July 16, 2014 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

ILind: Last week, Senate Bill 2682, which requires members of 15 major boards and commissions to file annual public financial disclosures, became law without Governor Abercrombie’s signature. More than two dozen members of those boards have now resigned in order to avoid having to comply with the new law.

This was unexpected, and it’s unfortunate. I’m afraid it reflects, at least in part, the mistaken, unnecessary, and inflammatory assertions made about the threat to personal privacy, and even to personal safety, that disclosure could supposedly pose to volunteer board members and their families.

If I listened to those wild predictions and didn’t know better, I would be worried too.

Some of those mistaken statements unfortunately have come from the governor himself. In a June 30, 2014 letter to legislators, the governor bemoaned the potential for family financial information, along with medical records and credit histories, “becoming cannon fodder in political battles,” weapons in the hands of “those who have a political agenda.”

Mollway: Clearing the Air on the Financial Disclosures Law

read ... Political Agenda

Snub to Seniors A Mistake by the Governor

MN: The Maui County Democratic Party website (mauidemocrats.org) had a statement from Barbara Kim Stanton, AARP's state director, that read:

"AARP Hawaii is deeply disappointed that the governor will not be taking part in three of the four debates that his campaign had agreed to. We hope the governor reconsiders his decision and honors his debate commitments. This is a critical election and the issues require thoughtful deliberation. Campaign ads are a poor substitute for giving voters every opportunity to make informed decisions based on side-by-side comparisons."

read ... A Mistake by the Governor

Ige: Hawaii Should Have Sought Blanket Exemption from Obamacare

GT: You and Gov. Neil Abercrombie had a televised debate earlier this month where you traded barbs over the Hawaii Health Connector. What’s the issue and what approach toward the online health exchange will you take if elected governor?

DI: Hawaii passed the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act more than 30 years ago, which mandates that businesses provide health insurance for any employee working more than 20 hours per week. This has resulted in the uninsured in Hawaii being a very small population.

On the largest and grandest policy issue, I think that we should have sought the blanket exemption from Obamacare and then sought to see what components of the Affordable Care Act at the federal level made sense to be implemented in Hawaii. But the governor decided to embrace the whole act, and now we’re trying to seek exemptions from those provisions that don’t make sense.

GT: The Hawaii Health Connector has been blasted for having a number of glitches -- and having one of the nation’s lowest enrollment numbers. Why has it been such a problem?

DI: We have the Health Connector trying to establish a program to cover the uninsured, and the state of Hawaii got $205 million in federal grants to implement that program. On the state side, the Medicaid program, we had gotten $24 million, most of that is federal money, to implement a Medicaid eligibility system, and those systems are really very similar in terms of function. They’re a little different in terms of who is eligible, but they were developed totally siloed … because they had two committed pots of money.

I think that’s what has caused the biggest problems in the operations of the Health Connector. Because the Medicaid eligibility system and the Health Connector system really do need to interface on lots of different things. And because they were designed and developed as two independent systems, the connections between them is what caused a lot of the problems and delays in the rollout of the Health Connector.

read ... Hawaii Gubernatorial Candidate Talks Obamacare, State Tech Issues

Hanabusa Dinged over 36% Legislative pay Raise

PR: U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz dinged U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in a Democratic primary debate Tuesday night for taking a 36 percent pay raise when she was state Senate president and the state was struggling through the recession.

"What do you have to say to the people of Hawaii regarding your choices?" Schatz asked.

Hanabusa said the pay raise was brought up during her 2010 and 2012 elections to Congress by "people like (national Republican strategist) Karl Rove and (former congressman) Charles Djou and the Republican Party. And I'm surprised that you raised it, because you were in the Legislature when we established that salary commission that set it. They set that. And you voted for it."

The 36 percent pay raise has been a tempting weapon for lawmakers of both political parties over the years, and Hanabusa -- perhaps more so than any other lawmaker -- has suffered over the issue.

Hanabusa pulled a campaign commercial during a special election for Congress in 2010 that was considered deceptive on the issue of legislative salaries.

Background: Hanabusa: “Legislators work very hard and deserve the raise”

read ... Play to Pay

UPW Agrees to Stop Sabotage of EMS in Exchange for 12% Raise

SA: Honolulu paramedics will get pay raises, and the city will save more than $1 million in overtime, according to a tentative agreement that better controls schedules for the city's more than 200 paramedics.

