The 3 most frequent questions about Bill 2491
#1 Question: The Council voted 6 to 1 in support, can the Mayor still veto Bill 2491?
Answer: To be clear, the Mayor has the authority to veto regardless of how many votes the Council members cast in support. The Mayor has the authority to veto and the Council has the authority to over-ride that veto with a minimum of 5 votes needed to do so. The Mayor has three choices: Sign, veto or do nothing. Doing nothing means the Bill automatically passes into law without his signature after 10 days (clock started on Friday).
#2 Question: Should I be contacting the Mayor and asking for his support?
Answer: Absolutely! Please send a personal message to mayor@kauai.gov
Question: Some people are saying the Bill is “watered down”. Is it still a good Bill? Is it legally sound?
#3 Answer: The Bill is solid, well written and will provide important health and environmental protections to our community. Yes, major sections were removed from the Bill during the amendment process however it retains its core provisions: Disclosure, buffer zones and a comprehensive study that will analyze health and environmental impacts. Bill 2491 has a solid legal foundation: Read the below comments by 9 different prominent attorneys attesting to the legal soundness of Bill 2491.
Bill 2491 is legally sound: http://hawaii.news.blogs.civilbeat.com/post/63018006156/local-attorneys-lend-support-to-kauai-gmo-and
Civil Beat says “After a marathon hearing, the Kauai County Council passed a hotly debated bill on Wednesday that could lead to prison time or fines for employees of agricultural companies if they don’t divulge specifics about pesticide use, abide by strict setback rules for spraying chemicals or disclose when they grow genetically engineered crops.” http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/10/16/20164-kauai-county-crosses-the-rubicon-council-passes-pesticide-and-gmo-bill/
According to the Grist “Kauai matters because it’s the first place in the U.S. to pass a tough GM regulation that could actually affect the industry. Other places have cracked down harder on GM plants — Mendocino County, Calif., banned them, for instance — but they don’t matter to biotech the way Kauai does.”
More on legal implications: http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/attorneys-to-mayor-sign-bill/article_51454254-394b-11e3-bd49-0019bb2963f4.html
The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/kauai-gmo-hearing_n_4108914.html
The New York Times says: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/business/fight-over-genetically-altered-crops-flares-in-hawaii.html?_r=1&
PBS gives a decent 8 minute over view of the base issues: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec13/hawaiigmo_10-20.html