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Friday, January 15, 2016
January 15, 2016 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:02 PM :: 3599 Views

Full Text: Ige Signs Agreement Privatizing Maui Hospitals

Where’s the Farm Justice Summit?

Jones Act, LNG at Center of Puerto Rico Recovery Plan

1959: Martin Luther King Jr Salutes Hawaii Statehood

Supreme Court to Consider Nai Aupuni Contempt Today

Search continues for 12 Marines after fiery helicopter collision off Haleiwa

SA: The U.S. Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department are continuing to search for survivors after two Marine helicopters, with a total of 12 people on board, crashed off Oahu’s North Shore late Thursday night.

Coast Guard officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser they received a distress call at 10:38 p.m. from the Marines that two of its CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, each with six Marines on board, had crashed off Oahu. Debris from the crash was sighted 2.5 miles off Haleiwa shortly after midnight, they said. CNN, citing a Coast Guard spokeswoman, reported that search crews spotted an empty life raft and flames on the water….

After daybreak, dozens of people had come to Haleiwa Beach Alii Park to watch the search and rescue efforts….

DVIDS: Marine CH-53E helicopter incident over Hawaii

read … Search continues for 12 Marines after fiery helicopter collision off Haleiwa

Suit Against Nai Aupuni “overwhelmingly likely” to succeed

LN: Six challengers to an election of delegates for a self-governance convention of Native Hawaiians are “overwhelmingly likely” to succeed on the merits of their claim that the election process is unconstitutional, so their request for an injunction to halt the election should be granted, the challengers tell the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Jan. 6 brief…

In their brief, the challengers argue that the District Court erred in denying their injunction request because the evidence shows that Na’i Aupuni is an arm of the state government and, as such, is conducting an illegal election. They say that the OHA created and funded Na’i Aupuni in order to avoid legal challenges to the election.

“Governing Supreme Court law does not tolerate electoral subterfuges like the one Na’i Aupuni and OHA are perpetrating right now,” the challengers say. “The district court committed a clear error of law in holding that Na’i Aupuni was not a state actor. Na’i Aupuni is a state actor as a matter of law under both the public function test, because it is conducting an important electoral process regarding public issues, and under the joint action test, because of its many, significant ties to the state agent that created it.”

The challengers urge the Ninth Circuit to remand and instruct the District Court to issue a preliminary injunction, pending the outcome of the case, enjoining Na’i Aupuni and the state from sending to the convention those selected based on their status as delegates and from otherwise relying on the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission’s roll to select delegates for the convention.

Related: Supreme Court to Consider Nai Aupuni Contempt January 15

L360: 9th Circ. Asked To Block Native Hawaiian Convention Plans

read … Supreme Court Law 

Nai Aupuni ‘Delegates’ Have to Show Up to get $5000 Bribe

ILind: Delegates to the Na‘i Aupuni Hawaiian constitutional convention, or Aha, set to convene in less than three weeks, must return any per diem payments or be taxed on the amount received if they fail to attend 80% of the daily sessions, according to an email sent last month to convention participants.

The email from Louis F. Perez III, chairman of the Akamai Foundation, which is processing the grant money that is paying for the convention, laid out the schedule of payments to delegates.

A total of 154 delegates are expected to participate in the convention, scheduled to begin on Monday, February 1. Those from Oahu will receive a total of $1,000 in per diem payments, while neighbor island delegates will get $4,000, and those coming from outside of the state will receive $5,000….

The first week of the convention will be devoted to education on key areas of interest, including discussions of governance in the Hawaiian Kingdom, to the issue of ceded lands, and issues surrounding tribal sovereignty and international law.

read … Native Hawaiian political convention to convene in less than three weeks

Legislators Demand Cash from Lobbyists

CB: Nine lawmakers are asking supporters for cash just days before the Hawaii Legislature officially opens

CB: A Fundraiser For Ernie Martin

read …  Pay up

LTC: Latest Excuse for Massive GE Tax Hike

F: …The benefit would be modest—about $70-per-day for a year– but it would be available to all long-term residents of the state and be funded through a broad-based tax.  (Note: For LTC, $70/day is nothing.  Most LTC beds run $200/ day and up) 

The measure will be introduced by Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health committee chair Roz Baker, according to a report in the American Prospect magazine.

The program would be financed with a surtax of 0.5 percent on the state’s 4 percent General Excise Tax….

Anyone who files a Hawaii tax return would be eligible to participate. To prevent people from moving to the state just to access the insurance, residents would vest 10 percent of the maximum benefit for each year they file a tax return, thus would receive full benefits only after 10 years.

