When it comes to Maui, county leaders want state lawmakers to focus on bills related to housing, sustainability, public health and public safety this legislative session.

Measures calling for updates to the state’s composting operations and regulations topped the Maui County Council’s list of legislation they hope to see Hawaiʻi lawmakers pass, followed by bills to restructure the state water commission and establish emergency measures to address water shortages, create a program to incentivize experienced police officers to delay their retirement, and expand Hawai‘i residents’ access to midwives. 

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement that his priorities for the legislative session were “kamaʻāina housing; recovery and well-being; and cultural and natural resources.” He added that he would share more details about his goals for this session at a joint meeting between the House and Senate money committees Tuesday afternoon.

Composting: Maui Lags Behind Rest Of Hawai‘i

The state launched its first large-scale food waste processor in 2022, but Maui does not have a government-operated composting facility.

While some compostable items are taken to a county-contracted co-composting operation run by Maui EKO Compost, Maui County composts or recycles a smaller percentage of its waste than anywhere else in the state, according to a 2024 report by the state’s Office of Solid Waste Management. In 2023, the county brought just 13% of its solid waste to a recycling facility or bioconversion operation like a composting facility, the report said, compared to 24.6% in Honolulu and 30.7% in both Hawai’i and Kaua’i counties. 

Though Maui lags behind the rest of the state when it comes to composting and recycling, landfills across Hawai‘i are barreling toward capacity.

A bill supported by the Maui County Council would attempt to reduce the burden on landfills and improve composting programs throughout the state — including on Maui — by simplifying the permitting process for small and midsize composting facilities and strengthening government support for composting operations. 

Tackling Maui’s Longstanding Water Issues

Control of Maui’s water supply has been a contentious issue for more than a century. It’s been the subject of numerous lawsuits and at the center of bitter disagreements between private entities and local farmers, environmentalists and other island residents.

In recent years, local and state officials have struggled to agree on how the natural resource should be distributed, especially as streams and aquifers are increasingly over-tapped. 

The County Council singled out legislation that would restructure the state’s powerful Commission on Water Resource Management, prioritize water use for public trust purposes and establish new emergency measures to address water shortages and other crises related to climate change as one of its top priorities for the 2025 legislative session, which runs through early May.

“Effective and efficient water resource management requires continuous and experienced leadership, especially given the climate crisis and urgent need to properly steward water resources to meet the affordable housing needs of local residents,” the bill says.

Deferred Retirement Option Advocated For Police

Like other parts of the state, Maui has struggled to recruit new police officers and fill department vacancies. 

The council said one of its top priorities for 2025 was legislation that would create a program to incentivize experienced police officers to delay their retirement and continue to work. The Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP, would allow certain officers to lock in pension benefits while earning salaries and offer financial and career incentives such as vacation leave payouts for officers who complete the program.

DROP programs have been considered or implemented by communities throughout the United States, and they have faced varying levels of support.

The bill was the only legislation proposed by Maui to be included in a package of bills submitted to the Legislature and supported by the Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties, an organization of local government officials from each of the state’s counties.

Support For Midwifery And Maternal Health

Following years of fierce debate, state lawmakers in 2019 passed a bill requiring midwives to have a license to practice. Even though regulators and others supported the law and argued it would simply standardize practices and improve the safety of those giving birth, others worried mandatory licensure would hurt rural and Native Hawaiian communities.

The licensure program established by the 2019 law is set to expire at the end of June, and the council threw its support behind a proposed law intended to “expand access to midwifery by legalizing traditional and cultural birthing practices” and make the process of becoming a certified midwife more locally accessible.

“For many people, decisions about pregnancy and birth are informed by their personal or community history and culture, and are experiences of great social, cultural, and spiritual significance, not primarily medical events,” the draft of the proposed law says. 

But since licensure began in 2019, scholarly data found that people of color have been disproportionately negatively affected, according to the draft.

“Meaningful choices about where, how, and with whom to birth are constrained when those who are needed to help enact those choices face legal penalties for doing so, and the birthing person could also be implicated,” it says. “Fear of systemic discrimination has resulted in some birthing people in Hawai‘i choosing to give birth with no assistance, rather than risk potential systemic repercussions from use of an unlicensed provider.”

The bill would also establish a home birth task force to “improve safety and coordination in maternal healthcare,” and attempt to address “systemic barriers to reduce maternal mortality rates, particularly among underserved populations.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.