SB2435HD1: Will GMO Labeling come back to Life in Frankenbill?
Cornell Prof dismantles claims that GMO crops are “pesticide centered technology”
Challenge Highlights Flaws in Hawaii's Anti-GMO Law
Last Year’s $844 Million Surplus is Borrowed from the Future
Hawaii Legislative Watch: Taxes
Portnoy Lashes out at Zell, Claims Parr Petroleum Hawaii Refinery is at Risk
Hawaii Health Connector Partners with Planned Parenthood
March 25: Small Business Day at the Capitol
Abercrombie Administration Orchestrates Pre-K Rally
If Abercrombie Were Nicer to His Staff They Wouldn't Quit
CB: Gov. Neil Abercrombie could make a Lenten promise to be nicer to his staff to keep so many of them from quitting. For a politician, it looks bad if your constituents start to see your office as a revolving door. You have to wonder if the governor isn’t firing people because they disagree with him or if the employees are leaving because they think he is an inept manager.
At least 15 senior policy people have left by choice or been asked to leave since Abercrombie took office. And it looks like Morita might join the list following reports the governor is disinclined to reappoint her to second term.
read ... The Sacrifices of Lent
Wonderland: OK for Unremarkable, Lazy Liberal to be Unqualified
Borreca: Observers said while Wilson's body of legal work was fine, detractors said it was unremarkable....
Back in 2010 when Republican Gov. Linda Lingle nominated Appeals Court Judge Katherine Leonard as chief judge of the Supreme Court, the bar association said she was unqualified because she didn't have enough experience as an administrator.
The chief judge runs the third branch of government and is a much more important job than an associate position on the high court.
The Senate's lone Republican, Sam Slom, did vote for Democratic nominee Wilson, and the single "no" vote came from a strong Democrat, Maui's Sen. Roz Baker.
"There was something I just couldn't put my finger on — was he the best and brightest; couldn't we do better? I have a nagging doubt," Baker said in a floor speech yesterday.
Getting a thumbs down from the bar association may mean one thing for Republican nominees and something else for Democratic nominees.
Leonard was repeatedly called a brilliant attorney with a fine legal mind. Wilson was called a great guy and was strongly supported by not only the governor, but the governor's wife.
If Alice had attended Monday's session, she would be describing it as "curiouser and curiouser!"
Baker: "I didn't ask anybody else to join me"
read ... Double Standard
Huge Tax Hike Coming: Law mandates unfunded liabilities be paid
KITV: A little known law passed by state lawmakers last year and signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie will take an increasingly larger bite out of state and county budgets to help fund health benefits for government workers....
According to the parameters of Act 268, state and county governments must pay 20 percent of the annual amount needed to fund health benefits for current and retired workers and their families by fiscal year 2015, which begins July 1. Every subsequent fiscal year is then followed by another 20 percent increase until the amount reaches the 100 percent funding level in FY-2019. Once the high mark is reached, payments will continue for the next 30 years.
"There's very little alleviation from it, so it's regardless of economic cycles," said Young.
For state government, the maximum amount of annual contributions is expected to reach $500 million, which will place a tremendous strain on competing programs and initiatives. (Translation: A Huge Tax Hike is Coming)
"It's not just the initial measures that will work, it's the fortitude, or the political will of our leaders to keep going in the right direction and reducing the unfunded liabilities," said Grassroot Institute president Kelii Akina.
read ... Law mandates unfunded liabilities be paid
State health exchange must reduce costs, director says
AP: Sen. Sam Slom, a Republican representing Hawaii Kai and Kuliouou, told Matsuda small business owners in the state grouse about sloppy and slow service in the state's Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP.
Matsuda replied, "We completely acknowledge that."
In a separate committee hearing Monday, House members advanced a bill related to the Health Connector. Senate Bill 2470, which would shrink the body's board to 12 members from 15 and move ahead with amendments, one of which will scrap a proposed sustainability fee and replace it with a general appropriation.
"This is still a work in progress," said Rep. Angus McKelvey (D-West Maui).
read ... Reduce to Zero?
