GaryHooser's Blog

“When they tell you there’s no money, what they’re really saying is it’s not a priority.”

This my friends who are new to policy and politics is a teachable moment. I’ll never forget the exact day and time I first learned of this ultimate legislative truism from Jeff Mikulina then Chair of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, probably 15 years ago.

Numerous reports are predicting a state budget surplus of up to $2 billion this year.

If SB1543 passes successfully through the legislative conference committee process, it will be because leadership in the House and Senate and the “money chairs” of the Senate Ways and Means and House Finance committees believe reducing the influence of money in our election process is a priority.

That is the short of it. SB1543 is based on a proven model used now in several other states. There is no need to “study it further” and there are no real “bugs that still need to be worked out” – the only question is whether or not House/Senate Leadership and the House/Senate “money chairs” believe this public policy initiative is a priority.

If you believe as I do that the time for publicly funded elections is now and passing SB1543 must be a top priority for our state – please share your thoughts with the 4 men who ultimately are responsible for passing this important measure into law, or not.

Time is of the essence. Please take action today, over the weekend – so when they come into their office on Monday morning they are greeted with an abundance of email and phone messages in support of passing SB1543.

Senate President Ron Kouchi – 808-586-6030 senkouchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
WAM Chair Senator Donovan Dela Cruz – 808-586-6090 sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov

House Speaker Scott Saiki – 808-586-6100 repsaiki@capitol.hawaii.gov
House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita – 808-586-6330 repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov

**If you live in their district – your call/email is 100 times more important so please let them know that important fact.

As always, please keep all communications courteous and professional.

Here is an excellent article published today that’s most definitely worth reading.

Hawai‘i ‘clean elections’ bill nears endgame –

LIHU‘E — The state of Hawai‘i could be weeks away from a radical reenvisioning of politics in the state, as a bill to facilitate full public financing of state and county campaigns awaits debate over final changes by the state Legislature.

Senate Bill 1543, if passed, would create an opt-in system for state and local electoral candidates to receive full public financing for electoral campaigns. Its supporters see the bill as a means of promoting “clean elections,” in which candidates can run without the corrupting influence of private donors.

“Senate Bill 1543 is the most significant and extensive public financing bill currently being considered throughout the nation,” said Heather Ferguson, national director of state operations at Common Cause, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group.

In order to qualify for the program, candidates would need to receive a certain number of $5 contributions within their voting district. Candidates seeking higher-ranking positions would need to obtain more of these contributions, but also receive more funds once they successfully opt in.

For example, a candidate for governor would need 6,250 contributions to receive $1,675,000 in funds — whereas a candidate for Kaua‘i County Council would only need 200 contributions to opt into the program, but would only receive $30,000 to spend on their campaign.

While the bill contains thorough descriptions of how the program would operate, a few core details have been intentionally left out.

For one, all mentions of the program’s funding have been left empty. Additionally, the bill is currently written so that it would take effect on June 30, 3000.

Both the lack of funding details and the ludicrous effective date (commonly called a “defective date”) exist to force a “legislative conference,” in which members of the House and Senate convene to make final edits on the bill.

Finance reform advocate and former longtime state legislator Gary Hooser said he believes the primary point of contention is on funding of the program. Supporters of the bill have stated it would cost around $30 million per electoral season to implement.

“Any other discussion about the details on the bill is really just smoke or cover,” Hooser said. “Because what’s being proposed is already done in other states, so it’s not like this is brand new. It’s just going to be all about the money, and whether or not the leaders in the House and the Senate think that this is important.”

While the legislative conference is all but certain, SB 1543’s future remains unclear. Last month, Sen. Karl Rhoads (D-District 13) — who first announced the bill in early January — expressed to The Garden Island a cautious confidence over the bill’s passage.
“I’m sort of guardedly optimistic,” he said. “I think this is a good year for it to happen in terms of the way political stars are aligned, but there’s no guarantees.”

Additionally, Hooser echoed this sentiment to The Garden Island on Thursday.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” he said. “We’ve had two legislators go to jail in the past year — one Senator, one House member — for accepting bribes. The person they accepted bribes from was a campaign donor. There’s a spotlight on the House and the Senate. People are saying, ‘Do something, prove to us that you want to do what’s right.’ And so I think the mood is ripe for this kind of change.”

