Hearings Expose SB1 'Not Ready for Prime Time'
Marriage: ‘People’s Filibuster’ Continues into Second Day
Anti-GMO Bill Vetoed, Kauai Mayor Wants County to Work With State on Pesticides
After Six Years Improvement, Hawaii Scores 'C' on Premature Birth
Study detailing Hawaii’s hidden retirement liabilities should haunt taxpayers
Kiplinger: Hawaii Among Least Tax-Friendly States
HTA: Visitor Arrivals Drop 1% After 2 Years Growth
FCC Announces $1M for Hawaiian Tel Rural Broadband on Big Island
KITV: 82% Say Let the Voters Decide on Gay Marriage
Legislators Question SB1, Brower Pushes for Polyamory
CB: McDermott was obsessed with trying to figure out whether public schools would be required — should SB 1 become "the law of the land" — to provide textbooks that illustrated as normal the lives of homosexuals. He used the example of the "See Dick and Jane" books, inferring that the Department of Education would introduce books featuring two married men or two married women.
Oshiro and Louie both said that the DOE has "opt-out" policies for the teaching of controversial materials, but that did not satisfy McDermott. That introduced a third trend of the day: Rhoads interrupting his colleagues to let others talk to move things along.
Louie repeated many of the things he told the Senate on Monday: that the Legislature had the power to pass same-sex marriage, that a constitutional amendment question on the matter was unnecessary, that significant federal benefits are denied to gay couples in the islands (they include Social Security survivor benefits), that the religious exemption in SB 1 is sound and that legislators have the chance to make history.
Even supporters of same-sex marriage, like Rep. Tom Brower, had questions for Louie that seemed beyond the scope of SB 1. Brower wanted to know if legalizing gay marriage would lead to the marriage of multiple partners; he said "half the world" practices group marriage. (And he's really disappointed by Louie's answer)
Louie answered "no," SB 1 would not lead to group marriage, pointing out that polygamy is outlawed in most states. "I sense there is no groundswell for that, other than in Utah," he said, garnering chuckles from many in the Capitol Auditorium.
Jordan had questions about whether common law marriages, which are not legal in Hawaii, would be recognized should SB 1 pass. Another Democratic rep, Mele Carroll, was concerned about Native Hawaiian entitlements should children of gay couples be conceived through artificial insemination — another issue beyond the scope of SB 1. And Marcus Oshiro wanted to know whether Louie interpreted the Hawaii Constitution the same as he did.
Louie apologized to Oshiro that he did not have a copy of the Constitution on him. At that point, Rhoads piped up and asked Oshiro whether he actually had a question for Louie germane to SB 1, and if not, could he speak with Louie about the Constitution at another time.
Several House members indicated that they want to amend SB 1 to expand religious exemptions, perhaps drawing from Connecticut's same-sex marriage law, which is said to allow more flexibility for churches. Louie said that SB 1 was crafted in such a way as to not violate the state's public accommodations law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
As he did in his Senate testimony, Bill Hoshijo, executive director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, suggested language to clarify the scope of the exemptions.
Brower: Beyond Marriage The Confession: Hawaii Gay marriage advocates let the polyamorous cat out of the bag
read ... Questions, Questions
Ex-Lesbian Leads Charge Against Gay Marriage
HM: Rebeca Stancie, 26, cut her organic chemistry lab class to be at the state Capitol. She stood along Beretania Street, repeatedly shouting into her megaphone: “LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!”
“I was lesbian and somehow I found the lord. I went to church and I got deliverance from the homosexual spirit. It is a spirit of homosexuality that lives inside of you and if you want to be loose of that spirit, you just got to want it and it is going to release you,” she says.
read ... Yes, It is a choice
Rush of same-sex marriage bill testifiers sign-up before midnight deadline
HNN: Hundreds of people flooded the Capitol, just before Thursday's midnight deadline to sign up for testimony on a controversial same-sex marriage bill was set to expire.
