House Passes More than 200 Bills on to Senate
Heritage Foundation: Hawaii HOPE Probation Potentially Worthwhile
Video: Grassroot Institute Talks with Tom Yamachika, Tax Foundation of Hawaii
Obama Reappoints Abercrombie to Council of Governors
GMO Protests Could Save DoE Money
February 28, 2014: Election Commission Releases Updated Candidate List
Hannemann has strong words for Hawaii Democrats
KHON: “I’ve been shunted and pushed aside for many years because I don’t adhere to the party platform,” Hannemann told KHON2 exclusively. “I’ve faced major repercussions, so I think it’s no secret that I’ve not been treated well.
“I’m an independent, I’m a moderate, I’m a centrist, so I’m looking to move forward and not look behind me,” he added. “I want to make sure that this is an opportunity not only for myself, but for others.” (Fun for readers: Count the "I's".)
The leaders of the Hawaii Independent Party come from both sides of the aisle. Former Maui County (Democrat) Mayor Charmaine Tavares (Known mostly for defeating Republican Alan Arakawa and then losing to him) was raised in a Republican household (That's the best they can do for a Republican?) while realtor Michelle Del Rosario is a former Democratic party official....
“We intend to be viable and to field a slate of candidates that will be competitive,” said Del Rosario....
The Hawaii Independent Party’s initial formation meeting will begin in late March with the first meeting likely to be held on Oahu....
read ... Hannemann has strong words for Hawaii Democrats
Abercrombie Signs Bill with Smiley Face, Condemning Hundreds of Hawaii teachers to Layoff
HNN: The fallout for Hawaii students and teachers this fall could be huge.
Thousands of students will not meet the new July 31st cutoff to start kindergarten and hundreds of jobs are at stake.
Schools are urging parents to enroll their children now so there's not a last minute crisis.
Governor Neil Abercrombie signed the School Readiness bill into law last year with a smiley face....the union says hundreds will lose their jobs...."Close to 300 teachers" said Okabe.
Two concerned Principals we spoke with say they won't know how big a hit their staff could take until the next school year starts. By then, parents caught off guard by the change will have to scramble to place their kids.
KCAA Preschools has been gearing up for a potential boost in enrollment. (Ca-ching!)
However, HSTA's President doesn't think providers can pick up the slack. As Okabe explained, "They have waiting lists to get into. They would have to build facilities, hire teachers. We're very concerned about this impact."
Cost is another concern, with preschool tuition averaging $800 dollars a month. Right now, less than half of Hawaii children attend preschool.
HSTA believes that cutting Junior kindergarten and pushing back the birth date to enter kindergarten by 5 months will cause even more children to fall behind.
read ... Hundreds of Hawaii teachers could lose jobs with Kindergarten change
Eligible families have until April 30 to file applications for Preschool Tuition Vouchers
SA: Lower-income families can begin applying Saturday for $7.6 million worth of preschool tuition subsidies, with most of the funding targeted to help a set of children who will be too young to enter kindergarten next year.
An eligible family can receive up to $710 a month for its child to attend a licensed preschool.
Applications for the state-run Preschool Open Doors program will be accepted until April 30 for the 2014-15 school year, and can be found at patchhawaii.org.
The average cost to attend an accredited preschool in Hawaii is $803 a month. About 40 percent of 4-year-olds in the state attend preschool.
Last legislative session, lawmakers scaled down Gov. Neil Abercrombie's early education initiatives and converted a $25 million school readiness proposal into a $6 million expansion of Preschool Open Doors, a child care program already existing under the Department of Human Services.
read ... Abercrombie's Voucher Program
Obamacare behind $101M HMSA Operating Loss, Ratehikes Coming
PBN: The Hawaii Medical Service Association reported a $44.4 million net loss, after taxes, for all of 2013, compared to a net gain of $8.6 million in 2012.
The loss for last year represented 1.7 percent Hawaii’s largest health insurer’s annual revenue, the company said Saturday....
“We’re fortunate that strong investment markets helped boost our investment income last year,” Steve Van Ribbink, HMSA’s chief financial and services officer and treasurer, said in a statement. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
HMSA earned $57.1 million from investments last year, more than double its earnings from 2012. HMSA’s reserve is maintained at $391.5 million, or $540 per member.