In order to keep the bill alive, the legislative chambers must reach an agreement by April 28. If an agreement is met, the conference committees will publish a Conference Draft of the bill, which would go before the full House and Senate for a final vote no later than May 4.

Jackson Healy, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-4966 or jhealy@thegardenisland.com.

“We’re going to close up our hotel and take our business somewhere else where the taxes are lower!” said No Hotel On Kaua‘i Ever.

Ditto for luxury vacation rentals, and so many other property owners who don’t live here, don’t rent to local residents, and can afford to pay more.

So why is our government operating from a mindset of scarcity?

According to a recent TGI story, the County Housing Agency is asking the Council for budget support for more staff to help manage the complaints and inquiries and to prepare a comprehensive plan. Council Chair Mel Rapozo and Council Member Bill De Costa meanwhile are pushing back against that request and instead promoting the notion of “safe zones,” or homeless encampments run and regulated by the county.

Instead of arguing over whose idea is better why not do both?

And then do more.

The lack of basic shelter for our residents, friends, and neighbors should be declared the disaster it is, and we must use every tool available and then go out and get more and use them too.

Hundreds of people are living on the streets, in the bushes, on the beach, and yes – under bridges. We have hundreds more sleeping on couches, in carports, and in cars.

Yes, we need more staffing for our housing agency. And yes, we need to support safe and sanitary temporary encampments in suitable locations – because there’s literally nowhere else for people to go.

I have a friend who works full-time but because of the extreme shortage of rentals, lives in his van. Routinely, he’s awakened in the night by landowners or police and told to move along. He drives to the next side-of-the-road sleeping spot, only to be told again a few hours later – move along. He’s not doing drugs, playing loud music, or partying with friends – he’s just looking for a place to sleep.

We need to do it all folks. We need to develop permanently affordable housing for local residents. We need to support more temporary shelters. We need a place for those sleeping in cars to park for the night. We need mental health services, addiction treatment, basic health and dental care. And our Housing agency needs more staff to help manage and make all this happen.

Don’t tell me we can’t. Don’t whine about how it’s the State or Federal government’s job, or the problem is too big, there’s not enough money, yada, yada, yada.

And please don’t be that ignorant fool at the table bragging about how he worked 3 jobs, how he sacrificed, how he never took handouts, and how he pulled himself up by the bootstraps. If you don’t believe we have a basic human duty to help those less fortunate, just shut the front door (STFD) and take the drivel to your beer buddies outside.

Eugene Tian, Chief Economist for the DBEDT, reported over 40 percent of homes sold on Kaua‘i are purchased by buyers from outside the state.

We have a severe shortage of affordable housing caused by off-island investors buying up the inventory. This is the problem. The solution is building more permanently affordable housing for local residents and taxing off-island investors to pay for it. Yes, other factors must also be addressed but the complete absence of affordable basic shelter is the fundamental problem.

The time for looking away is over. We need to own our responsibility – increase taxes on those who can afford it and don’t live here, then leverage those funds to support the shelters, build the homes, and provide the services.

Trust me. Those hotels will not pack up their bags and move because taxes are too high.

“Today’s discussion is not about taking hits, or shots — nor is it about weed. It’s about power and control.”

I wrote this for today’s Civil Beat and it seems to have struck a chord.
“Hawaii’s House Speaker Has Way, Way Too Much Power”

Enjoy!

Please share with your friends and networks if you feel the content provides value.

Best,

Gary

The game has changed since I last posted a few hours ago.

Our efforts have paid off and SB1543, publicly funded elections, has been scheduled!

Wednesday at 2pm is the day and time. Please submit testimony and help pass the word!

If you live on Oahu please try also to show up at the hearing.

Details and testimony link is on this revised blog post:
SB1543 – game on. Time to double-down. Testimony needed…let’s do this.

Complete info on bill is here:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=1543&year=2023

Publicly funded elections, SB1543, has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 5th at 2pm!

Mahalo to all from across the islands for the hard work and persistence. It’s time now to double-down, provide supportive testimony, and pass the word to friends and neighbors.

If you believe that corporate and special interest money should stay out of politics – your testimony is critically important.

Go here to the Capitol Website to testify: https://bit.ly/3nx67Af

Your testimony can be as simple as “Please pass SB1543” or add whatever additional information as to why this is important to you – that comes to mind/heart.

When passed into law, SB1543 will establish a comprehensive system of public financing for all candidates seeking election to state and county public offices.

SB1543 will create an even playing field for candidates and refocus elections back to the needs of the people and not just the needs of those who donate the most.

This measure is a top priority of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, is strongly supported by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and many other community leaders working to reduce the influence of big money on Hawaiʻi elections.

The States of Maine and Connecticut have successfully implemented similar public funding systems with positive results that include increased voter turnout, greater electoral competition, more women candidates, and in general more diversity.

This is one of those bills that’s truly important and represents systemic change. Some call publicly funded elections “The reform that makes all other reforms possible.”

Please take the time to submit your testimony now, today, and prior to 2pm tomorrow Tuesday, April 4th. Late testimony is better than no testimony but if can – submit something NOW.

Every call and email is important, regardless from which island it is coming from. Please remember – short, to the point, courteous and professional, and TODAY.

Sitting in the Kapa’a crawl, heading South, and not moving at all for what seems like a long, long time – I found myself thinking “Can’t wait until the Coco Palms Hotel opens up.”

They say sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, and this is not funny at all. Not one little tiny bit.

At 350 rooms hosting 700 or more guests, if this hotel is ever built it will add approximately 400 more cars into that unmoving stream – once in the morning as the visitors depart and employees arrive, and then again in the afternoon as the cycle repeats itself.

They will all be entering and exiting from a single point, perhaps two at the most – Kuamoo Road on the North and Haleilio Road to the South.

The already very intolerable traffic situation will become verifiably and insanely even more intolerable.

Should the 700 guests decide to cross the 4-lane highway to go to the beach rather than spend their vacation in traffic, that will of course not just be dangerous – but have a significant impact on the coastal area and exacerbate the traffic even more.

I’m wondering if the hotel will disclose to the visitors who book rooms, the fact that the mouth of the Wailua River consistently ranks as one of the top most polluted beaches on Kauaʻi?

According to a recent TGI story: “Environmental organization Surfrider Kaua‘i’s Blue Water Task Force found large amounts of bacteria in several of Kaua‘i’s waters this month, suggesting that ongoing concerns over fecal contamination of the Garden Island’s streams and beaches are far from over… the Wailua River mouth…measured over 130 enterococci per 100 milliliters of water, indicating high amounts of contamination in excess of state water quality standards.”

With 700 hundred more people flushing several times a day, and multiple showers/bathes in the morning and after getting home from the beach, the wastewater problems that have existed here for years, will…you guessed it – only get worse.

Do you think the fragrance that occasionally permeates the air across from the Shell station and at the Lydgate Sewage Treatment Plant is bad now? Yep. It’s going to get worse – that is for sure.

But there is good news!

It’s never going to really happen folks. Remember Lucy and the football? Or what’s that other saying made famous by former President George W. Bush – “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times…and well you must be talking about the Coco Palms Hotel development.”

Yep. If you believe this hotel will be built, I have got a bridge I’d like to sell you. Unfortunately, it’s not a pedestrian bridge over the 4-lane highway so people can get back and forth safely.

Nope, that bridge is not part of their plans. Neither are the community meetings the developers promised at the Planning Commission meetings held last year. And neither is an environmental impact statement that is required by law. Nope, not going to do a silly little EIS (so said the famous Hawaii Super Ferry).

And apparently not part of their plans either is the appropriate disposal of green waste from the hundred-plus coconut trees they’ve cut down. A casual inspection of the State lands (our public lands) behind the Coco Palms, shows piles and piles of recently deposited coconut tree stumps and logs.

Also not part of their plans is the hiring of a local general contractor. Nope. As is oh-so predictable, the current Utah-based owner/developer has hired a Utah-based general contractor to manage the work. I’m wondering if they even know what the words iwi kupuna mean?

Unless the County, the State, or the community intervene, soon the digging will start.

Kauaʻi is now the only County in Hawaiʻi to prohibit remote interactive conference technology (ICT) testimony by citizens. No more Zooming in from Kekaha or Ha’ena to testify. Nope, you now have to take the day off, drive into Līhu‘e
, and sit in the Council Chambers for who knows how long – so you can present your 3 minutes of testimony.

This decision was made with zero public input.

They simply put out a press release saying in part remote testimony is being canceled because:

“If a connection to the ICT is interrupted or lost, the meeting must be recessed and possibly terminated, which would then void any agenda items that were pending prior to the ICT interruption, resulting in delays necessary to post a new meeting agenda…and would also invalidate the meeting and require a new agenda posting.”

Au contraire! According to: “The Sunshine Law” for State and County Boards:

“The Council’s notice may contain a contingency provision stating…that if the connection is lost for more than 30 minutes, the meeting will be continued to a specific date and time, with the new link for the continued meeting either on the agenda itself or to be provided on the Council’s website.”

“A Council does not need to re-hear or accept new testimony for completed agenda items at the continued meeting…Councils are authorized to recess…and to reconvene at another date and time to continue and/or complete public testimony, discussion, and decision-making…”

Issued by the Office of the County Clerk, the press release does not say who made the actual decision nor does it name or quote anyone whatsoever.

According to the Charter, the County Clerk works for the Council.

However, for the Council to legally discuss the topic, or make a decision to stop the public from testifying remotely they must first post a meeting and allow public testimony – per the Sunshine Law – HRS Chapter 92.

The Sunshine Law prohibits discussions on Council business between Council members outside of a properly noticed meeting. There must be advance notice; public access to the Council’s discussions; opportunity for public testimony; and Council minutes.

Furthermore, Council members cannot discuss Council business privately between themselves via telephone, text, fax, email, or social media. And, it would be a serial communication contrary to the Sunshine Law for a Council member to discuss the same Council business with more than one other Council member through a series of one-on-one meetings.

Since, in my opinion (and this is an opinion column) it’s unlikely members of the Kauaʻi Council would break the law, the Chairman of the Council Melvin Rapozo must have made this decision all by himself without consulting the other Council members.

Every other County in the State of Hawaiʻi and the entire State legislature allows citizen-testimony via interactive conference technology (ICT). Only Kauaʻi County has taken this opportunity away from its residents.

Maui and Hawaiʻi County – both have had remote testimony systems in place for years.

The Chair of the Honolulu Council Tommy Waters said in Civil Beat: “Let me be abundantly clear — remote testimony is here to stay. It’s an integral component in ensuring that all individuals can participate in the process without having to worry about the commute…it’s also our kuleana.”

A majority of the Council could if they wanted to, properly schedule and hold a public hearing on this issue, listen to the testimony, and reinstate the public’s right to testify remotely – or not.

If this is important to you, please email all 7 Council members at councilmembers@kauai.gov – Let them know your thoughts and find out theirs.

An acquaintance grabbed my ear recently saying, “Gary, how can we get rid of all those homeless people?” He went on to bemoan the presence of the poor and unwashed that seem to be sleeping under every bridge and in every doorway.

For the most part, I just let him talk.

“Why can’t they get a job like everyone else? There are job openings everywhere. Why can’t they take a bath, get off the streets, and stop begging in front of the convenience store?”

“Why don’t we just arrest them all and fly them back to where they came from?” he complained. “You can’t go anywhere without seeing them. They are at the beach, by the airport, along the road to Kealia, across from the Mayor’s office-everywhere!”

He thanked me for my time and walked on, not really caring about what I thought.

Which is why I am here, writing this today.

The answer to getting rid of the houseless is to ensure we all have access to permanently affordable housing.

They are houseless, not homeless. Their home is on the streets. What they lack is a house.

Yes, certainly there are many other issues that include mental health and addiction. But it’s impossible to deal with these underlying issues effectively if the individual is living on the streets.

Kick them out? Tear down their tents and tell them to move on?

Kauai Economic Opportunity (KEO) operates the only emergency shelter on our island and has 165 people on its waiting list. All of the other shelters are also full.

There is literally no place for these folks to go.

As to “send them back to where they came from”…hello…according to recent counts of the houseless that are here, only 3% are newcomers. The vast majority are long-term or lifelong residents, and Native Hawaiians are overrepresented.

