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Monday, June 30, 2014
June 30, 2014 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:18 PM :: 5554 Views

Liliuokalani 1895: “Monarchy is Forever Ended, Republic of Hawaii is only lawful Government”

Dozens Rally at Capitol for Religious Freedom

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted June 30, 2014

NYT: Abercrombie Conspiracy Theory Rocks Primary

NYT: Eighteen months later, the decision to defy one of the most popular politicians in Hawaii history has come back to rock Mr. Abercrombie and the Democratic Party, setting off a backlash that threatens to topple both Mr. Schatz and the governor — who had already been struggling during an occasionally tumultuous first term — in the Democratic primary on Aug. 9....

To add to the intrigue, President Obama, who grew up in Honolulu, has made a rare intervention in a Democratic primary. He has endorsed Mr. Schatz, who supported him in the 2008 Democratic presidential contest; Ms. Hanabusa and Mr. Inouye backed Hillary Rodham Clinton. As a result, the primary vote is shaping up as test of clout between a living president and a dead senator.

Mr. Abercrombie’s primary opponent is David Ige, a longtime member of the State Senate. In a poll released this month by Honolulu Civil Beat, an online news organization, Mr. Ige led Mr. Abercrombie 48 percent to 37 percent, a particularly stunning result, given that the governor’s spending on television advertising had dwarfed that of Mr. Ige....

If the act of defying Mr. Inouye was not enough, Mr. Abercrombie also suggested in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in April that the deathbed letter dispatched by Mr. Inouye was a fabrication. Mr. Abercrombie later apologized to Mr. Inouye’s widow. But Democrats here say the remark might motivate Japanese-Americans in a way Mr. Inouye would never have been able to do from the grave....

Randy Perreira, the executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which is supporting Mr. Schatz, said that while enough time had passed that damage for Mr. Schatz had ebbed, the remarks “resurrected some feelings that were fading.”

“The governor created more problems for himself than anyone else,” he said. “It gave an opportunity to his challenger, Senator Ige, that perhaps wasn’t there before.”...

As for the governor, even if Mr. Abercrombie survives the primary because of his financial might — and his longtime alliance with Mr. Obama — he still faces what could be a tough three-way general election campaign.

Background: Neil Abercrombie Conspiracy Theory Claims Inouye Letter Conspiracy

read ... A Disregarded Request From a Beloved Senator Shakes Up Hawaii’s Primary

Akina for OHA: Stop Dividing Hawaii's People

CB: “OHA urgently needs to be reformed,” said Kelii Akina, president of the conservative Grassroot Institute. “I’m running so that OHA will stop dividing Hawaii’s people by pursuing a race-based nation.”

Akina, who lost a 2012 OHA race, continued: “Instead, OHA needs to be spending its financial resources on meeting the real needs of Hawaiians for housing, employment and education. And it needs to be uniting Hawaii’s people.”

read ... Akina for OHA

Small Business: Health Connector a Huge Waste of Time

SA: "I had quite a bit of interaction with them, none of which ever came to fruition. It was a rather strenuous, time-consuming process that resulted in a big circle," said Don Wakeman, owner of Aloha Key Awards & Gifts, who provides insurance for eight employees, all of whom could qualify for tax credits on the Connector.

Wakeman said he unsuccessfully tried to get rate quotes on the Connector for each of his workers. For at least one employee, he is paying about $394 monthly through University Health Alliance, and was quoted $778 a month for a comparable plan on the Connector, though he anticipated a 46.7 percent tax credit.

The Connector was "not willing or are unable to provide me with rate quotes on each of my employees even though I provided them all the information … so I quit," he said. "They did not have resources to provide me with the information to make an informed decision. It was a huge waste of time."

So far the exchange has struggled to attract employers to the online marketplace, enrolling just 965 employees and their dependents as of June 21, according to the Connector's website, which listed 643 as the number of employers that have applied.

The Connector has been funded by $204.3 million in federal grants, but access to that money expires at year's end.

read ... Huge Waste of Time and Money

Star-Adv: Focus Sit-Lie Ban on Waikiki

SA: The Honolulu City Council is getting ahead of itself by attempting to expand the scope of a proposed anti-loitering ordinance that wisely would limit initial enforcement to the Waikiki Special District.

Bill 42, proposed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell, would ban routinely sitting or lying down on public sidewalks in Waikiki 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except during permitted activities such as parades or protests.

It's important right now to craft an anti-loitering law that can stand up in court, since "sit-lie" ordinances like the one Caldwell has proposed, and which councilmembers seek to expand, are routinely challenged by homeless people and their legal advocates....

Unlike the existing stored-property ordinance, which has city work crews removing homeless people's possessions that block the right-of-way on public sidewalks, the sit-lie ban would be enforced by Honolulu police. We must be realistic about the amount of time and effort police officers can devote to this issue, while simultaneously keeping a handle on more serious crime.

Given all these considerations, the Council should back off the competing, expanded bills and instead focus on passing Bill 42, which is modeled on a Seattle law that has been upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Waikiki is the economic engine of our state's tourist economy and is disproportionately affected by homelessness. Rolling out a sit-lie ban there makes the most sense, even though it provides but a partial solution.