Do The Math: $44.1M loss + $57.1M investment income = $101.2M Operating Loss
SA: Obamacare costs drag down HMSA for $39M 4Q loss
read ... Hawaii Medical Service Association reports $44.4M loss for 2013
HGEA Unit 9 nurses Agree to Contract, get 8% raise
WHT: ...On Friday, the Hawaii Government Employees Association Bargaining Unit 9 announced that its members had “overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year contract,” covering the period of July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2015, with 99 percent voting to approve the agreement.
Effective Jan. 1, the union members will receive a 4 percent salary increase, followed by a 4.3 percent increase July 1. Meanwhile, the union negotiated a 60 percent-40 percent employer/employee split on the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund health insurance premium.
In an emailed response sent Friday afternoon, Hawaii Health Systems Corp. East Hawaii Regional CEO Howard N. Ainsley said the nurses deserve to see a pay increase, but warned that the added financial burden could negatively impact the operation of island safety net hospitals.
“We value our nurses and are pleased that their contributions are recognized in the form of pay increases,” he said. “However, these increases come with a financial cost that greatly impacts the hospital. We especially hope that the governor and legislature fully fund these increases so that they do not negatively affect our ability to serve our patients and community.”
News Release: HGEA members ratify 2013-2015 contract for Bargaining Unit 9 (February 27, 2014)
Reality: HHSC: HGEA/UPW Employees Earn Less but Cost More
read ... Just in time for First Crossover
Predictable Caldwell Proposes $34.2M Property Tax Hike
HNN: His budget proposal unveiled Friday would create a new property class for homes that are not owner occupied and are worth $1 million or more.
There are about 7,300 of those second homes on Oahu, many of them owned by non-residents who spend only a few weeks or months on the island. Caldwell wants those homes to be taxed at about 36 percent higher than most homes on Oahu that are occupied by their owners, bringing in an additional $26 million a year to the city budget.
For the first time in seven years, Caldwell also wants to raise hotel and resort property tax rates by about 8 percent. That hike would generate about $8.2 million a year in extra revenue.
SA: Caldwell's tax targets
read ... Caldwell Again Want More Tax Hikes
Tip Credit: Hee Fails to Screw Restaurants, Makes up Bizarre Excuse
WHT: Repealing Hawaii’s 25-cent tip credit was a goal for supporters of the Senate bill that now looks unlikely. A tip credit allows an employer to count a given amount of workers’ tips toward their hourly wage, in effect reducing the worker’s pay by that amount.
Sen. Clayton Hee, a Democrat representing Waialua and Koolauloa, who introduced the bill, said in an interview that he sought to repeal the tip credit because he views it as fundamentally unfair.
“It adds up to a lot of money,” Hee said. “The money is being made off the backs of the working poor. If the legislature wishes to provide a tax credit to restaurants, they should do it straight up. If that is the prevailing sentiment, it would be paid by all taxpayers and not just the minimum wage earner....
read ... Hee Fails, Makes up Excuses
As Homeless Continue to Refuse Shelter, Hawaii advances bill to fine lying at bus stops
AP: Lying down and obstructing a bus stop would become a form of disorderly conduct under a bill passed by the Hawaii House of Representatives.
The misdemeanor could result in a $50 fine.
The measure, HB 2409, is aimed at keeping bus stops clear for travelers. (And make refusal of shelter more difficult for bums.)....
In support of the bill, Rep. Karl Rhoads, a Democrat of Kalihi and Palama, said the needs of people without homes must be balanced against the needs of people who use transit.
"If you can't use a bus stop, it does pose a problem," he said on the House floor. "There are many, many people who are intimidated by people lying down at the bus stop."
The House debate was a pointed moment of give-and-take on the floor, where business often ranges between ceremony and rote procedure. The House ultimately passed the bill 39-11 Thursday, sending it to the Senate for a vote.
read ... Compassionate Pressure
SB 451: Reform the PUC
IM: Two Senate Committees gave five days’ notice that they were changing the content of a Senate Bill. The old topic was aerial transport enterprises. This was replaced with content to re-vamp the Public Utilities Commission and the office of the Consumer Advocate.
The Public Utilities Commission is authorized to have 65 employees but has only 40 due to a lack of designated space and the reluctance by the Administration to do anything about it.