Arresting poor people who cannot afford a warm, dry, safe place to sleep and who have no other option but to sleep on the street, in a doorway or in the bushes is unconscionable – not to mention, extremely expensive.

Employers are hesitant to hire a houseless person who may come to the interview without a permanent mailing address and looking like they just woke up after sleeping all night in a doorway. It further reduces an applicant’s job prospects if they are missing teeth or have other health issues.

Even if they managed to get a job, it will of course not be paying a living wage. Even if they got two jobs, there are no affordable homes available. Period.

Whether freshly scrubbed, teeth or no teeth, good clothes or not – the challenge of finding an affordable home or even a room to rent is formidable – for everyone.

Yes, it’s complicated. No, it’s not complicated.

Ensuring access to affordable homes is the answer. Constructing new, permanently affordable units, AND prioritizing access to new and existing units for long-term local residents earning local wages.

If government funding is used and/or government assistance is utilized, the homes built can legally be required to be permanently affordable, and long-time residents can be given first priority to rent and/or purchase them.

There’s no shortage of vacant land located in existing urban areas that already has the basic infrastructure (sewer, roads, water) and located near job centers, shopping, schools, and health facilities. Private lands can be purchased at fair market value by the County or State, and/or landowners could be incentivized appropriately in return for providing permanent affordable housing for locals.

There are good things happening now at both the State and County levels, but much more is needed. The houseless situation and the extreme lack of affordable housing needs to be treated like the dire emergency it is.

I miss Larry Rivera. He and Gloria, and his entire family hold a special place in my heart. I was traveling and off island during his recent celebration of life, but was there in spirit and share here today my own memories and deep love for this very special man.

Fortunately, I was able to visit with him briefly a week or so before he passed. He was lying in bed and softly smiled up at me when I sang to him the refrain from a campaign jingle he’d written for me over 20 years ago: “Gary Hoooooser, Gary Hooooser and you …”

In the old days, when I first ran for election to the Kaua‘i County Council, and then for the Senate, Larry would go with me often to campaign and hold signs along the highway. He’d bring his ‘ukulele, and sometimes a boombox, and sit in a chair serenading the passing cars. Often Gloria would accompany him, and sometimes he would bring his children and his grandchildren. He would sing from his extensive repertoire of Larry Rivera classics, interspersed occasionally with the “Hooser jingle.”

During both the wins and the losses, Larry would be with me, sitting there in the hot sun strumming on that ‘ukulele, always smiling, telling jokes, and singing those beautiful songs.

He never asked me for anything. He never lobbied me, never asked me to vote yes or no on an issue, and never tried to influence me one way or another. He was just Larry, and we were just friends, like family, really.

I’ll never forget the one time Larry did bring up an issue. He didn’t ask me to do anything, he just told me the story. I could feel his pain and his sadness, and it has stuck with me now for decades.

We were meeting along the highway to hold signs, and Larry came up to me and said, “Gary, I can’t go fishing anymore. They took away my fishing spot.”

As we talked more, I learned that a favorite fishing spot of Larry’s childhood had become a subdivision for rich people. It seems that Larry had gone there recently to fish or perhaps just to revisit old memories, and it was gone. He could no longer walk onto the beach and cast into the ocean where for years he had previously done so.

There was a required “beach access easement” but it was far away from that favorite fishing spot, requiring walking over slippery rocks, and impractical for Larry and for most people to actually use.

That memory of Larry Rivera saying “he couldn’t go fishing anymore” has never left me.

In recent years, the Coco Palms Hotel was something we did not talk about. Larry cherished the idea of a new Coco Palms Hotel being developed that recreated the grandeur of the past. He was, after all, “Mr. Coco Palms.” He knew, I’m sure, and was no doubt extremely disappointed, that his friend Hooser had lost faith in that ever happening, and held an alternative vision.

But Larry and I never talked about it. Never.

I will never forget Larry Rivera. He befriended me. He motivated and inspired me to do more and be better. He stood alongside the road in the hot sun with me. He knocked on doors with me. He made me and so many others smile, and laugh, and sing. The songs that he wrote and sang for us are a gift that will live on forever.

