Hawaii delegates heartened by taxpayer support
| • | Bush signs bailout bill; now it's wait and see |
| • | Package offers tax relief to millions |
By Nicole Gaudiano
Advertiser Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON — Hawai'i's House representatives, Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono, cited the revised bailout bill's additional insurance for bank deposits and certain tax breaks for individuals as the reasons they changed their votes from no to yes yesterday.
"The package we're voting on today is more balanced in favor of helping everyday people, middle-class families and small businesses," Hirono said yesterday in a statement. "The bailout package we considered Monday was simply too geared toward Wall Street and the corporations whose irresponsible practices helped create the crisis in the first place."
Abercrombie said the new bill contains improvements over the original version and provides "breathing room to address the underlying challenges to the financial system."
But Abercrombie also said he'll urge House leaders to call the chamber back into session immediately after the November election to enact reforms he co-sponsored to banking industry practices.
"These changes, along with energy independence, will be my top priorities for congressional action as soon as possible," he said in a statement.
Lawmakers in the Senate overwhelmingly passed similar legislation Wednesday. Hawai'i's two senators — Democrats Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka — voted in favor of the measure.
The legislation that passed yesterday included a provision to keep the alternative minimum tax from affecting about 22 million taxpayers.
The AMT provision will provide tax relief for 91,254 households in Hawai'i, Abercrombie and Hirono said through their staffs.
Hirono also praised other parts of the legislation.
"The renewable energy tax credits are critical for encouraging investment in the alternative energy projects Hawai'i needs to reduce our dependence on imported oil," she said.
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Switching Votes
Sixty lawmakers yesterday switched positions on the bailout measure — 58 changed from "no" to "yes," one switched to oppose the measure and a lawmaker who was absent on Monday voted "yes." Here's the breakdown by party and state:
Democrats, No to Yes (33)
Hawai'i: Neil Abercrombie, Mazie Hirono
California: Joe Baca, Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, Hilda Solis, Mike Thompson, Diane Watson, Lynn Woolsey
Nevada: Shelley Berkely
Iowa: Bruce Braley
Indiana: Andre Carson
Missouri: Emanuel Cleaver
Texas: Henry Cueller, Al Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Solomon Ortiz
Maryland: Elijah Cummings, Donna Edwards
Arizona: Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Mitchell, Ed Pastor
Illinois: Jesse Jackson Jr., Bobby Rush
Michigan: Carolyn Kilpatrick
Georgia: John Lewis, David Scott
New Jersey: Bill Pascrell
Ohio: Betty Sutton
Massachusetts: John Tierney
Vermont: Peter Welch
Oregon: David Wu
Kentucky: John Yarmuth
Democrats, Yes to No (1)
Washington: Jim McDermott
Republicans, No to Yes (25)
Arizona: John Shadegg
Florida: Vern Buchanan, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Illinois: Judy Biggert
Louisiana: Rodney Alexander, Charles Boustany
Michigan: Joe Knollenberg, Peter Hoekstra
Minnesota: Jim Ramstad
North Carolina: Howard Coble, Sue Myrick
Nebraska: Lee Terry
New Jersey: Rodney Frelinghuysen
New York: Randy Kuhl
Ohio: Jean Schmidt, Pat Tiberi
Oklahoma: Mary Fallin, John Sullivan
Pennsylvania: Charles Dent, Jim Gerlach, Bill Shuster
South Carolina: Gresham Barrett
Tennessee: Zach Wamp
Texas: Mike Conaway, Mac Thornberry
Republican Jerry Weller of Illinois was absent Monday. He voted yes yesterday.
<i>— Associated Press</i>
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