SB1 Hearing Set for 10am Oct 31
Law Profs: SB1 Does Not Protect Religious Freedom
Ethics Commission Gives Instant Response to Demand Hawaii Mormon Church ‘Register Every Paid Employee’
VIDEO: Expert Testimony at Gay Marriage Informational Briefing
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted October 28, 2013
In Search of Frankencorn in Hawaii
Wealth Ranking Cannot Disguise Hawaii's Status as 2nd Worst Sinkhole State
Failed Solar Scheme Soaks DoE for $10.6M
CB: The DOE’s solar panel pilot project, which has already been successfully implemented at many Kauai schools, is part of a $1-billion effort to reduce energy costs to a net zero within five years by powering schools with solar and wind sources. L’Heureux has called the project bold and innovative.
But that plan, known as the Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Master Program, has been stalled, too, because the department allegedly mishandled procurement for the contractor charged with overseeing the initiative. A former DOE employee filed a lawsuit against the department in July alleging the department awarded the contract to a company that should’ve been disqualified because of problems with its proposal.
The department had to cancel the contract and restart the procurement process. L’Heureux told Civil Beat the department has awarded a new contract and plans on publicly announcing the winning bidder in the coming weeks.
Still, L’Heureux said the legal setbacks have nothing to do with the PV delays and the department’s need for another $10.6 million.
Originally, department finance officers thought they would’ve saved roughly $8 million with the PV panels. The additional $2.6 million covers projected rate increases, according to DOE chief financial officer Amy Kunz....
Background: Solar Scam: DoE Overpays $612M for Athletic Supporter?
read ... HECO Solar Problems Send Schools Scrambling To Pay Electric Bills
Senators: Is Gay Marriage Just a Convenience?
HNN: Senate leadership says the bill is expected to pass 21-4, but the real question has always been if the same-sex marriage bill will have the 26 votes it needs to pass in the House....
LIVE Stream: Gay Marriage Special Session
HR: 3,000 people have submitted testimony, and more than 1,800 people have signed up to testify
Senators: Lawmakers on a Hawaii Senate committee are asking whether a gay marriage proposal will give anything more to couples than the convenience of getting married without having to leave the state.
read ... 27 Votes?
Machado: Gay Marriage Against Hawaiian Culture, History
SA: Colette Machado, chairwoman of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, invoked the 1839 Hawaiian Bill of Rights under King Kamehameha III. The declaration stated that God had bestowed rights on all men and had established government.
She also cited the 1840 Hawaiian Constitution that describes a covenant with God and decreed that no law should be at variance with the word of the Lord.
"This is what we're doing today," Machado told the faithful. "We're declaring. We're coming out to claim that these lands -- this Hawaii nei, our beloved homeland....
read ... Gay Marriage Against Hawaiian Culture
Special Session Like Superferry, PLDC
SA: The five-day special session is an exercise that procedurally neuters public input by: a) Reducing the number of committee hearings from four to one joint; b) Drastically shortening the vetting period for legislation from 60 to only five days; and c) Ignoring all public comment on substantive ways to improve the current language. History has shown great distrust in government when they take shortcuts around public testimony, and this same history shows breeches of this trust becoming more habitual.
When did this last happen? State Rep. Mark Takai said that the most recent occurrence " … undermin(ed) democracy by overriding existing procedures and safeguards and cuts out participation by the public." Kauai Councilman and former state legislator Gary Hooser commented that it "was created by the Legislature in a manner that at best was unprincipled and at worst corrupt and illegal." He was particularly critical of controversial language that received one (rather than four) public hearing(s).
Columnist David Shapiro observed, "Incredibly, legislation of such magnitude passed with little notice and without full public hearings." Against public wisdom, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the Legislature created the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC), only to repeal less than two years later.
Perhaps a fairer comparison would be to examine the special session surrounding the infamous Hawaii Superferry. The administration attempted to exempt the Superferry from environmental review and the Legislature went into special session to save the Superferry. The courts later found that the rash actions of the governor and the Legislature were unconstitutional — and the Superferry literally sailed off into the sunset.
The lessons of the past were summed up well when Shapiro wrote, "And the elected officials responsible for this ham-handed exercise in back-door democracy wonder why the public doesn't trust them."
read ... Gene Ward and Bob McDermott
Law Prof: Bill puts religious freedom in jeopardy
SA: Although the governor's bill is reported to be under revision, if enacted now, the "protections" for religious dissenters would be the weakest in the nation. SB1 improves on it -- but not a lot.
Both promise that no clergy-member must "solemnize any marriage" -- and anyone who refuses will not be "subject to fine, penalty, or other civil action." Sounds good. Yet, the U.S. and Hawaii Constitutions already provide this protection.
Both say religious organizations need "not be required to make a religious facility available for solemnization of a particular marriage." Refusing will not result in a "fine, penalty ... or civil liability ... "
But the proposals diverge hugely in what is needed to qualify for this protection. SB1 sensibly says the facility cannot be used "for profit" (and donations don't count).
The governor adds a qualifier that makes the exemption worthless: the group must restrict the facility's use "to its members." Problem is: Many groups see their mission as servicing non-members, and would happily open their facilities to weddings that include non-members.
Both bills falls short in other ways. Both inexplicably eliminate protections included in earlier bill, for "any person authorized to perform solemnizations," such as judges.
