Hawaii State Government

Four years after the ‘Bank of Abercrombie’ bill was laughed out of the legislature, the push for a state-owned bank is being revived....

Hawaii has done it before with lands supporting single-family and multi-family homes. Those historic actions gave the ordinary working person new opportunities for true homeownership....

It’s time for us to think about the converting commercial leasehold lands in Hawaii to fee simple....

...politicians focus on flashy topics and grandiose declarations....

The Hawaii Senate 2016 Legislative Session will get underway on Wednesday, Jan. 20....

...the House Republican Caucus priorities for the upcoming session....

...a net increase of $297.6 million in FY 2017, an increase of 4.4%....

...Department of Health (DoH) officials faced scathing rebukes for doing their job well....

$104 million in omissions combine with mystery spending cuts to create unrealistic budget scenario....

"Public-Private partnerships are really hard."

Tuesday, January 19th, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM....

Report of the 13-person Working Group....

A federal jury on Tuesday found the state of Hawaii and the Hawaii Department of Transportation's airports division violated a former employee's civil rights....

...the department and HPHA inconsistently adhered to statutory reporting requirements for non-general funds and administratively created funds and accounts....

Gov. Ige proposes a 230 percent increase in the capital improvements budget for FY17 ...

The merger and transfer of Oceanic’s Hawaii franchises will not take place until federal regulatory review of the merger transaction is completed....

Don't worry.  It's only a $500M contract....

Under the IT governance process, projects must pass several review “gates” during four key phases....

The Office of the Governor is looking for individuals who are dedicated to continuing the State of Hawaii’s momentum toward a strong and sustainable future....

...Uncle Sam is giving us money. But we are not spending that money so the federal agencies are saying, “Looks like you don’t need this, so why should we give you any more?”....

The Hawaii State House and Senate are accepting applications for the 2016 legislative session....

Of 19 departments and agencies surveyed, 14 said capital improvement projects (CIPs) should not be handled centrally by the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS)....

Thirty-eight DCCA special funds, trust funds, and trust accounts were reviewed--One Fund Did Not Meet Criteria....

The Office of the Governor is looking for qualified and dedicated volunteers to fill vacancies on boards, commissions and committees across the state....

...at least 134 deceased persons received over-payments from the Employee Retirement System, with some over-payments in excess of $50,000....

An investigation by Hawaii's state auditor into the state's Department of Health....

The state lawsuit also claimed Ciber used lobbyists and “exercised inappropriate political influence” to persuade the state to continue making payments to the company....

...why and how states should better harness information technology to drive public-sector productivity and generate savings for governments, businesses, and citizens....

...and Fitch expects them to remain so. This largely reflects the state's direct responsibility for many functions delegated to local governments in other states, particularly K-12 education....

...when a child is born in Hawaii, he or she can count on $26,500 in debt that the state owes per citizen....

States are not held to the same accounting standards as most businesses and publicly traded companies. Therefore, states do not use the proper tools to balance their budgets....

Hawaii had not met targets on some key items in the Notice of Non-Compliance corrective action plan....

...the IRS has added a new item to its “Dirty Dozen,” a list of tax scams....

The center of the system is located about 455 miles southeast of Hilo and continues to move slowly in a northwest direction....

...figures here are for bonded debt, and do not include other outstanding obligations—including pensions—which add substantially to governments’ future liabilities and are often considered in broader definitions of governmental debt....

Sutton will take the reins on legal research, legislative drafting and other support tasks for the Hawaii Senate Minority....

...thinning cash and investments and unrestricted monthly liquidity due to a long history of deficits, a high backlog of deferred maintenance, a need to carefully manage operations with continued expense pressure across the 10-campus system, and a high percentage of unionized staff....

“...Ciber finally abandoned the project and withdrew its staff without any notice after Abercrombie lost the primary election on Aug. 9, 2014....”

Ignacio and Jimena are both Category 4 as of Saturday midday....

The storm’s strength and track is highly uncertain at this time....

"Community-based nonprofit organizations are increasingly becoming key economic development drivers...."

Hilda expected to bring heavy rain, low chance of tropical storm force winds to the islands....

...foster care payment was just $529 per month, as the state had refused to increase it for nearly 25 years....

...ABOUT 600 MI ESE OF HILO MOVING WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH....

...ABOUT 870 MI ESE OF HILO HAWAII MOVING W AT 15MPH....

Coordination Efforts Begin for Hurricane Hilda....

... $9,318,772 for Aloha Stadium, more than $11M for Honolulu Airport ....