Mufi's Message - July 7

HB862 Veto

Aloha,

Both chambers of the State Legislature voted yesterday to override Governor Ige's veto of House Bill 862.

From the beginning of our discussion on the matter, our efforts were focused on the Senate as sustaining the veto would have required far fewer votes than in the House. Thus we fell one vote short - we got eight, we needed nine. Had we gotten one more vote, the Governor’s veto would have prevailed at the Legislature since the rules state we didn’t need both chambers to agree with our position. That being said, it is worth noting that there was a net gain of two votes in opposition to HB862 in the House since they last voted to pass it during the legislative session when six voted in opposition. While this is not the desired result that we wanted, we were able to assemble the biggest statewide coalition of business, labor, and community groups that I have witnessed to effectively state our position as to the importance of tourism to our economy. We pledge to continue working together to achieve a healthy, sustainable, and resilient quality of life for our residents and for all that are employed in our industry. 

The following legislators agreed with our position and voted to sustain the veto. It would be great if you extended a personal mahalo to them for standing up for us when it counted:

Senator Laura Acasio - senacasio@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Rosalyn Baker - senbaker@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Stanley Chang - senchang@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Lynn DeCoite - sendecoite@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Kurt Fevella - senfevella@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Les Ihara Jr. - senihara@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Lorraine Inouye - seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov
Senator Brian Taniguchi - sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Sharon Har - rephar@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Sam Kong - repkong@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Bob McDermott - repmcdermott@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Val Okimoto - repokimoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Roy Takumi - reptakumi@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative James Tokioka - reptokioka@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Gene Ward - repward@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Representative Tina Wildberger - repwildberger@Capitol.hawaii.gov

Polynesian Football Hall of Fame

Mufi is pictured with LA Rams great and former UH Warrior Pisa Tinoisamoa, center, at a past event where cleats were donated to Farrington High School football players as part of the Cleats for Character program. Also pictured is HVCB President & CEO John Monahan, left.

This weekend, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) will be hosting free clinics for local high school football players on both Hawai'i Island and O'ahu featuring former NFL stars like Jesse Sapolu, Ma'a Tanuvasa, and Rich Miano. Over the past several weeks, we have been working with the PFHOF, Mayor Mitch Roth and his administration, as well as the administrators at both Waiakea and Farrington High Schools, and Hawaii Speed & Quickness to secure the facilities and manpower to pull these events off safely. These clinics will provide our local athletes the chance to learn from some of the best in the game while giving them the opportunity to showcase their talents.

This is just the latest iteration of our ongoing partnership with HTA in their sports marketing and community outreach activities. Over the past several years, we have worked to grow this facet of tourism, helping HTA support organizations like the PFHOF, the Hula Bowl, AVP Beach Volleyball, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Los Angeles Clippers to not only play games here but also to host clinics around the state for our young student-athletes. It had gained tremendous  momentum prior to the pandemic, and I am looking forward to continuing this growth with the upcoming clinics. ​

The Los Angeles Cheerleaders held a cheer clinic at 'Iolani School for Hawai'i youth cheerleaders in 2019. Seated in the second row are HLTA President and CEO Mufi Hannemann and then-Hawai'i Tourism Authority President and CEO Chris Tatum.

Women in Business

I am pleased to announce that HLTA is sponsoring an amazing show with Pacific Edge Magazine that will highlight some of the most outstanding businesswomen from our community including Halepuna General Manager Julie Arigo and the director of sales and marketing for the Ritz-Carlton Residences Sandy Narvaez.

Beginning tomorrow, the special will air on TV and online. Here is where you can watch the show:

July 8 - 7 p.m. on KITV ABC 4 Island News
July 8 - 7 p.m. Livestream KITV 4 OTT app
July 11, 14, and 16 - 7 p.m. Hawaii TV 
 
This is a great chance for our community to learn about some of the outstanding women in hospitality. HLTA has led the way when it comes to empowering female leaders in our industry via avenues such as our Women in Lodging & Tourism Committee, and I am ecstatic to see some of these leaders be recognized so widely.

For more information, please visit Pacific Edge Magazine's Facebook page.

Mahalo,
​Mufi