Djou: “Obamacare’s punitive costs and punishing demands hurt working people”
DoT Director Glenn Okimoto Flees Abercrombie Administration
OHA to John Kerry: Is Hawaii Really a State?
May 9, 2014: Election Commission Releases Updated Candidate List
Gawker: Hawaii Anti-GMO Speaker a "Cock-Fixated Megalomaniac Email Addict"
Hawaii GOP Convention Registration Open
Hawaii Exiting Inflated Asian Oil Markets, Will Buy from Mexico
Want energy independence? Waive the Jones Act
Video: Grassroot and Buckeye on School Choice
HMSA CEO: Shut Down Hawaii Health Exchange
AP: Michael Gold, president and CEO of Hawaii Medical Services Association, says the state shouldn't keep spending money on the Hawaii Health Connector, a system that he says is financially unsustainable and does not work.
"I think there's an alternative that Hawaii needs to pursue immediately," Gold said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Hawaii should ask the federal government for an exception to the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires states to set up and run their own insurance exchanges, Gold said. He thinks businesses should buy approved plans directly from insurance companies, as they have done in the past. Individuals would do the same, or the federal government could take over that part of the exchange, he said.
Lawmakers on Friday were outraged at Gold's assertion that the state hasn't already pursued flexibility from federal requirements. Rep. Angus McKelvey of West Maui said they sought waivers from the federal government and were told they had to wait until 2017....
Gold said trying to sustain the exchange is the wrong approach because it would cost the public too much, either through fees on insurance companies or taxes.
"The real question is how do you, in a sense, get out from under the Connector, and use the assets that Hawaii has already to get to the aims of the Affordable Care Act?" Gold said.
Hawaii already had a relatively low number of uninsured people because of its Prepaid Health Care Act, which requires employers to provide subsidized insurance to workers. Because of that 1974 law, Hawaii can argue it already was meeting the Affordable Care Act's goals, Gold said.
Gold said insurance companies can manage tax credits, one part of the exchange that had big problems during open enrollment....
the Legislature passed a bill last week that directs the Connector to remove insurance companies from its board.
"It's very funny how when this bill removing insurers is going to the governor that all of a sudden now, HMSA, who sat on this exchange, is calling for its dismantle," McKelvey said....
read ... Shut Down Health Exchange
Gold released the following statement Friday afternoon
KITV: "Hawaii’s situation is unique. Thanks to our current insurance laws, which have been in place for more than 40 years, all Hawaii companies must provide health insurance for employees who work more than 20 hours a week. The cost to keep the Hawaii Health Connector open, as a place for businesses to buy health insurance, far outweighs the benefits."
"Hawaii can save significantly by having businesses go directly to health insurers. HMSA is set up to meet that demand. Efficiently and economically. Spending millions of dollars for the Hawai'i Health Connector to act as a middleman for the business market doesn’t make financial sense."
"We need the governor to seek a waiver from the federal government this year. Hawaii can make an excellent case why it doesn’t need the Shop (the online health plan marketplace for businesses). If we wait until 2017, when the Affordable Care Act says states can apply for waivers, millions more will have been spent unnecessarily."
"There are benefits to having an online marketplace for individuals because of the tax subsidy. If not the Hawaii Health Connector, then the federal exchange. The amount of individuals who signed up for a health plan through the Connector justifies the individual marketplace. The same can’t be said for the business side."
read ... Lawmakers baffled by Gold's remarks
DHHL Preferential Treatment for Malama Solomon
SA: ...warping of rules seems to be occurring over the 125-acre ranching homestead of Flora Solomon, who has a 99-year lease with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands -- and is the mother of state Sen. Malama Solomon.
For more than a decade, Flora Solomon has violated DHHL rules that permit just one residential building plus a workers' quarters on her lot; at least four houses now exist among nine structures. This is not a ranch lot with one residence, as rules intend; it is a residential compound.
Now, Flora Solomon is seeking Hawaii County approval to subdivide her idyllic Waimea parcel into three smaller, 40-plus-acre lots, each containing at least two existing structures. Instead of cracking down on the violations, landowner DHHL is supporting her move.
