Sen. Russel Ruderman invites the public to a community Town Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, at 6 p.m. at the Kea‘au Learning Center located at 16-186 Pili Mua St. in Kea‘au.

Sen. Ruderman stated:

As we enter into the 2019 Legislative Session, my primary mission is to focus on promoting and protecting the well-being and the quality of life for the constituents in my district, and the state of Hawai‘i. There’s going to be a lot on our plate this legislative session and very little time to accomplish our priorities.

This last legislative session I was able to get two of my bills passed through the legislature and into law. The first one made Hawai‘i the first state in the country to ban the use of Chlorpyrifos—and created buffer zones for schools and requires full disclosure for the use of all restricted use pesticides. The second bill passed into law protects the rights of those whose lives depend on their trained service animals from those who try to pass off their pets as service animals creating a nuisance and endangering legitimate service animals from performing their trained duties. Both of these bills came from constituents and became state law. I was also able to secure significant, ongoing funding for several local projects including the Rat Lungworm Lab, and Volcano School of Arts and Sciences.

We were also successful in defeating a proposal for an unwelcome rocket launch facility and a geothermal industrial park in our district.

For 2019, my legislative priorities are many, but my focus will concentrate on the following…

I will championing an increase in the minimum wage, measures to help create true affordable housing options and reduce homelessness, proposing amendments to the state constitution and to the revised statutes to provide for direct initiative, reducing our negative impacts on our island environment, and expanding health and education programs for our youth and Kupuna.

I welcome your suggestions and ideas for legislation to move our state forward, and create the quality of life that resident in Hawai‘i deserves to have.

I am honored to be able to serve you as Senator of the Puna and Ka‘ū Districts and I remain steadfastly committed to open and inclusive representation—and I strongly encourage everyone in our communities to become more involved in the legislative process wherever possible.

As always, I remain open to your feedback on any way that I may address the issues that mean the most to you. I would also like to thank those of you who have taken the time to express your views on various issues. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with any questions you may have.