SB 451 is a positive first step forward in an effort to modernize the PUC. It will enable the number of PUC staff positions to increase. It gives more power to the PUC to control itself. It allows for higher salaries.
read ... SB451
HECO revises standards for rooftop PV systems
SA: Hawaiian Electric Co. and its subsidiaries have issued new specifications for the installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic systems that the utility says will allow more homeowners to put up PV panels in neighborhoods with high levels of solar power generation.
The new technical standards specify the speed at which a PV system needs to be able to disconnect from the circuit in the event of a voltage spike, according to information HECO sent to PV installers Wednesday.
The HECO companies developed the new guidelines in consultation with the local PV industry in response to the utility's concern that excessive amounts of solar energy being generated by rooftop systems could have adverse effects on the utility's electric grid. The guidelines apply only to smaller PV systems with a generating capacity of 10 kilowatts or less.
read ... Rooftop Solar
Star-Adv Backs Increased fees on developers
SA: The rise in fees was expected to get a final City Council vote last week but hit a political snag and was sent back to its Budget Committee; Bill 70 (2013) has since been amended in committee and advanced for full Council vote.
The 40 or so fees being discussed would affect mostly large-scale developers and have little effect on individual property owners. For instance, applications for all conditional-use permits for meeting facilities, day care facilities and schools would cost $1,200 double the current $600 for a major conditional use permit plus $300 an acre up to a maximum of $15,000 (current maximum is capped at $10,000).
New processing fees would be levied: $600 for an environmental assessment, and $1,200 for an environmental impact statement....
read ... Increased fees on developers
Kenoi’s Proposed $412M Budget Highest in Six Years--Nothing for Pension Debts
BIN: Mayor Billy Kenoi has proposed a $412.6 million Hawaii County budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, an increase of $18.4 million or 4.6% over the county’s current spending plan.
It marks the second annual increase in a row in the county’s budget after five years of declining spending.
But unlike last year, this year’s budget does not include any increases in property taxes.
It is also be the first to show an increase – of $9.4 million or 2.3% — over the budget he inherited when he took office in 2008....
Kenoi’s budget message did not specifically mention any contributions to future pension liabilities, commonly called the GASB 45 account.
H24/7: County News Release
read ... Highest
Soft on Crime: Manslaughter conviction set aside in Maili fatal beating case
SA: The Hawaii Supreme Court set aside a man's manslaughter conviction Friday for the 2009 beating of his estranged wife's boyfriend with a 2-foot-long metal reinforcing bar.
The high court ruled that Circuit Judge Karen Ahn should have permitted the jury to consider the lesser offense of first-degree assault.
Kaeo, 49, went on trial on a charge of murdering Charles Kahumoku Jr., 49, who died from head injuries in the May 8, 2009 beating in Maili.
The jury returned a verdict convicting Kaeo of the lesser manslaughter charge of recklessly killing Kahumoku. Kaeo received a prison term of between 6 2/3 years to 20 years in prison.
In the appeal, Kaeo's lawyers said the judge should have granted the defense request of allowing the jurors the option of returning a verdict on the lesser offense of first-degree assault, which carries a maximum 10-year term. (Either way, he'll be out soon.)
read ... It Goes All the Way to the Top
PBN Focus on Jones Act for NJ Salt Shortage
PBN: State officials thought they had found a solution when they discovered an extra 40,000 tons of rock salt for sale up in Searsport, Maine.
The state bought the salt but ran into problems getting it to New Jersey — despite the fact that there was an enormous, empty cargo ship, sitting at the Searsport port, headed down to Newark.
"I mean, it was just like serendipity," says Joe Dee, chief of staff with the New Jersey Department of Transportation. "Here's this ship that's big enough to take 40,000 tons of salt, on its way to Newark anyway. This is perfect."
But standing between that pile of salt and the port of Newark was an ancient law. Stemming back to the 1600s, reaffirmed in its modern form in 1920, it's called the Jones Act. Under the Jones Act, if you want to bring something from one U.S. port to another, you have to use an American-built ship, flying an American flag, with a mostly American crew.
And that ship up in Maine was from the Marshall Islands. So it was a no go. "It seems a little ridiculous," Dee says, "when there's such a simple, elegant solution staring you in the face."
The only ship that the New Jersey Department of Transportation could find, to bring down the rock salt from Maine, is a barge that carries 9,500 tons at a time. So it will take a couple of weeks for all of the salt to make it to Newark.
read ... Old Law, Snowy Winter
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