Hanabusa: Obama Considers Creating Akaka Tribe Without Congressional Approval
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted July 29, 2013
Big Cable Could Cost Consumers 12 cents per Kwh
UPDATE: Flossie Steers for North Shore of Maui, Oahu
S&P loves state’s debt plan, but it might not be enough
Borreca: Hawaii has a new law to earmark state taxes just to pay down the $13.6 billion debt. That brought smiles from the same folks that back in 2011 downgraded the bonds sold by the United States of America.
When the memo came out, Gov. Neil Abercrombie hailed it as proof that his administration was making the tough decisions to get state debt under control.
Hawaii has a really serious debt. We owe billions in total to retired state and county workers. Hawaii has one of the largest debts measured on a per capita basis. Hawaii also will pay the medical insurance bill for retired public workers; that cost is increasing.
Hawaii got on Standard & Poor's' good side by passing a law saying the state promises to pay a yearly amount to bring down the debt. If the state doesn't do that, the law says the money is to be taken directly from the state tax office. Just like when you sign up to automatically pay your phone bill on the first of every month, this state law would automatically give the money to the retirement fund....
"We are concerned that the specified contribution levels and timetable is not affordable at the present time without drastic reductions in other areas of the state budget or significant measures to increase state general fund tax revenues," Young said in written testimony. The translation is, "If we do this, we have to either cut the budget or raise taxes."
Young was worried because the payments are $200 million in 2014, $398 million in 2015, $597 million in 2016, $796 million in 2017 and $995 million in 2018. That's quite a layaway program....
Hawaii
- works with a shrinking state budget or
- raises taxes to keep its existing services while obeying the new pension-debt law....
Two other options Borreca left out:
- Pension and Healthcare reforms to cut costs
- Reduction of regulations to stimulate the economy
S&P: S&P Pleased by Tax Hikes, Concerned About Abercrombie's Spending
read ... S&P loves state’s debt plan, but it might not be enough
Hawaii Rep. Awana's Broken Record of Campaign Spending Fines
CB: State Rep. Karen Awana still owes $800 in fines for failing to keep campaign spending records and filing false reports dating back to 2008....
The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission has worked to help Awana bring everything up to snuff. But her lack of response — and the recent discovery of suspicious purchases — is expected to bring additional fines and legal action as soon as September.
Awana was fined $6,800 last year for failing to report contributions and expenditures or respond to the commission’s requests for more information. The commission considered criminal action against the repeat offender, but decided to handle it administratively.
She was put on a payment plan, which she started to make good on after bouncing a check. But her last payment of $800 was due March 31, and the commission says there’s been little dialog with her since then....
A review of the bank records has turned up hundreds of dollars in suspicious expenses — a coffee here, a lei there — that suggest she may be using campaign money for personal reasons....
“We are concerned about the representative and we do have something that’s currently in the works,” Kam told Civil Beat Friday.
Awana, the House floor leader, could find herself in court by the end of this year if she lets it go much longer.
read ... Hawaii Rep. Awana's Broken Record of Campaign Spending Fines
Profitable: Non-Profit Exec Allegedly Steals $700K from Waianae Homeless Shelter
SA: Waianae Community Outreach filed its lawsuit against former program director Laura Pitolo in Circuit Court on Thursday. WCO claims Pitolo stole $762,046 in operational and client trust funds from 2007 to 2010.
Pitolo stole the money by making purchases and ATM cash withdrawals using WCO's debit card and by writing unauthorized checks from the organization's bank accounts to herself as well as to a family member and a friend, according to the lawsuit.
WCO Executive Director Sophina Placencia discovered part of the alleged theft in May 2010 when she found some unauthorized checks on a day Pitolo didn't show up for work, said WCO lawyer Christy L. Ho. She said Placencia immediately called for a meeting of the board, which fired Pitolo....
Placencia filed a police report based on that amount in August 2010....
Ho said Placencia met with a detective twice that month and in the second meeting provided him all the documentation she had on the alleged theft. She said Placencia didn't talk to the detective again and thought police were pursuing the case against Pitolo.