Both lack basic, express protections in laws in Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Across the 10 jurisdictions to recognize same-sex marriage by legislation:
- Eight jurisdictions expressly protect religious nonprofits from being penalized by the government -- which may or may not be covered by the bills.
- Six expressly insulate religious organizations that offer religious counseling or retreats or married-couple housing from a duty to "promote same-sex marriage."
- Three allow religiously-affiliated fraternal organizations, like the Knights of Columbus, to limit insurance coverage to spouses in heterosexual marriages.
- Three allow religiously affiliated adoption agencies to place children only with heterosexual married couples so long as they don't receive any government funding.
Background: First Amendment: 14 Gay Marriage Laws vs Abercrombie
read ... Law Prof
Registered Voters to Receive Forms
MN: The Wikiwiki Voter Registration & Permanent Absentee application form soon will be mailed to registered voters in an effort to update the database of registered voters.
The Office of the County Clerk will be mailing the applications to registered voters, who are not already permanent absentee voters.
Voters are asked to complete, sign and return the voter registration portion of the application to the County Clerk's office, a news release said.
read ... Registered Voters
Hawaii State Salaries 2013: HHSC Workers Get Raises, Execs Don't CB: Thousands of people working for the state’s 12-facility, community hospital system are making more money this year than last, according to a review of the latest salary information.
But it’s not really a sign that things are getting better at the beleaguered Hawaii Health Systems Corp., which canned its CEO last summer and needs an emergency appropriation from the Legislature.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie has asked lawmakers to approve $2.5 million in stopgap funding when they meet in special session this week so HHSC can keep its two Kauai hospitals afloat through January.
read ... 2013 Salary Database
GMOs: How Hawaii's laws reach across the ocean
HPJ: ...in an interesting twist, the bill that bans genetically modified crops on the main Hawaiian island had to be modified so that it did not include papaya, a crop that is almost entirely genetically modified to a virus that nearly wiped out the crop 20 years ago.
In other words, Hawaii anti-GMO protesters are comfortable with GM crops when it hits close to home. When they affect a crop that hits in the Midwest, they become hypocritical.
read ... High Plains Journal
IDG: County Bill 129 is Bad for Hawaii -- Dispelling Myths About Fracking
CB: There is no shortage of information, misinformation and fears raised about hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
Some of the bad press around “fracking” has been well-earned. But the negatives surrounding its use by the oil and gas industries to improve the production of wells is threatening progress in places where there should be no anxiety about fracking.
Hawaii is one such place, judging by recent legislation attempting to preemptively exclude fracking from the urgent conversation about geothermal that is currently underway. As a scientist who works and lectures on geothermal issues and projects, I offer the following observations to help correct serious misconceptions and facilitate a more informed conversation about how to move Hawaii forward with regard to tapping its incredible geothermal resources.
read ... Fracking
Elderly in Waikiki confront housing crunch
SA: "We are applying for senior housing, but we just don't know what's going to happen," said the 61-year-old Fishler, who sought help last week from the Waikiki Community Center. "We are in limbo land. If you ask us how worried we are about finding housing it's about a 10 out of 10."
The couple has struggled to make ends meet since debilitating illnesses caused Fishler to retire his pharmacist's license and Pierce to quit her delivery job. They said their one bright spot was the 250-square-foot studio that they rented for $900 a month in the Hawaiian Monarch building, which is centrally located, so they don't need to own a car. However, they say the transaction could render them homeless because they cannot afford to pay more than their current rent, which is about 63 percent of their $1,420 combined monthly disability payments.
read ... Unaffordable
Thielen: GOP Hijacked by Social Conservatives
PR: "I've been a mainstream Republican since college days. Social conservatives have hijacked our party to push their social agenda.
"I refuse to cave in to their demand to get off (the) Judiciary committee. As a Republican I support marriage equality and believe we should pass the bill now.
"Remember, Teddy Roosevelt created the national parks. Barry Goldwater supported gays in the military and was pro-choice. Then religion and people with social agendas took over. If our party ever will become relevant, we need mainstream members to fight for tolerance, for less government control over peoples' lives."
SA: Souki rejects GOP move to cut Thielen from panel
read ... Thielen
'Libertarians': Parental Control over Children Should not be Protected by Law
Mr Tracy Ahn Ryan: Opponents of same-sex marriage have muddied the waters with parenting issues. They suggest that the government's role in marriage licensing is to promote better family life, a view the puts bureaucrats squarely in the middle of people's most personal decisions. Libertarians believe government should stick to governing. Basic functions of protection of our lives and property and the being a neutral arbitration of disputes are its job, not the managing of people's lives.
Perhaps the anti-same sex marriage group would like to see the government license parenting. Would they assign a bureaucrat to every maternity ward to see that no mother leaves with her infant before jumping through their hoops?
If the government of the state of Hawaii cannot handle so simple a task as the issuance of marriage licenses without discrimination, based on some views of religion or morality, then it may be time to adopt the advice that many libertarians have been giving for years and get out of the marriage licensing business altogether. Why should the government license marriage at all? If one swears in a ceremony to a marriage before God, isn't that more important than a government license sitting in the drawer? If there is a legal contract between spouses, shouldn't that be the guide for handling issues that might arise through divorce, death, property ownership, etc.?
(This way a child molester has exactly the same legal claim over your biological child that you think you do.)
read ... Not a Single Word about the 1st Amendment from these frauds
QUICK HITS: