Honolulu Mayor Kills Recycling Subsidy — Again
Among Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s first vetoes was a measure that would have reinstated a city subsidy to recycling companies. Carlisle had signed a bill into law eliminating the same subsidy less than one month ago.
Carlisle vetoed Bill 36, which would have restored a 50 percent discount for recycling companies that dump non-recyclable residue in the city landfill. The measure would have required the discount to be reduced to 35 percent, then 20 percent, in coming years.
Carlisle’s veto comes after a controversial back-and-forth within the City Council about how to handle the lucrative discount.
At the center of the debate was Portland-based Schnitzer Steel, which saved at least one privately-owned scrap yard about $1.9 million last year. Some local recycling companies that benefit from the discount ended up testifying for its elimination, saying it was “corporate welfare” and “ethically wrong.”
In a strange reversal, after passing a separate measure that eliminated the subsidy altogether, City Council members just weeks later passed Bill 36.
Several of them said they had passed the earlier measure, Bill 471, only because they knew Bill 36 would follow.
“Bill 36 turned out to be a compromise because neither side likes it and it’s a way to start to phase out the discount,” City Council member Ann Kobayashi told Civil Beat on Tuesday. “The previous two mayors have increased it so we can’t just cut it out.”
By vetoing Bill 36, Carlisle is standing behind his earlier decision to sign Bill 47. He said the veto will save the city about $2 million per year.
The City Council now has the option to override Carlisle’s veto, which would require six votes. Council members passed Bill 36 in a 7-2 vote.
