislature Monday of his intent to veto 19 of those bills.  While he has provided this notice of intent as required by the Hawaii State Constitution, the measures are still under consideration.

"It is clear that the 2012 Legislative Session was productive and filled with meaningful legislation," said Gov. Abercrombie.  "Some of these measures, however, may be difficult to implement as they are currently written, and there are other measures that must be given further consideration."

The following measures are on notice of "intent to veto" along with comments by the governor as to why they are on the list:

House Bill 46 prohibits smoking in and around housing projects under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HPHA), with an exception for designated smoking areas; and allows for eviction upon a third violation of the smoking prohibition. This bill would be difficult to implement because of the effective date and inflexible distance limitations. HPHA currently has plans to gradually institute a smoking ban in public housing project.

House Bill 246 appropriates funds to the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu. Recently signed Justice Reinvestment Initiative measures provide for statewide appropriations and resources for the Prosecuting Attorney.

House Bill 280 removes the requirement that all Hawaii-grown green coffee beans shall be inspected and certified by the Department of Agriculture. The implications of this measure are problematic. Further discussion is needed to ensure that the Hawaii brand will not be undermined.

House Bill 283 would appropriate $196,000 from the agricultural loan revolving fund to a program to control and eradicate the coffee berry borer. Rather than use funds meant to help farmers who have trouble obtaining financing, the Department of Agriculture plans to use $200,000 of barrel tax funds in its commitment to eradicate the coffee berry borer and in order to meet the intent of this bill.

House Bill 1617 authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to extend commercial, hotel, resort and industrial leases for up to another 55 years when the lessee makes qualifying substantial improvements to the leased land. This would enable lessees to have exclusive control of a public property for up to 120 years. The impact of this needs to be closely examined and weighed against putting the public land out to bid to give others an opportunity to lease the land.

House Bill 1671 amends the procurement process by imposing time limits on rendering administrative and judicial review decisions, limiting protests to those that are a minimum percentage of the contract value, and requires posting of a protest bond. Time and resource considerations make this measure extremely difficult to implement. Moreover, there is another measure passed this session making procurement reform.

House Bill 1879 extends an exemption for pest control operators’ activities from notification and marking requirements of the One Call Center Program for another three years. The Public Utilities Commission is moving to expeditiously finish its risk level analysis for pest control operators and a three-year exemption will obviate any finding of the Commission.