House Representatives on the Judiciary and Finance committees will return to the Capitol Friday morning to continue hearing public testimony on SB 1, the "Hawaii Marriage Equality Act of 2013" at 8:30 a.m.
More than 5,000 people signed up to speak Thursday before the midnight deadline and lawmakers simply were not able to get through everyone.
The Capitol's online testimony registration system shut down at exactly midnight, but about half an hour before the deadline an estimated 250 people rushed in to the auditorium area for their chance to sign up and be heard.
"This is the manifestation of all we believe and hold dear in our First Amendment rights. This is wonderful! This is great!" Representative Marcus Oshiro exclaimed, as he surveyed the crowd
Prior to the sudden wave of arrivals, the Capitol had started to get pretty quiet as lawmakers neared 14 hours of testimony and young children still dressed in their Halloween costumes had fallen asleep outside the auditorium doors as their parents patiently waited for their turn to testify.
Representative Richard Fale says he initiated an effort to get people to the Capitol because he heard the session may not continue Friday morning as Committee officials had originally announced.
PR: Marathon
read ... People's Filibuster
Were You Skipped Over? Come Back at the End to Testify
PR: Rep. Karl Rhoads, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said people who are not present today when their names are called will have to wait until the end to testify but that he would allow them to speak.
Rhoads made the announcements after complaints from House lawmakers who oppose the bill that the committee was skipping over people who were not in the state Capitol auditorium when the hearing reconvened at 8:30 a.m.
"I'd like to finish the hearing this century," Rhoads told colleagues.
Rhoads and Rep. Sylvia Luke, the chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, had announced shortly after midnight -- after 14 hours of testimony -- that the meeting would recess until 8:30 a.m. after initially indicating their preference to continue with testimony.
During a brief recess this morning, when tensions in the audience were high, Rep. Marcus Oshiro stood at the back of the auditorium and told people that they had a First Amendment right to speak and petition their government.
Oshiro complained that no public notice was given that the hearing would reconvene, so as many as 3,000 people might not know they were supposed to return to the state Capitol in the morning.
"This is not right as far as the public hearing process," Oshiro shouted, "that's what I'm voicing."
Borreca: Political plotting includes GOP bombing own coalition
read ... Friday, Nov 1 830AM
Testimony Hearing Gives Reps Time for Negotiations
SA: Any delay provides more time for opponents to pressure House lawmakers to either kill the bill or expand a religious exemption so broadly that it undermines support in the state Senate.
"We recognize that this issue is one of the most significant issues that we've dealt with in a long time," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully). "And we know that the public has an opinion on this. It's our responsibility to hear from the public."
Saiki and other House leaders have indicated that the religious exemption in the Senate version of the bill that passed Wednesday will likely be expanded.
Clergy and others have a recognized constitutional right to refuse to perform gay weddings, while churches and other religious organizations, under the Senate bill, would have a narrow exemption from the state's public accommodations law provided that the churches do not make religious facilities available to the general public for weddings for a profit.
Several House lawmakers have cited a broader religious exemption in Connecticut's marriage equality law as a potential model. The Connecticut exemption states that a religious organization, association or society, or nonprofit institution or organization controlled by a religious organization, is not required to provide goods or services related to weddings if it violates religious beliefs.
State Attorney General David Louie and William Hoshijo, executive director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, urged lawmakers not to draft a religious exemption that is so expansive that it would gut the public accommodations law.
Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore-Poamoho) and Rep. Jo Jordan (D, Waianae-Makaha-Makua) have recommended a broad religious exemption that would extend beyond churches and religious organizations to also cover individuals and small businesses....
"You may be essentially gutting your public accommodations law," Louie warned.
Hoshijo described the Connecticut exemption as "overly broad." He recommended a religious exemption that does not include "for a profit" as the trigger. Instead, he said, the distinction should be whether there is religious activity involved or whether the primary purpose is producing income, the same criteria used in the tax code.
Hoshijo said a "conscience exemption" for bakers and florists, for example, would open the door to discrimination. "It's important to remember that historically, segregation — Jim Crow — had a basis in religious belief," he said. (Historical Fact: Abolitionism was a 100% religion-based movement.)
Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili-Makiki-Tantalus) asked Lois Perrin, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, whether there is any negligible difference between a law that would say "no Japs allowed" and "no gays allowed."
"Discrimination is discrimination," Perrin said. "Treating people differently is discrimination."
Both Louie and Hoshijo acknowledged that it will likely be up to the courts and the commission to resolve anticipated challenges to the religion exemption and other aspects of the bill if it passes into law.
Oct 20: Hoshijo Announces Plan to Impose Public Accommodations Law on Churches
read ... Negotiations
House Committees Have Votes for Gay Marriage
CB: The 30-member joint committee has at least 20 “yes” votes. Eight reps are expected to vote “no” and two are either undecided or have reservations.
The committees vote independently though. There are 13 members on the Judiciary Committee, of which at least eight are expected to vote “yes.” The Finance Committee has 17 members, of which at least 11 are expected to vote in favor.
read ... Vote Count
Website link to submit same-sex marriage testimony Vanishes
SA: A direct link on the state's website for submitting testimony regarding the same-sex marriage bill has been restored after being inaccessible to the public for 90 minutes.
The direct link disappeared from the website from about the time House Judiciary and Finance committees began hearing testimony at 10 a.m. to around 11:40 a.m.
Rep. Karl Rhoads had announced just before noon that the website was down. However, a website official told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser this afternoon there was never a crash and the public could get to the area to submit testimony through other links on the website.
Just before 11:30 a.m. Rhoads, who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, paused state Attorney General David M. Louie's marathon testimony to announce that the system had been down.
read ... Website testimony
Legal Aid, HCRC: Feds Made Us Do It
CB: The fundamental issue in fair housing is whether or not one’s civil rights have been violated, not a person’s income level. A person’s income has absolutely no bearing on whether they have been the victim of discrimination nor on their ability to file a claim of discrimination with the state agency who is responsible for investigating these claims. Both rich and poor can be discriminated against equally. As such, both deserve the same protections and Legal Aid approaches every complaint of discrimination from this perspective.
Legal Aid is a certified Fair Housing Enforcement Program granted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Legal Aid is the only organization designated as a HUD Fair Housing Enforcement Program in the State. This means that Legal Aid is granted funds by HUD to investigate and enforce any complaints of violations of both federal and state fair housing laws, regardless of a person’s income level.
In fact, all our work within the fair housing context is covered by, and required of Legal Aid by the federal government grant. This grant requires us to assist the public in filing a fair housing complaint regardless of income....
Last, we consider the very title of the article to be misleading. While Mr. Lind refers to several past lawsuits, including two with related discrimination issues, the current dispute which is the main topic of the article is a complaint with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and not a lawsuit as inferred by the title of the article. The Commission exists because of the State’s commitment to the protection of civil rights and allows anyone to file a complaint if they believe they are the victims of discrimination.
Background: Civil Rights Commission Helps Litigious Mainlander Harass Local Family
read ... Proud of It
HHSC Coding, Billing problems Cause of $7.5M Shortfall?
AP: Executives had initially planned to ask for $2.5 million but nearly tripled their request.
The corporation's acting CEO, Alice Hall, submitted written testimony saying $2.5 million would "not be sufficient to cover the overdue bills and obligations of the region."
Hawaii Health Systems' Kauai region has already spent its first two quarters of general funding allocations and borrowed $2 million from the Maui region, she said. It also hasn't paid more than $2 million in its share of "systemwide obligations" to the corporate office.
The emergency funding will only last the Kauai region through the spring, however.
Hall said the corporation must face difficult decisions about services and restructuring to become more cost effective.
"Kauai is the first region to be in this position; others will follow unless we get more funding or reorganize in a fashion that changes our cost structure," Hall said.