SA: Waikiki Businesses may revive mainland repatriation initiative

read ... Keep focus on Waikiki for 'sit-lie' ban

40% of Public Schools Lack Librarian

CB: Two out of every five regular public schools in Hawaii lack qualified full-time librarians, according to Department of Education data. More than half of those schools are on the neighbor islands, meaning the shortfall is more concentrated in the places with the most limited access to library resources in the first place. While 25 percent of Oahu’s 167 regular public schools lack certified librarians, the percentage on the Big Island, for example, is 55 percent. Lanai doesn’t have any school librarians.

And those numbers are on the rise. The DOE recently told Civil Beat of an additional 10 vacancies as of late June, six of which are at neighbor-island schools. Oahu schools with newly announced vacancies include Waianae Intermediate and Castle High.

read ... Hawaii’s School Librarians: No Longer at a Campus Near You?

Schatz Pushes to Take Act 215/221 Tax Credit Scams National

AP: Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy has introduced legislation that would create a federal tax credit for “angel” investors in technology startup businesses.

Murphy modeled the federal legislation after a state tax credit that Connecticut established in 2010 and has proved successful in attracting investors for new companies. Connecticut’s junior senator was joined by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in sponsoring the Angel Tax Credit Act in the Senate, while U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, and Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., introduced it in the House.

“I’m convinced that startups are and will continue to be a big part of the economic future of Connecticut and New Haven,” Murphy said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “That why this legislation is so vital.”

An “angel” investor is defined as someone who lends money to small startups and entrepreneurs at more favorable terms than other investors. In many cases, angel investors are members of an entrepreneur’s family or their friends.

The Angel Tax Credit Act would allow this type of investor to claim a tax credit equal to 25 percent of their aggregate qualifying equity investments of $25,000 or more to U.S.-based high-tech startups. Murphy said the legislation specifically prohibits banks, investment firms and other types of institutional investors from taking advantage of these tax credits....

“Of course there will be a short term cost to the treasury,” he said....

read ... Billionaire Giveaway

Bill Could Outlaw Hawaii Internet Sales Tax

BNA: For some states, however, that revenue isn't hypothetical. Jurisdictions in seven states—Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin—currently collect Internet access taxes because their tax laws existed before the initial moratorium, enacted by the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act, according to the CBO.

Goodlatte's bill, in addition to making the moratorium permanent, strikes this “grandfather clause.”

“Eliminating the grandfather clause would result in direct costs (in the form of forgone tax revenues) to those state and local governments that are currently collecting such revenues but would be precluded from doing so after H.R. 3086 is enacted,” the CBO said.

LINK: CBO Report

read ... CBO: State, Local Jurisdictions Could Lose Millions From Internet Tax Bill

Big Isle prison ready to reopen with 60 inmates

SA: The first group of 60 minimum-security inmates are expected to arrive at Hawaii island's Kulani Correctional Facility after it reopens this week, easing some of the crowding in the state's prison system.

Eventually there will be an inmate population of 200 at the prison, about 20 miles southwest of Hilo.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other state officials will attend the Tuesday reopening of the minimum-security prison, which was closed in 2009 by Gov. Linda Lingle because of the state's fiscal crisis. Lingle said the move was to save $2.8 million annually.

When Kulani closed, more than 90 employees were let go, and about 160 inmates were relocated.

The facility was turned over to the Hawaii National Guard for use as an educational training facility for high school dropouts.

To prepare for the return of inmates, the state had to spend $600,000 for repairs and renovations to the facility's roof, interior, exterior and electrical system, and for kitchen and security equipment, according to an environmental assessment. The state spent $248,177 to conduct environmental impact studies on the area and assess the prison's existing infrastructure.

Abercrombie allocated $2.5 million in operating funds for the current fiscal year, which ends Monday, and another $5.1 million in the new fiscal year. The prison will employ 76 people.

read ... A really Expensive UPW Make-work Program

The challenge of getting mental health care for Hawaii's homeless

KITV: In Hawaii's growing homeless population mental illness is difficult to measure and treat.

HNN: Homeless mother fights to breastfeed in public

read ... The challenge of getting mental health care for Hawaii's homeless

League of Women Voters Debunks Governor’s Take on Disclosure Bill

CB: The organization doesn't accept the idea that women would be harmed by the law, and hopes it would help the governor vet nominees.

read ... Debunk

Governor to Sign Same-Day Voter Registration Bill into Law

MN: A measure aimed at increasing voter turnout by a projected 5-7% will be signed into law today by Governor Neil Abercrombie.

The new law is designed to reform elections in Hawaiʻi by allowing voter registration at early-voting locations in 2016, and at all Election Day polling sites in 2018.

read ... Chaos at the Polls

Sea Shepherd Math: Hawaii Aquarium Divers 'Multi-Billion Dollar Industry'

MMM: the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has launched a new campaign to end Hawaii's lucrative aquarium trade. The multi-billion dollar industry, which depends upon an estimated 500,000 fish taken from waters around the Aloha state each year....

(Sea Shepherd Math: $2B / 500K = $4000 per fish, minimum)

CB: Civil Beat harasses kid for touching turtle

read ... Obsessive Compulsive

Traffic Improves at Laniakea

SA: Meanwhile, some North Shore residents report that traffic has improved somewhat since the barriers went up, after they had watched the traffic along Kame­ha­meha Highway steadily worsen in recent years....

The vans and buses that used to come to Lani­akea have mostly disappeared because they no longer have enough room to park, he added — and he contends that's a key reason that North Shore traffic is moving more swiftly.

read ... Traffic Improves

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