Critics are rightly resentful, including Blossom Feiteira, president of the Association of Hawaiians for Homestead Lands, who advocates for beneficiaries waiting for homesteads: "It's obvious that the department chooses when to bend the rules and when not to. ... This absolutely smacks of preferential treatment."
read ... DHHL should enforce its rules
Hee to announce run for Lt. Governor?
CB: Sen. Clayton Hee has scheduled an announcement for a “bid for office” on Mother’s Day (today) at Iolani Palace.
Princess Abigail Kawananakoa and former Governor Ben Cayetano are expected to attend.
read ... Is Clayton Hee Running for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii?
Gabbard Voter Registration Mailer to 76,000 unregistered persons
SA: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, concerned about Hawaii's low voter turnout, is sending out voter registration forms to more than 76,500 residents who are not registered for the August primary.
The Hawaii Democrat also included a personal message explaining that people have the chance to make a profound impact in their community by registering. The congresswoman used her official mass-mailing privilege — known as "franking" — to send the taxpayer-financed mailers on voter registration, an idea she got from some of her colleagues in Congress....
Gabbard said many people who do not vote, in Hawaii and across the country, are frustrated. "They don't necessarily always see the results for what their lawmakers are doing," she said, "and therefore may not see the direct connection, or feel that motivation, as to why they should actually take the time to go out and vote."
Pat Saiki, chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party, said she would make voter registration a priority for the GOP this year. "Our state has the lowest voter participation of any state in the nation. We should be ashamed and embarrassed that less than 50 percent of our registered voters have taken the trouble to participate in elections," she said in a statement. "Under my leadership the party has launched a voter registration drive across the state. We are taking a decentralized approach and taking the challenge through the party ranks to energize voter participation."
read ... Voter Registration
HB2590: No Proof of Residency Needed for Same-Day Registration
SA: House Bill 2590 passed 24-1 in the state Senate, with only Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Kahala-Hawaii Kai) voting "no." But 10 senators voted "yes" with reservations. In the House the vote was 40-10, and 15 lawmakers voted "yes" with reservations.
Ing said he believes lawmakers do not like changes that could alter the voter composition of their districts. "It isn't easy for legislators to agree on altering their voting populations and jeopardizing their job security," he said. "So I'm proud of my colleagues for doing so in the name of a stronger democracy."
But several lawmakers cited a late revision to the bill in conference committee, which deleted a requirement that registration clerks demand proof of residency from people who want to register late. People who register to vote now take an oath stating that their name, Social Security number, date of birth, citizenship status and residency are accurate, but do not have to show proof of residency.
Clerks, however, have the discretion — and would under the bill — to demand that people furnish substantiating evidence about residency.
Eleven states and the District of Columbia have authorized same-day voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and proof of residency is usually a key requirement.
Rep. Beth Fukumoto (R, Mililani-Mililani Mauka-Waipio Acres), who had been a co-sponsor of Ing's bill, voted "no" because of the revision. She believes same-day voter registration can be viable, but not without stronger proof of residency. She pointed to the mishaps that occurred during the 2012 elections, when precincts opened late in Hawaii County in the primary, which led Abercrombie to extend voting hours, and precincts on Oahu ran out ballots during the general election, which caused a delay in reporting election results.
"On the day of the election, so much can go wrong — and so much is already going wrong — that I felt like the last thing we needed was another Election Day debacle," Fukumoto said. "Because that's going to really make people not want to vote anymore."
read ... Voter Fraud
Hawaii Pacific Health reportedly interested in partnering with Hawaii Health Systems Corp.
PBN: Big Island Sen. Josh Green, D-Kona-Kau, who introduced a bill to restructure Hawaii Health Systems Corp., said HPH had expressed interest in some of its facilities on Kauai and Maui.
“It is my understanding that HPH was eager to partner with Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital,” Green said on Thursday, after returning from the Garden Isle, where he attended an emergency meeting of the hospital system’s Kauai Region. “It was an opportunity they wanted, and it would have benefitted all people in the region. I was hoping my colleagues would see the benefit of passing that bill so Kauai could begin to execute partnership plans.”
Scott McFarland, regional CEO for HHSC's Kauai facilities — Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital and its four medical clinics plus Kapaa's Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital — said he and a potential local partner signed a non-disclosure agreement and therefore he could not confirm if HPH was involved.
