Posted on behalf of HVCA President Bill Spencer
On January 21, 2009, at 7:00AM, the Hawaii State Legislature will begin its 2009 term. If you care about keeping Act 221 intact and extending it into the future, you must be present and show your support.
The
EXTEND221.ORG group will assemble at the capital at 7:00AM on the morning of January 21, 2009 at the Father Damien statue in front of the Capitol Building. We will be passing out FREE EXTEND221.ORG T-Shirts for you to wear. It is very important that you be visible and also visit your Representative and Senator and let them know that you want to keep Act 221 unchanged and extend it beyond its 2010 sunset date.
This is a critical year for Act 221. The governor and several democratic legislators have announced plans to change, tighten or even kill the act all together. Despite the Department of Taxation’s analysis of the costs and benefits of Act 221, which demonstrate an overwhelmingly positive impact, Act 221 is being threatened as never before.
The fight to extend Act 221 begins now. We must be vigilant. We must let your voices be heard. We must show the legislature, the press and the governor that there is a tech sector composed of real people who care about Hawaii’s future and who care about the need to diversify our economy. We cannot tolerate changes to the rules. The governor promised no changes to Act 221 in her first campaign and when Act 215 was enacted in 2004. These promises have been broken. Investors have relied on no changes to the rules of the game, so any changes made this year will severely hurt companies seeking funding.
Please do not let this opportunity pass us by. We must be there in force. This is a time for action, for all of us to come out and show our support for this critical statute. If you care about diversifying the economy with a tech sector and if you care about making sure there is sufficient capital to grow and nurture budding tech companies. Please be there on January 21, 2009 at 7:00AM at the Capitol Father Damien statue and show your support!
EXTEND221.ORG
Fueling the Next Generation of Hawaii Entrepreneurs
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