Hawaii State Government

...Aaron Hoff also pops up in the recent eviction of a gym from DHHL land in Anahola....

...2 special funds, 2 trust funds, and 4 trust accounts did not meet criteria. We also noted that DAGS did not file statutorily required reports....

...The Cato Institute has released its 14th biennial fiscal report card on the governors....

...Gov. David Ige submitted his Executive Budget for Fiscal Biennium 2019-2021 to the Hawai‘i State Legislature today....

...Over $26 Million of State Portion of Ceded Land Revenues were not Transferred to the State General Fund in a Timely Manner....

...The newly updated Dam Inventory Management System is now available online with access to dam evacuation zone maps....

...Leadership and the committee assignments for the Thirtieth Legislature (2019-2020)....

...often easier said than done....

...Pew found “symptoms of structural deficits” in Hawaii (96.9 percent)....

...Report: One-third of states have passable fiscal transparency, the rest need improvement....

...In addition, the state is searching for individuals to serve on a variety of boards and commissions....

...Keli'i Akina and Joe Kent discuss the latest research by the Grassroot Institute on rail, vacation rentals and the unfunded liabilty of Hawaii's public pension system....

...Hawaii is precariously stretched to fund debt obligations....

...30th Legislature - Session Employment Opportunities....

...House Speaker Scott K. Saiki and the House Majority Democrats are pleased to welcome nine newly elected Representatives to the 2019 Legislature....

...and found one special fund did not meet criteria and should be closed....

...House Speaker Scott K. Saiki is pleased to announce the Representatives who will be part of the House Leadership and the committee chair assignments for the Thirtieth Legislature....

...every year we follow up on recommendations made in our audit reports....

...For the most recent period the No Campaign under the name “Preserve Our Hawaii” reported contributions of $665,000 and expenditures of $612,513....

...Hawaii has arguably the least competitive state legislative elections among the 50 U.S. states....

...the Star-Advertiser, which earns most of its revenue from ads, ran six convention related ads—all in opposition—beginning on October 14, 2018....

...internet service providers sued Vermont on Thursday in an effort to overturn its recently enacted net neutrality rules....

...all four annual savings reports filed by Johnson Controls through 2017 indicated that actual savings exceeded energy contract guaranteed savings for each period....

...Originally bid at $76,400, the contract grew to $543,374—a 611 percent increase—while its scope shrank and the deliverables’ deadline were extended by a year. In the end, the PKF founder was arrested at the arport....

...per-driver vehicle operating costs due to rough roads. Honolulu 8th-worst at $851.  Share of Poor-Condition Roads 54% – 5th worst....

...The $55 million figure being promoted by Preserve Our Hawaii is highly controversial.  Hawaii’s last convention in 1978 cost $2.03 million. In current dollars, that sum would be $7.7 million....

...On the basis of its solvency in five separate categories....

...the leading no coalition, Preserve Our Hawaii, and its lead organizer, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, publicly announced their 'No' campaign on October 8....

...The insiders, a who’s who of what’s wrong in Hawaii, have made a handy list of everything that keeps them in power in the 1978 Hawaii Constitution....

...Since its inception 21 years ago, this biennial e-survey has helped benchmark state government use of digital technologies to improve service delivery, increase capacity, and reach policy goals....

...state policymakers are willing to commit to payments on the unfunded liabilities, but haven’t done much to curb the excessive spending practices that have led us to this point....

...Follow-Up on Recommendations from Report No. 15-20, Audit of the Department of Human Services’ KOLEA System....

...Our review of six trust funds and four trust accounts of the Department of Defense (DOD) found one trust fund did not meet criteria and should be closed....

...the state continues to hide $4.2 billion of its retiree health care debt....

...This year, on the November 6th ballot, you will have two questions asked of you....

...A Grassroot Institute FOIA request reveals that 320 employees spiked their salaries ahead of retiring....

...Understanding the constitutional amendment questions on the ballot....

...The Employee has been privately employed by the (profitable) Non-Profit for a number of years.... 

...Employee A admitted that the testimony given was not based on a fair and thorough examination of the facts. Employee A’s testimony was offered to counter the recommendations given by Employee A’s own agency and bolster the client’s arguments in the underlying court proceeding....

...Flooding August 27 and 28 inundated Kuhio Highway at Hanalei Bridge and between the Waikoko and Wainiha checkpoints....

...Ige’s formal request to appoint Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara was submitted on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018 and approved by Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis earlier today....

...ABOUT 145 MI SW OF HONOLULU HAWAII ... PRESENT MOVEMENT...W 7mph ....Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts....

...Luke P. Meyers, a Certified Emergency Manager who most recently served in a variety of posts in the Pacific Northwest, has joined the Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) as Executive Officer....

...end date could drag out far longer if the investments of the state’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) do not perform as well as expected....

...42 short essays on the history, democratic function, and politics of the periodic state constitutional convention referendum, including Hawaii’s November 6, 2018 convention referendum....

...Finalists for this year’s awards were Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Delaware, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Vermont....

...This second phase included an additional 20,000 employees of the Legislature, Judiciary, Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Executive branch departments....

... what works, what doesn’t, and what might help Hawaii move out of its position as one of the nation’s worst “sinkhole states” ....

...when candidates say they’ll support whatever voters decide—one can be confident that the candidate’s actual position is to oppose a convention....

...how to bring under control the almost $13 billion in unfunded liabilities of Hawaii’s public pension system....