Sending you my love and aloha today, Larry. Mahalo for being you.

One man in the legislature is controlling the outcome of an issue that impacts potentially every woman in the State of Hawaiʻi.

As a man whose grandchildren have been born both at home on Kauaʻi with midwives in attendance, and in a hospital birthing room on Oʻahu – this action impacts me as well. It’s one of those “mad as hell and not going to take it any more moments”.

Yes, one man – the Chair of the House Finance Committee, Maui Representative Kyle Yamashita, is deciding who may or may not attend and help in the birth of our children.

HB955 is titled: Midwifery; Licensure; Birth Attendants; Exemptions; Training; Certification

Over 1,000 people have submitted testimony in support of HB955.

Two House Committees have already heard HB955 and both passed the measure out unanimously.

24 Representatives have already either voted yes to pass the measure in a prior Committee and/or are Co-introducers.

A close read of the measure shows clearly that no changes were proposed to any fiscal element. There were no new fees proposed and no changes of any kind to budget-related items. Thus SB955 should not have been referred to the House Finance Committee in the first place.

Finance Chair Yamashita has decided he does not want his Committee to hear HB955, he does not want to hold a vote on HB955, and he certainly does not want to pass HB955. His decision unless changed, means there will be no further debate nor any further votes on this important measure.

One guy decides he doesn’t want it and everyone else can just suck wind.

Yes, other committee members may object but to do so they risk retribution that will most certainly be leveraged via the same unilateral power of the Chair. Any Representative who challenges the Chair risks having their bills killed, their Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) go unfunded, and their community and constituents hurt as a result.

Everyone knows it’s wrong, but the fear of retribution stifles the opposition.

On Wednesday,March 1, midwives and mothers, some of who had flown over from Maui to hopefully meet with the Finance Chair and convince him to hear, vote, and pass HB955 – ended up holding a “sit-in” and occupying the outer offices of the Finance Committee until the Sheriffs were called upon to remove them.

That sit-in at the Capitol continues today and the numbers are expected to grow further on Monday – with no end in sight. There is also a petition in support which I have signed and hope you do as well.

No single legislator regardless of title or position should have the power to unilaterally stop legislative policy changes that affect all of us. Certainly, no one man should have the power to decide issues pertaining to the health and the birthing process of all women.

HB955 can still be saved, but we need you to take 3 steps to give us the best shot.

Note legislators and staff who answer the telephone will likely tell you, “So sorry, but you’ve missed the deadline. Please reply to them, politely and professional that you are aware that if the Speaker of the House, Representative Scott Saiki wanted to extend the deadline, he could, and he should.

1. Call/email House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita at 808-586-6330 or repyamashita@capitol.hawaii.gov and tell him to send HB955 to the floor of the House for a full vote of all 51 members.

2. Call/email Speaker of the House Scott Saiki at 808-586-6100 or repsaiki@capitol.hawaii.gov and tell him to send HB955 to the floor of the House for a full vote of all 51 members, AND to require the Finance Committee to hear all bills that were passed out of earlier subject matter committees.

3. Call your Representative and ask them to pressure leadership to schedule a full House vote on HB955. Find your Rep here: THIS STEP IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT!

HB955 is about regulating midwifery. But Chair Yamashita’s actions are about more than midwifery—they’re about the abuse of power.

The unilateral power of a Committee Chair to kill a bill is inherently undemocratic and the practice must change here and now with HB955.

The majority and leadership in the House and Senate can stop this practice immediately if they choose to do so. Requiring a committee to hear all bills that were passed out of an earlier subject matter committee and requiring a public vote in order to kill a bill is a good place to start.

Sincerely,
Gary L. Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

Kauaʻi Friends:
This coming Wednesday, March 8th the Kauaʻi County Council will vote on a Resolution proposed to support HB955. Similar Resolutions were passed unanimously by both the Maui County Council and the Hawaiʻi County Council.

Please submit testimony prior to the meeting to counciltestimony@kauai.gov

5. Resolution No. 2023-31 – RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAI‘I STATE LEGISLATURE TO ENACT A STATUTE EXEMPTING BIRTH ATTENDANTS FROM STATE LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS

See the complete agenda here: