Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus

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The Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus is an informal legislative organization created in 2007 by leaders of the Senates of the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawai'i and the United States territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands[1]. The organization's initial meeting took place in the Hawai'i State Capitol on December 11, 2007 and was attended by Hawai'i Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, Alaska Senate Majority Leader Gary Stevens, Guam Legislature Acting Speaker Eddie Baza Calvo, Senate President Joseph Mendiola of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock, who convened the meeting.

The Caucus was created to develop the first dialogue ever among legislative leaders of the United States' outlying states and territories, identify common problems, many of which are not shared by the forty-eight contiguous states, and seek consensus regarding possible solutions. Among the issues initially discussed is the less-than-equal treatment by Federal agencies and private corporations, the lack of coverage of FCC-licensed satellite radio services in the non-contiguous areas of the nation and their non-inclusion in the 50 State Quarters program.

Senate leaders in American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands will be invited to join the caucus.

  1. ^ Leaders from offshore U.S. declare alliance By David Briscoe The Associated Press 14 DEC 2007 HONOLULU -- Americans in states and territories not attached to the U.S. mainland are tired of being treated like they're from another country. They pay inflated postage and air fares; they suffer more onerous airport inspections and can't tune in to satellite radio, and some of them are miffed they don't seem to be worth even two bits. The territories want to be included in the 50-state quarter program. "We've fallen through the cracks in Washington because our issues don't affect the contiguous 48 states," said Puerto Rican Senate President Kenneth McClintock in an interview after leading meetings with legislative leaders from Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The mix of leaders from offshore states and territories was a first. McClintock said Thursday the group plans to keep regular contact and meet again in May in Kentucky during a Council of State Governments conference. Legislators from American Samoa and the Virgin Islands were also invited but couldn't attend. Issues the group is addressing involve both inequities created by federal rules and laws, as well as policies of some private companies, McClintock said. He said Americans in the territories aren't even treated like second-class citizens, but more like they're from a foreign country, and many of the problems are shared by Hawaii and Alaska even though they're states. Satellite radio, for example is not available outside the U.S. mainland, he noted. Now that the nation's two satellite services are trying to merge, the group agreed to ask the Federal Communications Commission to make more far-reaching service a requirement for federal approval of Sirius' proposed absorption of XM. The territories also object to the dual agricultural and security inspections passengers have to go through at their airports, especially now that both inspections are handled by agents of Homeland Security. In Hawaii, however, the agricultural inspection is a state function. The legislators also object to census data that leaves out the territories and private polls that exclude Alaska and Hawaii, as well as residents of the territories. The fact that census data on the territories is incomplete adds to the cost of doing business, he said, because business planners have to pay for more of their own research. "This is the first time in history that Senate presidents from outlying areas have gotten together to recognize that they have common problems, identify them and get together to solve them," McClintock said. He said Honolulu was chosen for the meeting because it's about midway among all the territories. Not all the discrimination involves government, he said, citing the fact that Apple Inc. doesn't sell its iPhone in Puerto Rico even though AT&T provides service that could use it. A major complaint against private industry is the practice of boosting postage and handling charges for merchandise mailed from the 48 mainland states. Companies often charge more to mail to Hawaii and Alaska, for example, even when the U.S. Postal Service rates are the same as to any other state, McClintock noted. Puerto Rico is treated as a dumping ground for outdated items, he said, accusing Dell Computer of selling older models for higher prices to buyers from Puerto Rico. "We have no currency problem, no passport problem, but they just decide to treat us as a foreign country," he said. Others in the offshore group are Hawaii Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, Alaska Senate Majority Leader Gary Stevens, Guam Sen. Eddie Baza Calvo and Senate President Joseph Mendiola of the Northern Marianas.