Hawaii State Government

...Most begin on January 3, 2018 and end on the last day of the legislative session.... 

...Hawaii’s county governments — and county taxpayers — are about to feel the pinch....

...after decades ignoring the festering problems at the HGEA job trust State Hospital, AG and DoH pretend to suddenly be oh-so-very-concerned....

...a seawater jet powered by Hawaii tax credits is used to shoot pies up into the sky--electricity is generated by harnessing the energy of the pies as they fall back to Earth....

..."We disagree with DHRD. The statutory requirements that DHRD report to the Legislature are unambiguous and do not exempt these trust funds." -- Auditor....

“The Airports Division expects near-term traffic results will be better than projected due to Island Air expanding interisland traffic...." -- Fitch Ratings, October 26, 2017

...the state Legislature has discovered a new tactic for meeting its public pension financial obligations: passing the costs on to the counties....

Legacy Costs evaluates whether states provided adequate funding, as defined by retirement system actuaries, for pensions and other promised retirement benefits for public workers.....

...Ige today announced that his administration has completed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the relocation of the O‘ahu Community Correctional Center....

...to enable new applicants or existing licensees to search for their application status....

...Featuring: Thom Williams, Executive director, Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii....

...New datasets include pavement conditions, traffic counts for state roads, and locations of fatal crashes between 2012-2016....

...Kelii Akina and Ray Tsuchiyama discuss applying the lessons of Google to the future of Hawaii....

...meanwhile Island Air planes are being repossessed....

Hawaii’s public pension system has an unfunded liability of $12 billion....

...Did DOTAX Turn the Corner on Customer Service?....

...Hawaii has enough in cash reserves to weather next recession, report says....

...The position of administrative director is actually one of the few positions created by the State Constitution....

...the Hawaii AG office denied the public interest fee waiver request and charged $28,396.30 to complete the document search....

...Fiscal Stability#41....

...$27,100 = Each taxpayer's share of Hawaii's debt....

...there is "supposed to be" opportunity for participation....

...The rule changes cover a spectrum of boating and ocean recreation uses, such as: commercial use and parking permits and fees; commercial marine operations and tours....

...In two and a half years we have successfully reduced the pipeline from nearly $750 million to $505 million....

...Sen. Dianne Feinstein suggests DACA is on shaky legal ground....

...a 1% increase in health care costs equals a $2 billion increase in unfunded liabilities....

...While all eyes are on rail....

 ...one State department that has funds with no exemption, and refuses to pay it: the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL).... 

....Since then, the price of bitcoin has catapulted to over $4,000 per bitcoin, up from $1,000....

...the Central Services Skim has redirected about $45 million a year from the special funds to the state general fund....

Grant applications for land acquisition....

...A Hawaii law dating back to 1955, which now can be found at HRS section 36-27, says that 5% of any special fund’s income will be paid to the state general fund to pay “central service expenses....”

...if you don’t work, you don’t eat....

...Available data includes the schedule, scope, and estimated cost for all current State Highways projects as well as all projects planned to begin construction in the next two years....

Hawaii may be giving millennials the short end of the stick when it comes to the state’s unfunded public pension liabilities....

...a hyper-partisan, publicity-seeking, grandstander....

...After more than a decade of development and close to $4.2 million in new and amended contracts, Department of Agriculture has failed in its attempt to implement a central integrated database....  (try MS Excel next time)

...Ige announced that he has vetoed 13 of 15 bills on his Intent to Veto list....

...The shift out of DOTax is just a scam to justify vetoing HB1414 which mandated an audit of the State's decade-long series of IT debacles....

All employers need a few basic freedoms to be productive, among them the freedom to manage their employees....

SB410 Labor Union Givesway, SB1240 Aquarium Fishing, SB562 AG to Defend Counties, HB2 'Tiny Homes' on Big Island Ag Land, HB627 Public-Private Partnerships....

Defeat – for now – of onerous paid leave and minimum wage proposals highlight accomplishments for small business. Big court victory an added bonus....

...None of the 65 Special Funds proposed in the 2017 Legislative session met criteria....

...E Hana Kakou with Keli'i Akina, "Sam Slom, Hawaii's Opposition Voice"....

...fifteen senators wanted to stick their thumbs in the Governor’s eye....

...If there is a position taken by a committee chair on one bill or one issue that is not reflecting the wishes of the committee, why can't the committee simply reject the chair's recommendation?....

...entrenched interests within the DHS culture of secrecy are afraid of this book and its contents....

...the Senate remains open to negotiate an agreement with the House to ensure adequate financing to complete the project, yet minimize the impact on the most vulnerable citizens of the community....

...we were unable to agree with the Senate on funding to complete Honolulu’s rail system....