2009: Legislative Report: Convert HHSC to non-profit, dump civil service (full text)
read ... Hawaii Pacific Health
Act 37: HECO to Stick Ratepayers with Cost of old plants 'Stranded' by growth of alt energy
IM: Constance Lau then discussed Act 37-2013 (SB120 SD1): “Last year and as referred to by the PUC in its recent guidelines, Hawaii adopted Act 37, which provides the PUC with, among other mechanisms, options to protect the utility against stranded assets.”
Act 37 authorized the Public Utilities Commission to grant the utility one or more financial mechanisms designed to incentive their efforts to increase the use of renewable energy.
“The Consumer Advocate has difficulty accepting the concept of providing financial incentives to the electric utilities for carrying out that which they should be doing as part of their regularly conducted activities.”
Life of the Land noted that the bill proclaimed that “electric ratepayers are demanding immediate relief from increasing electricity rates,” but then proposed a pro-utility solution: give utilities incentives, stranded cost recovery and higher profit margins.
The 2013 Legislature gutted HB 1405 which have required the PUC to disclose pricing information to ratepayers upon their approval of utility contracts to buy electricity from independent power producers.
Life of the Land felt that the twin effects of passing SB 120 and the failed attempted to pass HB 1405 meant that consumers and ratepayers will be kept in the dark about their increased financial burden while the utilities would increase their profits.
Utility and regulatory watchdogs will have to carefully monitor any application or use of Act 37.
read ... Should Ratepayers pay for stranded assets?
Hawaiian Electric cut oil imports by 3M barrels
PBN: Hawaiian Electric Co.'s use of renewable energy on its electrical grid avoided the importing of 3 million barrels of fuel last year, which amounted to $350 million in savings, the president and CEO of its parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries, said this week at HEI's annual shareholders meeting.
Constance Lau said that about 10 percent of its customers have solar energy systems and that 18 percent of the energy on HECO's grid is renewable, more than the 15 percent the company had targeted at this stage.
“We have integrated distributed renewables at a record-setting pace,” she said. “We are making Hawaii a leader in clean energy.”
read ... 3M Barrels
Geothermal debated by Hawaii County Democrats
BIVN: ...a proposed change to the platform would have eliminated the sentence, “including energy independence via geothermal as the base load carrier.” The removal of the line drew the applause of many in the crowd of delegates gathered at Sanga Hall that day.
Robertson continued to read from the platform, “we encourage government officials to require utilities to provide for the unlimited use of solar power.” Again, more applause.
The proposed removal drew heavy opposition from Democrats like Senator Malama Solomon, Patti Cook, and Greg Gauthier. In favor of the removal were Steve Sparks and Frankie Stapleton.
Ultimately, the delegates voted 58 to 28 in favor of retaining the language....
read ... Nuts Lose 2-1
BJ Penn’s mother returns to politics with slightly altered name
WHT: Shin, whose son is mixed martial arts fighter BJ Penn, said she will use the name Lorraine Pualani Shin-Penn on the ballot and in campaign material as she seeks the at-large position for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The Hilo businesswoman said she is officially keeping her maiden name but is using “Penn” to help with name recognition.
read ... BJ Penn’s mother returns to politics with slightly altered name
Homeless highschooler overwhelmed by reaction
HNN: Victoria, her brother and mother have lived on the street for a year. It's the second time they have been homeless. Victoria's room is the back of a pickup truck. Viewers reacted to her honesty with job offers for her mom, housing assistance, and personal notes on Victoria's Facebook page.
"Somebody said, 'I feel helpless. I can't do anything for you.' I said, 'You're not helpless. You're helping me by giving me these encouraging words.' That's all I want," she said.
There are more than 2,400 homeless students in Hawaii's public schools. Victoria is one of several at Waipahu High School. Vice principal Alvan Fukuhara said Victoria telling her story has had a ripple effect.
"What's awesome is people that want to help, they're asking, 'How can we help Victoria?' But also, 'How can we help other students at Waipahu High School?'" he said....
Many people called Waipahu High school offering to help pay for her college tuition. The school has started a scholarship fund.
"Write a money order or a cashier's check to Waipahu High School. Somewhere on there, write Care of Victoria Cuba Scholarship," Fukuhara said.
Victoria graduates on May 27. She plans to attend the University of Hawaii in the fall. She is overwhelmed by the outpouring of aloha.
read ... Charity not Welfare
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