quid pro quo noun ˌkwid-ˌprō-ˈkwō\ : something that is given to you or done for you in return for something you have given to or done for someone else
Hawaii is a great place for testing and growing genetically-modified crops--multiple crops can be grown each year due to the favorable climate. No one in Hawaii gets to eat seeds that are shipped out of state, and pesticide use and monocropping have caused concerned citizens to take action. But all their good work could be reversed during this session of the state legislature.
Three Hawaii counties have made great strides in protecting the health of their citizens. Kauai's County Council limited the intensive application of pesticides near homes, schools and hospitals, even overriding their mayor's veto of the measure.
Hawaii County (the "Big Island") is regulating the spread of agrochemical companies and pollen drift and has banned new GMO crops except for papaya. Transgenic crops would be largely limited to enclosed greenhouses.
Maui has reached an agreement via MOU on the use of restricted pesticides.
Now, powerful state senators are attempting to wrest control of pesticide regulation from the counties and halt the movement to label GMO products. In Hawaii's feudal-democratic system, a single committee chair has all the power to do this.
Yesterday the Chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee took the unusual step of creating a "zombie" bill (SB110) that effectively fast-tracks what could be described as a "Monsanto protection bill" through the Senate. In its original form it was not destined to pass due to multiple committee referrals sure to face public opposition each time. This afternoon, with public testimony prohibited by the Chair, the language from that bill will be patched into another bill with no further referrals. This creates a "zombie" bill that will be difficult to stop. It's usual in our state legislature for a committee chair to "recommend" how the committee should vote--and the members dutifully fall in line.
Which raises the question: why? Could the fact that a GMO industry lobbyist ran this senator's fundraiser possibly have anything to do with his radical action?
Below is a mandatory report of a fundraiser for Sen. Nishihara held just two months ago.
The recommended contribution for that fundraiser is posted as $500, not an amount likely to be affordable for the average voter. To a corporation, that amount would be a cheap investment.
But look: the form lists the “Person in Charge of Fundraiser” as Alicia Maluafiti. Maluafiti is a skilled lobbyist, registered with the Ethics Commission as a lobbyist for the Biotech Industry Organization and the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association among other organizations.
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The Biotech Industry Association promotes GMO farming (see, for example,
this page).
As to the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, the Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission wrote, in a letter to legislators in 2012 referring to a proposed “Taste of AG” extravaganza to be held on the grounds of the State Art Museum, across the street from the Capitol:
HCIA is a nonprofit trade association representing the agricultural seed industry in Hawaii. Its member companies include Dow AgroScience, Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Syngenta, and BASF. …
The event was clearly aimed at state legislators. It was sponsored by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation (a big GMO supporter) and the HCIA.
The event featured a superstar chef, Chef Hiroshi Fukui from the fancy Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas restaurant. Truly, it must have been a rare opportunity for lobbyists to hobnob with lawmakers and for lawmakers to partake of treats the rest of us could likely not easily have afforded.
Finally, one more connection: The HCIA's 990 form filed with the IRS shows that the Executive Director of the HCIA is: Alicia Malufiti. The industry lobbyist. The same person who ran Sen. Nishihara's campaign fundraiser just two months ago.
And so no public testimony will be accepted at today's public hearing on the bill to deprive counties of the ability to protect the health of their citizens.