Hawaii is not the only state looking to experiment with long-term care insurance. For example, Minnesota has been exploring possible alternatives, though it seems more interested in finding ways to enhance private insurance than to create a Hawaii-like social insurance program.
It may still be years before the federal government can agree on long-term care financing reform, though over the next few months at least three separate non-government groups are expected to recommend solutions. Until Congress acts, state experiments may teach us a great deal about how different models work.  (Translation: Once again the national Progressives are using Hawaii as a Guinea Pig.)

read … Big tax, Little Payout

Crony Capitalism: Obama’s DoD Negotiates Sweetheart deal with NextEra

IM: …Currently Hawaii Revised Statutes §269-92(a) states that “each electric utility company that sells electricity for consumption in the State shall establish a renewable portfolio standard of … (3) Thirty per cent of its net electricity sales by December 31, 2020; (4) Forty per cent of its net electricity sales by December 31, 2030.”

The HECO-NextEra-DoD agreement states that, “Subject to the Commission's approval in this proceeding, NextEra Energy commits that each of the Hawaiian Electric Companies will undertake good faith efforts to achieve a consolidated renewable portfolio standard of thirty-five per cent of their net electricity sales by December 31, 2020, and fifty per cent of their net electricity sales by December 31, 2030.”….

The Consumer Advocate asked … “In the alternative, if analyses have been done to determine that achieving 35% RPS by 12/31/2020 and 50% RPS by 12/31/2030 is possible, but not on a least cost or most cost effective manner, please discuss why it would be reasonable for the Commission to authorize this commitment if the commitment could adversely affect customers in the form of higher than necessary rates and bills.”….

The County of Hawai`i asked about how the new RPS requirement would impact rates.

“Please explain how this commitment will directly lead to lower rates for Hawai‘i’s hard-pressed electricity customers. Please be specific, in terms of system design, implementation, fixed and variable costs, and forecast levels of per kWh charges—including specific reductions compared to current levels.”  …

Shortly after the DoD Agreement was signed, NextEra and DoD announced that they had reached an agreement for NextEra to acquire Pacific Energy Solutions, LLC (PES) and that NextEra would build renewable energy systems on military land…..

Related: Biofuel Shell Game: How Giant Diesel Plant Became part of Hawaii's 'Clean' Energy Future

read … Ten Parties probe HECO-NextEra-Department of Defense Agreement

HEI ‘Time of Use’ Rates Will Squeeze After-School Programs

IM: Under the Hawaiian Electric Companies proposed new electric pricing scheme for public schools, there would be higher evening rates and lower morning and afternoon rates.

Schools are often used for a variety of community meetings held in the evening. For example, the Public Utilities Commission sometimes rents school cafeterias for evening public hearings. These events would now come with a higher price tag.…

read …  Should HECO, MECO and HELCO raise electric rates for school-based public events

Anti-Agriculture Activists Seek 100% Tourism Economy

KE: As Hawaii agriculture clings to the ropes, anti-GMO groups are moving in with a few dirty kidney punches and groin kicks.

Just days after anti-ag activists partied down at the news of Hawaii's last sugar plantation closing on Maui, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sent out an email urging people to call their legislators to lobby against the seed companies that produce the Island's most valuable crop:

With legislative session upon us, it’s time to let our elected officials know what matters most to us: the health and safety of our families and the environment. The chemical industry’s experimentation with pesticide-promoting genetically engineered (GE) crops increasingly threatens Hawai‘i’s public health, biodiversity and food independence.

None of that is actually true. There is no evidence that Hawaii seed crops are harming public health and biodiversity. If anything, they are supporting food independence by keeping farm workers employed and irrigation systems and other ag infrastructure in good repair.

But CFS keeps saying it, and the more gullible, agriculturally ignorant members of the community believe it. Tellingly, since CFS knows so many of its followers can't actually think for themselves, it tells them exactly what to say when they call their representatives.

Equally telling, given the cavalier attitude that so many anti-GMO activists had toward the hundreds of sugar workers who will lose their jobs, CFS uses a graphic that treats seed company workers as expendable….

read … Musings: Kick 'Em While They're Down

Experts: Maui will Never Recover from Death of HC&S

PBN: Industry leaders, economists and politicians on Maui fear the worst — that Alexander & Baldwin’s closure of the HC&S plantation is a blow from which the island may not recover…

Borreca: Sugar was more to Hawaii than just a farming crop

read … Never Recover

Taxes Vacuum 9.5% More out of Economy

PBN: …In the first six months of this fiscal year, the state’s total general fund was $3.02 billion, up from $2.76 billion the previous year. The increase came from a surge in general excise and use tax collections, which are $1.59 billion this year, up from $1.44 billion last year.

Individual income collections also jumped. In December alone the state accumulated $186 million, which contributed to a grand total of $1.02 billion for this fiscal year. That is 6.9 percent higher then the same period last year

Finally, income from the transient accommodations tax also rose. So far in FY2016 it is at $211.38 million, 7.1 percent higher than in the previous year….

read … Taxes

DoH Bungling Risks Loss of Funding for New Mental Hospital

SA: Key legislative leaders are threatening to hold up $160 million in funding to overhaul the state psychiatric hospital in Kaneohe if the state Department of Health can’t show that it’s moving fast enough to complete the project.

The Hawaii State Hospital has been plagued with problems for years, including lax security and assaults by patients on staff. Gov. David Ige’s administration has made building a new facility on the same grounds, equipped with increased security and more beds, a top priority of his administration. He is asking the Legislature to sign off on $160 million in general obligations bonds to finance it.

But Thursday during a budget briefing at the state Capitol, lawmakers complained about the project’s lengthy timeline and delays in tearing down a campus building that’s contaminated with asbestos and lead paint….

(Of course we could have a new hospital built for free and then operated at much lower cost than the DoH facility.  All we have to do is contract with a private mental health hospital system and dump the UPW/HGEA controlled insanity.)

Reality: Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit

read … Slow pace jeopardizing funding of new hospital

UH Inouye Center Plans ‘Shelved Indefinitely’

SA: Plans to build a $50 million center on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus to honor the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye have been shelved indefinitely, in part because the school’s growing repair and maintenance backlog is hampering the university’s ability to secure public funds for new projects.

Lawmakers have been critical of the university for pursuing new projects and initiatives when its backlog of repairs stands at $503 million, with most of the work needed on the aging Manoa campus.

Big Q: 61% say Scrap Plans for Inouye Center at UH

read … UH backlog of $503M prompts Inouye center to be placed on hold

CDC Secrecy Over UH Biolab Safety Failures Challenged In Court

NR: Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, Inc. v. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: The Law Center challenged the CDC’s interpretation of a federal statute as the basis for withholding all information regarding an inspection at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  According to media reports, the inspection found “widespread regulatory non-compliance” at the UH labs that handle biological toxins.  But the CDC denied access to the inspection report in its entirety, citing a law that only authorized redaction of information that met specific criteria.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright.  Case No. 1:16-cv-00008-JMS-KSC.

read … Challenge

DHHL Seeks Developers for Parcels Near Rail Stations

PBN: The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is seeking companies to develop plans to utilize the state agency’s land for transit-oriented development projects along the Honolulu rail route, including a mix of residential and commercial uses, according to public documents.

The three areas are near future rail transit stations in East Kapolei, Shafter Flats near Honolulu International Airport and in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kapalama….

read … DHHL

Former Kauai police lieutenant indicted for theft, money laundering

KHON: A once-highly decorated lieutenant with the Kauai Police Department is now accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars in federal funds, which were intended to help fight crime on the Garden Island.

Karen Kapua appeared in federal court Thursday after being indicted by a grand jury on four counts involving “theft from organization receiving federal funds” and money laundering.

According to court documents, as a lieutenant, Kapua received benefits “in the form of grants from the federal government, including grants from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, did knowingly embezzle, steal and intentionally misapply property having a value of more than $5,000, namely, approximately $25,000 in funds under the care, custody and control of the County of Kauai.”

Court documents claim she did this three times, on or about Dec. 23, 2013, June 13, 2014, and Dec. 5, 2014, for a total of $75,000….

read … Indicted

Gambling Would Cost More than it Earns

KITV: …Despite what some may think, Senator Sam Slom says part of the reason Hawaii is left out of the lotto is because it wouldn't make much money for the state and would actually come at a cost to people.

"In terms of social costs it adds more to welfare, more people who can't take care of themselves, more homeless," said Slom (R).

Other lawmakers don't deny that….

read … Don’t Deny

Rent Control Would Eliminate Rental Units

HNN: "If you're not able to raise rents to get market rents, how are you going to pay for market repairs?" said Paul Xavier, a broker with Team Extreme Realty, which owns investment properties on the mainland.

Rent control critics also say such measures could actually decrease the production of affordable housing and potentially lead to a flood of units for sale if investors don't think they'll be able to turn a profit….

"People don't move a lot and you can end up with a tenant that stays in a property for a long time. If you're only allowing 1 percent a year and the market has gone up 5,6,7,8 -- even 10 percent in a year -- that's going to be tough on property managers and homeowners," he said….

"Rent control would be a great idea if it was on public land and run by public agencies and they would be able to best determine how it works and how it doesn't," he said. "It would be a horrible idea if they imposed it immediately on all development."

Here's one thing opponents and supporters of rent control can agree on: Hawaii need more affordable housing.

"A knee-jerk reaction of, 'Oh, let's adopt rent control because that will make things cheaper for everybody,' I don't think that's the way to go," Thornton said. "If we were going to consider something like that, it would really require a lot of careful study -- including examining how it's worked in other states and taking a look at how Hawaii's unique situation should be accounted for."

The last time state lawmakers considered rent control was in 2007. There were two resolutions calling for a study of its legality and effectiveness, but neither passed….

read … How to Reduce the Availability of Rental Units

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