Hawaii business leaders call for action against Lowenthal bill

Hawaii business leaders call for action against Lowenthal bill The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii is urging its members to continue opposing the California Legislature’s SB974, the so-called “Lowenthal bill,” which would impose a $30-per-TEU fee on cargo shipped through major California ports.
   In a letter to its members Wednesday, the Hawaii Chamber said that if the California bill passes, consumers in Hawaii face about $68 million a year in added costs to ship containers to and from Hawaii.
   “The business community is in a situation where we really need to become a cohesive unit and organize our activities in opposition to this legislation,” chamber President Jim Tollefson told the East Bay Business Times.
   Tollefson pointed out that the bill recently passed a key committee in the California legislature, and if it passes the appropriations committee it will come to the full Senate floor very soon.
   The chamber in its letter encouraged members to write letters of opposition to the legislature, even including details of what the letters should include.
   Hawaii receives more than 80 percent of its imported goods in shipping containers from the U.S. West Coast. Another concern of Hawaiian leaders is that because most of the containers head back to the West Coast empty, the SB974 would actually be double per container.