When the company that had been doing WCO's accounting and bookkeeping tried to contact the detective in April, it learned that the three-year statute of limitations on the theft claim was about to expire. Placencia then called the Honolulu Police Department and talked to a lieutenant who told her authorities were waiting on a grand jury indictment, Ho said.
To date, no criminal charges have been filed against Pitolo.
read ... Profitable Non Profit
City must clear air on ethical issues involving ORI funds
SA: The organization's contribution of more than $100,000 to numerous elected officials over a 16-year period hangs over the project. A thorough independent inquiry is required, and the city Ethics Commission has rightly taken that role. At the very least, the rules involving conflicts of interest need to be tightened to avoid such problems in the future....
Mayor Kirk Caldwell recused himself from a role in the investigation, having received a $500 contribution by ORI in his unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2010.
Other recipients were former Mayor Mufi Hannemann and numerous City Council candidates going back to Duke Bainum in 2002 and more recently to present City Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who headed special projects for the city's Department of Community Services and was running for office as the ORI loan was being forgiven.
In a letter responding to Chandler, City Managing Director Ember Shinn maintained that there is "no evidence of a quid pro quo relationship nor any direct benefit resulting from the loan conversions inuring to city officials."
She questioned whether there was "any evidence of benefits received by any city employee other than campaign contributions," maintaining that the contributions were protected by the First Amendment....
HUD is reviewing the city's plan to settle the controversy with a relatively small reimbursement. That should not prevent the Ethics Commission from conducting a thorough investigation of what has all the earmarks of quid pro quo, despite Shinn's assertion.
read ... Clear?
Homeless Ticket Program to run thru nonprofit?
TP: Lawmakers appropriated $100,000 over the next two years for the “return-to-home” program, but that funding could increase if the initiative is viewed as a success....
One way to improve this type of program, as Michael Stoops, Director of Community Organizing at the National Coalition for the Homeless, told ThinkProgress in a June interview, is to have it run not by law enforcement officials, but by homeless advocacy organizations who have their best interests at heart. That may ultimately come to pass in Hawaii; one of the legislation’s principal backers, Rep. John Mizuno (D), said he would support letting a homeless nonprofit administer the program....
The problem is that in many cities that have implemented similar programs, like New York, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, and Baton Rouge, “voluntary” doesn’t always mean voluntary, particularly when a city’s police department gets involved. When a homeless person has a run-in with the law, they are often presented with a choice: go to jail or “volunteer” for a one-way ticket.
read ... Hawaii To Offer Its Homeless Residents One-Way Flights Off The Islands
Almost half of all new babies are born to unwed mothers
SA: More and more women are having babies outside of marriage in Hawaii and across the country, accounting for roughly 4 out of 10 births last year, but teenagers aren't responsible for the trend.
The teen birthrate has dropped dramatically in recent years, while older women are giving birth without a marriage certificate at ever-increasing rates. Some unmarried moms are single but a growing number — more than half at last count — are living with their partners....
In Hawaii, the nonmarital birth rate, at 37 percent of all births, is slightly lower than the national average of 41 percent, but is rising fast. Most births to single moms are not planned, but among women who cohabit roughly half are intentional, national data show....
Nonmarital births are commonplace for women of Hawaiian ancestry, accounting for 60 percent of their births in 2012, according to state Health Department data. Mothers of Filipino heritage had the next highest rate at 40 percent, followed by those with Japanese (22 percent), Caucasian (19 percent) and Chinese (16 percent) heritage.
SA: Mediation favored as Single mothers swell caseload in Family Court
read ... Social Collapse sets stage for State intervention
Windward District Schools Launch Massive Attendance Campaign
CB: A new Windward District campaign targets 16,000 students and their guardians, and focuses on building consistent student attendance and on-time arrivals – key factors in student achievement, graduation and battling the nationwide dropout epidemic.
The highly visible promotion titled “Be Pono – Stay in School” launches August 5, the first day of school. The two Windward District complex-area superintendents (CAS) support the “Be Pono” campaign in all of their complexes – Kailua, Kalaheo, Castle and Kahuku. These four complex areas comprise 31 schools spanning 45 miles from Waimanalo to Sunset Beach.
read ... DoE Campaign
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