Hawaii Minimum Wage is Really $10.67
SA: Hawaii is the only state that mandates employers to provide health care to their employees, including part-timers who work 20 or more hours per week.
The average annual premium for one employee is about $5,500. For minimum wage employees, $5,273 of their premium is paid by the employer. Add this to the current minimum wage for a full-time employee and the actual benefit paid by an employer to a minimum-wage employee climbs to $9.79 per hour, the highest in the nation. For employees working 30 hours each week, that rises to $10.67 per hour.
read ... Minimum Wage
150 Doctors Back HHSC Privatization
MN: As a Senate bill to transfer Hawaii's public hospitals to a private nonprofit circulates the Legislature, nearly 150 Maui doctors and other health care providers envision its passage as the only means of incorporating teaching medical centers across the islands.
A statement that was reviewed by the supporters and released by Maui Memorial Medical Center's Chief of Staff Dr. Melvin Burton to The Maui News last week calls for the Valley Isle to be the "second medical hub" in Hawaii, "providing the complete spectrum of medical services that current science and technology will allow."
"To that end, we will need a high-quality partner to help us provide the level of care that (people) deserve," according to the statement.
Burton and other physicians in favor of the measure pointed to the current operating losses of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. as one of the chief reasons for their support.
The corporation, which manages and operates MMMC as well as Kula Hospital and Clinic, Lanai Community Hospital and three facilities on the Big Island, had an estimated $46.7 million in operating losses in the Maui Region last fiscal year.
Overall, HHSC had an estimated operating loss of $163.9 million....
Senate Bill 3064 is scheduled to be heard by the House Committee on Health at 10:25 a.m. Wednesday. Online testimony must be received at least 24 hours before the hearing to be considered.
read ... Proponents of teaching hinge hope on private health facilities
Louie: DHHL Controls Geothermal Development, royalties
KITV: Attorney General Louie stated that "following a comprehensive legal analysis by the capable deputy attorneys general in my office, I have concluded that the DHHL has the right to receive all proceeds and income from the available lands, including 100 percent of the royalties derived from geothermal resource development." Based on the analysis of sections 204 and 206 of the HHCA, the opinion also concludes that DHHL is the state entity authorized to manage geothermal resources on Hawaiian home lands.
LINK: Full Text of Opinion
Read ... Geothermal
Na Wai Eha hearings postponed — indefinitely
MN: The Na Wai Eha case hearings, which had been scheduled to begin last week, were postponed for a second time - this time, indefinitely.
Deborah Ward, state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman, said Monday evening that the hearings to determine stream flows for Na Wai Eha, "the Four Great Waters" of Central Maui, have been postponed "to allow the parties to meet and discuss potential avenues of settlement."
This was the second time scheduled hearings on the issue before the state Commission on Water Resource Management have been postponed. They were supposed to begin last week but an announcement was released prior to the first meeting that the hearings were delayed until Monday "for logistical reasons and with the agreement of the parties."
There was no announcement of a postponement this time. Earthjustice attorney Isaac Moriwake appeared at the Kahului Community Center on Monday morning and told a handful of would-be attendants that the hearings - which had been scheduled to span several days over the next two weeks - have been postponed "until further notice."
read ... Postponed
Maui News: Military Cuts Inviting Disaster
MN: Rep. Colleen Hanabusa was quoted as saying the cuts are "inconsistent with our nation's stated goal of a re-balance to the Asia-Pacific region."
We'd argue that the cuts are inconsistent with maintaining an image of strength and dependability to the world.
One small piece of Monday's story was particularly bothersome. The head of the Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Locklear III, was quoted as telling a congressional committee that the United States is waning as a global maritime power. Because of depressed readiness, crisis response "has not been available to the level that I would consider acceptable risk."
With troop levels and defense spending falling, the U.S. is marching right back to the disastrous isolationism of the 1930s. The planned cuts will bring our troop levels below where they were before World War II.
As we look weaker, tinhorn dictators in places like Syria and North Korea will be emboldened. Bullies like Vladimir Putin will thumb their noses at the world and gobble up their neighbors.
ID: North Korea threatens to flex nuclear muscle; fires volley of missiles
read ... Maui News
Legislators are considering bills to require more details of misconduct
SA: The names of police officers who are suspended for a year or more could be disclosed to state lawmakers under a measure moving through the Legislature.
Senate and House lawmakers are considering companion bills that would amend police misconduct disclosure laws by requiring inclusion of more details in annual reports submitted to the Legislature by county police chiefs....
Espero, chairman of the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee, is set to hear the House bill Tuesday afternoon.
"The good news is that both bills are still alive," said Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). "Both bills still have support in each house, and hopefully we'll be able to get one of them to pass."
According to the current drafts of Senate Bill 2591 and House Bill 1812, county police chiefs would be required to submit a list to the Legislature by Jan. 31 of police misconduct that occurred from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 of the previous year and resulted in suspension or discharge.
As dictated by the Legislature, annual reports would have to identify incidents that were committed by the same officer. Currently, the reports are required to include only a summary of the facts and nature of the misconduct and disciplinary action taken.
The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers has submitted testimony throughout the session opposing both bills.
read ... Misconduct
Neighbor island companies fear loss of tourism and higher fares
SA: The departure of go! airlines could hurt neighbor island tourism and lead to higher interisland fares, but the impact will be muted due to the small size of go!
"(Go! was) flying a pretty minimal schedule," said David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "There will be an impact, but not as great as if they were flying six aircraft like they were before. They were down to two aircrafts."
Uchiyama said the only surprise about Monday's announcement that go! will cease operations April 1 was that it took so long to come.
Related:
read ... Higher Fares
Kauai Mayor Proposes Tax Hikes
KGI: To pay for the proposed budget increase some new fees are being pitched, including raising the hotel and resort class real property tax rate from $9 to $11 per $1,000 of valuation and the annual transient vacation rental (TVR) renewal fee from $500 to $750, a move that would offset an estimated 90 percent of the TVR program cost.
Not everyone is wild about raising taxes and fees to pay for the growing budget.
“Naturally, we would hope that the real property tax rate for the hotel/resort class would not increase,” Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa General Manager Jerry Westenhaver wrote in an email Monday about the mayor’s proposal. “The rate is already quite high, and would be a financial burden for all hotels on the island. The cost of doing business on Kauai is already very high and this would make it that much more challenging.”
Carvalho is also resurrecting a move from last year’s budget proposal to raise the county’s solid waste tipping fee from $90 to $119 per ton and the vehicle weight tax by $0.005 for commercial vehicles and $0.0075 for all others.
A bill to raise the vehicle weight tax was killed in a 5-0 vote by the Kauai County Council earlier this year. A separate bill to raise the county’s solid waste tipping fees has been deferred until April 23.
read ... State of the County
Food rules need not cut off needy
SA: Stricter rules intended to maintain standards for the preparation of food for all, including the homeless, were necessary to more fully assure the safety of meals. But care must be taken to minimize the impact on people who need and rely on food service, especially in more remote parts of the state where distances between state-certified kitchens could stand in the way of getting hungry people fed.
Since 2007, kitchens preparing food for the homeless have been allowed to operate outside some of the normal state Department of Health restrictions imposed on kitchens, under an emergency exemption. That exemption is lapsing, being replaced by more stringent regulations that, officials said, will reduce the risk of contamination by food- and water-borne microbes that cause disease.
These rules are part of a range of food-safety regulations imposed on 10,000 restaurants, lunch wagons and food establishments statewide. There's no reason why the same standards shouldn't be maintained for all food service operations.
read ... Food rules need not cut off needy
Hawaii labor force hits a record high
SA: Hawaii's declining unemployment rate still may be far off its all-time low, but there are now more people working in the state than ever before.
The 625,643 employed in January in the state pushed down the unemployment rate by one-tenth of a point to 4.6 percent, according to seasonally adjusted data released Monday from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The previous record for employment was 625,345 in January 2007.
January's unemployment rate was the lowest since September 2008, when it also hit 4.6 percent....
Hawaii's population grew 1 percent to 1.40 million in 2013 from 1.39 million the year before. But even with the growth, the 30,255 categorized as unemployed were the fewest since September 2008, when there were 29,741 unemployed. The number of unemployed doesn't include those people who have become so discouraged that they've stopped looking for work.
The labor force, which is made up of people who are employed and those who are unemployed but looking for work, was 655,898 in January, up by 2,209 from 653,689 in December and up by 8,494 from 647,404 in January 2013....
Background: Unemployment: Nearly 7% of Hawaii Workers Quit Looking
read ... Hawaii labor force hits a record high
Clear Legal Sanctions Can Get Users Off Drugs
NYT: A far better alternative to forcing drug treatment on unwilling offenders is to enforce the rule against using heroin and other “hard” illegal drugs with frequent drug testing and the promise of a short jail stay after every missed or positive drug test. Time after time (in the District of Columbia Drug Court experiment, SWIFT in Texas, HOPE in Hawaii,WISP in Washington, 24/7 Sobriety for drunk drivers in South Dakota), programs using swift, certain and fair (S.C.F.) sanctions have far outperformed treatment mandates in reducing drug consumption, repeat offending and the time offenders spend behind bars.
By encouraging those who can quit without treatment to do so, the S.C.F. approach allows treatment providers to concentrate on clients who want their help, plus those who demonstrate their need for help by being unable to quit under the threat of sanctions. S.C.F. isn’t a competitor with treatment, but a complement to it.
read ... HOPE Probation
Hawaii mayors on pros and cons of GM crops on their islands
HB: Maui’s mayor, Alan Arakawa: Our County Council is reviewing the Kauai bill. Everyone is waiting to see what happens. But almost all of the fruits and vegetables we have in Hawaii have been genetically modified. I’ve been a farmer most of my life, and grew up on a farm, and have done a lot of crossing of different kinds of plants because it was so expensive to buy seedlings. With fruit trees, I’ve grafted, for instance, the Hawaiian lemon root stock with other citrus. Almost all the Haden mangoes are grafted. We marry the things we want in a crop using GMO by putting two different kinds of genes together to create what you want.
GMO is an issue brought up both nationally and internationally, I think, because people hate the idea of big companies having the seeds and the control of an industry. It started as an anti-big-conglomerates movement rather than a science-is-bad movement. After all, every research group researching agricultural products is doing some type of genetic modifying. And look at what else we’re doing: We’re putting animal parts into humans. For instance, human heart valves are being replaced with pig valves. Is that bad?
read ... Hawaii Business
Group developing school standards exams delays ‘field test’
ST: The organization developing new exams for public-school systems in Washington and several other states from Hawaii to Connecticut got cold feet late last week and delayed a trial run that was supposed to begin on Tuesday.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium informed Washington education officials late last Thursday that the “field test” of the new exam, which will be taken on computers, won’t begin until March 25, next Tuesday.
The exams — designed to measure student progress on the new Common Core standards for college and career readiness — will be given for real starting in 2015. They will replace the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) tests for grades three through eight in math and English.
read ... Delay
Fire Department: Solar Panels Cause Shock Hazard
KHON: Fujio says the state was contacted about the loose panels and he was assured that the panels were secured, but KHON2 could see the panels were easily accessible to anyone who walked around to the back of the building.
KHON2 informed the fire department about the loose panels and was told not to touch anything because there is the danger of a shock hazard, if a number of panels were still connected and carried a charge, with wires damaged and exposed.
Capt. Carlton Yamada, of the Honolulu Fire Dept., says the hazard applies to any kind of photovoltaic system. “Whether it is a string inverter type or a micro inverter setup, it is considered dangerous if it is blown off a roof or involved in a fire,” he said. Capt. Yamada advised people facing this situation to call 911 and the fire department would isolate the area around the debris and work to ensure it is safe.
As for the risk of exposure in this case, the state released a statement saying, “We are still in the process of determining the sequence of events and do not have enough information to address the issue at this time.”
read ... Shock Hazard
Legislative Motion:
QUICK HITS: