In an article printed on March 20 (in the Tribune-Herald), it was reported that the state House Committee on Government Reform deferred Senate Bills 3244 and 3254, which tried to change how population is counted in the U.S. Census by adding nonresident military, nonresident military dependents, and nonresident students to Hawaii’s portion of the decennial U.S. Census.
This misallocation changes the number of senators and representatives per island, and would deprive the Neighbor Islands of justified legislators, and change the reapportionment maps.
Apparently, Oahu wants to keep stranglehold control of our Legislature by adding nonresidents to our U.S. Census count. Nonresident students pay out-of-state tuition for a reason, and are reported by the colleges and universities to the state and thus the counties to be removed!
Various reapportionment commissions from 2001 onward seem to consistently ignore to what I testified at the Hawaii County (previously called “Redistricting”) Reapportionment Commission in 2001 and 2011. I testified that nonresident military and their nonresident dependents are reported to the State Reapportionment Office (or whatever it is called) by the military as nonresident.
The reason these military personnel and families are nonresident is because nonresident persons are also reported to their “home” state (of record) to be counted in that state’s portion of the U.S. Census. The “home” state means the state from which they were commissioned, appointed, enlisted, inducted or ordered on active duty.
Military personnel are considered nonresident while stationed outside of their “home” state unless they change their legal residence through the military, which means that their “home” state will change, and they will pay taxes in the new state. Many times, military personnel are not allowed by the military to change their “home” state.
As I testified to our 2001 Reapportionment Commission, adding the nonresident military and their nonresident dependents would cause these persons to be counted twice — once in Hawaii and once in whatever state is their “home” state. That would cause military personnel to have twice the legislative influence of other American residents.
Please remember the “one person-one vote” stricture. It also applies to the U.S. Census counts as “one person counted in only one state.” Such a misallocation also allows Oahu to claim legislators that rightfully belong to the Neighbor Islands who are already frequently out-voted based on their much lower population numbers and legislators.
Before anyone concludes that I am against the military, please be advised that my ancestors have served in almost every war back to and including the Revolutionary War. Also, my father, uncle, nephew, husband, two brothers-in-law, father-in-law, and several of my husband’s ancestors also served in various wars or branches of the military.
During WWII, my mother worked for the Quartermaster making uniforms for the military. My mother-in-law worked for the Rohr Aircraft factory. Many other women also served our country in many different ways, including on active duty in the military. I am proud of my family’s military service to the United States of America. Thank you to every military person (and their spouses) for your service!
Please refrain from attempting to count nonresident military, their nonresident dependents, and nonresident students twice to the disadvantage of the Neighbor Island representation in our Legislature. Instead, the Legislature might spend some time writing the laws correctly and legally so it will not be necessary to have this argument every 10 years.
Brenda Ford of Captain Cook is a former County Council member.
