Hawaii State Government

Tropical Storm Guillermo is located 370 miles east of Hilo as of 2:00 p.m. today....

...the State and counties aren’t clear on which roads they own....

Department provides little support for and minimal oversight of staff involved in procurements....

Because the state government uses outdated accounting methods, a vast majority of liabilities are excluded from its financial reporting....

DCCA Cable Television Divison received an application from Charter Communications, Inc. and Time Warner Cable, Inc....

...Ige today vetoed eight bills and sent his statements of objections to the house and senate leadership....

...Senate Minority Budget Director Paul Harleman about the current economic status of Hawaii and his concerns for the state's future financial stability....

Ige has informed the Hawai‘i State Legislature of his intent to veto the following bills....

...Hawaii’s employees earn 9 percent more than those in the private sector—the 3rd highest wages and salaries ratio in the country....

...hiring and retaining qualified state government IT staff is a top priority, noting the challenge of an aging workforce and lack of millennials....

...what actually goes into this “unfunded liability” calculation....

...the Governor’s projection of state expenditures–and the means by which this forecast is determined–are not transparent....

The Hawaii State Senate today announced a new line up of committees and committee chairs as part of its recent reorganization....

...The Senate says 'yes' to marijuana and 'no' to anti-GMO protesters....

...legislative priorities are out-of-touch with reality....

...once you tally up the separate appropriation bills the current spending plan is almost identical to the Governor's initial budget request....

...$20 million in capital improvement projects (CIP) funding and $8 million in operating funds....

"Whenever there is a new product, whether it be powdered alcohol or e-cigarettes, we want to jump on it, and ban it."

...will be updated daily, shortly after decisions are made in the Conference Committee budget meetings....

On February 27, 2013, the department conducted department-wide training for deputies whose clients administer non-general fund....

House and Senate conferees met today to begin negotiations on a final version of HB500, the state budget bill....

...we had a busy 2014—releasing 18 audits, analyses, and studies on everything from alternate uses of recycled glass to the regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries....

House Republican floor speeches ....

A majority of the bills will go into conference committees where the House and Senate conferees will convene to settle differences....

The state House of Representatives passed today nearly 150 Senate measures....

Senator Slom says, "We should have learned something from the Kamamalu Building."

Formerly, the resolution only considered the Washington State ferry as a model, but now it has been expanded to other possible jurisdictions as well....

House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke provided only one hour notice for a 14-bill hearing she was holding this afternoon....

"It is another example of our state failing to be transparent."

...5-year strategic plan for outdoor recreation....

...Ige today announced his nominations to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Labor and Industrial Relations and the Office of Information Management and Technology....

Suzanne Case is a 28-year veteran of The Nature Conservancy and has served as its executive director since 2001....

"It brings relief to our beleaguered taxpayers and small businesses, and balances our state finances in the long term."

...They were under the impression that the bond sale process needed to begin by June 30 of this year. “No,” said the Department of Attorney General, “the law says that the bond sale needs to be DONE by June 30.”...

There are several State regulatory issues that need to be resolved prior to attempting to establish a Hawaii interisland ferry and are at least as important as the technical modeling, facilities and feasibility considerations....

...cars, trucks and school buses cross Hawaii's 61 structurally compromised bridges 900,643 times every day....

"...From agencies like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to organizations like HART that are entrusted with significant state funds, there is a need for greater accountability...."

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, from 6-7pm....

...an analysis of each new special or revolving fund proposed by legislative bills....

... hundreds of little (and in some cases, not so little) pots of money sprinkled throughout Hawaii's departments, agencies, and other governmental units ....

...county and state salary and overtime records, as well as retirement, health insurance, budgetary, and other data....

The House today passed over a hundred bills....

Hidano’s nomination is subject to Senate confirmation....

During floor session today (March 5th, 2015) after 1:00 PM, House Finance Chair stood up and requested a waiver of the 48-hour requirement to hear an agenda of bills with just one hour of notice....

...a nonpartisan effort to make the state budgeting process accessible to the public by putting state budget facts and figures online, in real time....