| Aloha, I hope you and your
family are well and enjoying 2008! Here are a few things I'd
like to share with you:
State Legislature in Session
From January 16th to May 1st, the State Legislature will be
in session. During this time, we will be considering thousands
of bills which may or may not become law. I encourage you to
get involved in the process by testifying in person or submitting
testimony by email or fax. The following are a few of my key
proposals that I hope you'll keep your eye on.
Telework Tax Credit
The stress and strain that we face fighting traffic everyday
takes its toll. To reduce this problem, we should be encouraging
businesses, corporations, and governmental agencies to offer
workforce flexibility programs. Through these efforts, we can
reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption and vehicular
pollution, and at the same time improve employee productivity
and health, and strengthen families. That's why I've introduced
legislation to provide a $20,000 tax credit for start up costs
associated with setting up a telework program. If you're not
familiar, telework programs allow people to work from home.
The bill would also allow businesses to receive an additional
$1,200 annually for every worker who teleworks.
Combating MRSA and other Infectious Diseases
You might have heard on the news over the last several months
how MRSA infections, a difficult to treat form of staph bacteria,
have become an increasingly alarming problem in our hospitals.
Hawaii hospitals are reporting the highest infections for MRSA
in the nation. There were 2,112 hospitalized patients diagnosed
with MRSA in Hawaii in 2006. This is why I've introduced a bill
to require Hawaii hospitals to develop a Hospital Acquired Infection
Prevention program to screen incoming patients for MRSA. The
bill would also require hospitals to report their hospital acquired
infection information to the Department of Health and that information
would be made available to the public on their website. Finally,
the bill would set up a Hospital Acquired Advisory Committee
which would be dedicated to making our hospitals safer.
"Listen-Story"
I'll be hosting my next "listen-story" meeting at
Waikele Elementary School cafeteria on Saturday, February 16,
2008 at 9am. If you can't attend, call or email your concerns.
Please contact me if I can help you in any way. My phone number
is 586-6830 and email is sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov. Mahalo
for the privilege of serving you!
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