The nine-member HHSC Kauai region board said in testimony before the Senate that "significant problems" with the island health system's coding and billing departments are contributing to rising account payable debts. They also blamed a "lack of follow-up processes."
read … Hawaii House approves funds for Kauai hospitals
Interim Board of Education officials OK'd by Senate panel
SA: Abercrombie's two appointments to the state Board of Education received nods from the Senate Education Committee this week.
Following a public hearing Wednesday, the committee unanimously voted in favor of Amy Asselbaye and Patricia Halagao, who were appointed in July as interim members.
The appointments, each for a three-year term ending in 2016, next head for a final vote by the full Sentate expected today....
Asselbaye and Halagao replaced outgoing members Kim Gennaula and Charlene Cuaresma, whose terms ended in July.
The Senate Education Committee also supported gubernatorial nominees Lisa DeLong and Scott Parker to the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board, which sets standards for licensing teachers in Hawaii's public schools.
DeLong is principal at Kailua Intermediate, and Parker is principal at Jefferson Elementary.
read ... New BoE Members
Planner sees need for affordable rental housing around rail stations
SA: Considering how long the debate and planning for rail have gone on already, Harrison Rue could be seen as coming in at one of the later chapters of the saga.
But Rue, hired in July as administrator of the city's Transit Oriented Development (TOD) program, is also here at the climactic part of the story, where the plans for how Honolulu's elevated rail stops transform the city, actually come into play.
Rue, 64, came to Honolulu from his post as a principal with ICF International, a Virginia-based consulting firm where he worked in transportation planning. He's versed in the experiences of other transit developments, pointing to the Seattle project as a savvy realization of light rail through diverse neighborhoods.
read ... Harrison Rue
Honolulu considers selling property to pay for downtown revitalization
PBN: The Council is specifically looking into selling its fee interest in the land beneath the Alii Place office building at 1099 Alakea St. to generate additional revenues for the revitalization of the Downtown/Chinatown area.
Introduced by Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, whose district includes the area in question, the resolution calls for the proceeds from the sale to be used to invest in programs and facilities to combat crime and provide supportive or transitional housing aimed at reducing homelessness.
The city, which is the fee owner of the 1.58-acre Alii Place parcel, collects $205,000 per year for the current ground lease rent.
Bristol Group Inc., which holds a 65-year ground lease on the parcel, has expressed interest in acquiring the city’s fee interest, the resolution said.
read ... Land Sales?
Tighten prison furlough policy
SA: Killers, rapists, armed robbers and other violent criminals go to prison. Hardly any of them stay there....
Michael Lee Carter, a serial rapist whose violent criminal record dates back to 1993, is accused of impersonating a police officer and raping a 21-year-old woman on the grounds of Royal Elementary School on Sept. 15, a Sunday. He was arrested more than a month later in Chinatown. Since June, Carter had been living at Laumaka, the minimum-security facility a block from the Oahu Community Correctional Center, allowed to leave for an approved job during the day and required to return every evening.
To qualify for the furlough program, an inmate must be classified as a minimum security risk who has sustained good behavior behind bars, completed any required programs, such as drug treatment, and be within 24 months of parole. Carter met the standard, DPS officials said....
Nearly 400 inmates statewide — of a total 6,000 incarcerated here and on the mainland — participate in furlough programs. Most of them successfully complete this important step toward reentry to the outside world.
Those who walk away from such programs — as 21 of 360 participants from OCCC did in the past year — face new charges, including escape, which can tack another five years onto their sentences; they also are barred from the program for seven years.....
SA: A prisoner released for a work furlough allegedly attacked a woman Sept. 15
read ... Furlough
Hawaii 10th Highest Alcohol Taxes
NW: NerdWallet took a look at the least tax-friendly states when it comes to imbibing. We crunched to numbers to find the states with the highest taxes on alcohol and compared those numbers with the total volume of beer, wine and spirits consumed in each state. The result? A definitive guide to which states tax their citizens the most for their enjoyment of booze.
PBN: Hawaii among states with highest taxes on alcoholic beverages
read … Hawaii #10
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