Last weekend the Department of Emergency Services could not staff five of its eight-hour paramedic shifts. And the paramedics who were on duty already had worked back-to-back shifts, department spokeswoman Shayne Enright said.

But a tentative agreement reached between the city and United Public Workers union would change 90 percent of paramedics' shifts to 12 hours from eight hours and dramatically cut down on overtime, department director Mark Rigg said Tuesday.

Last year the Department of Emergency Services spent $5.6 million in overtime for paramedics — or more than one-fifth of the department's entire $25.2 million budget.

Under the tentative agreement, the department expects to save $1 million to $1.5 million in overtime this year, Rigg said.

At the same time, the average paramedic will see pay raises of 10 to 12 percent.

read ... Blackmail Works

'Housing ASAP' to Focus on Homeless Families

SA: Over the next few years, funding for homeless services from federal and state governments will significantly change to a focus on getting people into permanent housing as quickly as possible. This strategic shift in focus is based on overwhelming evidence that shows housing people first and then providing services results in higher housing retention rates, lower recidivism and significant reduction in the use of homeless and crisis services.

Additionally, long-term housing is vital to providing children stability they need to develop their full potential. "Housing First" challenges many local service providers who now need to provide support services to individuals and families after they are placed in housing.

To help strengthen nonprofit organizations serving this population, the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) has launched Housing ASAP, a network for family shelter service providers in Hawaii. In alignment with federal, state and county priorities, Housing ASAP will work with nonprofit organizations serving homeless families across the state to coordinate and share information with each other to better serve the needs of families and move them more quickly into stable housing.

read ... Housing ASAP

Hawaii's rural hospitals look for partnerships to avoid more shortfalls

PBN: Lo mentioned that many local hospitals need partnerships like these to be sustainable with the many changes hospitals are facing, such as the passage of the Affordable Care Act that increases the need for hospital services, and changes in how hospitals will be reimbursed for those services.

“Hospitals can no longer just be hospitals,” he told PBN. “The whole health care system is changing to provide better access and keep people out of the hospital.”

Lo also said the hospital was open to speaking with other companies and that there were a few other interested parties, but nothing concrete at the moment.

“With Banner it was just discussions. We didn’t have a transaction, we were just talking hypothetically with the Legislature and nothing passed,” said Lo. In the 2013-14 session they tried to negotiate legislation that would allow them to form a partnership, this time without Banner in the picture. That didn’t pass, either. “What we’ve been hearing is that if there was any legislation to be approved than you would need someone to negotiate the deal subject to the legislation being passed.”

read ... Hawaii's rural hospitals look for partnerships to avoid more shortfalls

Scott Family: Murder of Unborn Child Also a Crime

HNN: The Scott's say it's difficult to accept that Charli's gone, but it's worse hearing she allegedly died at the hands of someone she loved. They have this message for Capobianco -- the father of her unborn son, Joshua....

Charli's family says they find strength and purpose in focusing their energy on working to make sure someday -- if another pregnant woman is killed -- her unborn child will also be considered a victim in the eyes of Hawai'i's law.

"Joshua was definitely a victim, whether or not our state law is at the stage of being able to acknowledge that and criminalize the taking of his life. The community, everyone here puts value on his life. Equal value," Brooke said.

read ... Two Murders

National Republicans Overcome Democrats to Push Thru Hawaii Tax Cut

AP: The House voted Tuesday to make permanent a moratorium that would prevent Hawaii and other state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet.

Under current law, the moratorium expires Nov. 1, exposing Internet users to the same kind of connection fees that often show up on telephone bills....

The moratorium was first enacted in 1998. State and local governments that already had Internet taxes were allowed to keep them under the current moratorium.

But under the bill passed Tuesday, those jurisdictions would no longer be able to collect the taxes.

Jurisdictions in Hawaii and six other states tax access to the Internet. The other states are New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Together they would lose "several hundred million dollars annually" if they were no longer allowed to collect the taxes, CBO said.

Several House Democrats spoke against the bill, but they allowed it to pass on a voice vote, which means members did not record whether they were in favor or against the bill. The bill now goes to the Senate.

NJ: The House Just Voted to Ban Internet Taxes—Forever

read ... Once Again the National Republicans Save Hawaii from its own Elected Officials

Dairies disagree about milk price proposal

HTH: Thirteen people attended Tuesday’s hearing, including state Rep. Richard Onishi of Hilo, the House agriculture vice chairman, and county Councilwoman Margaret Wille of Kohala, who chairs the county Committee on Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability. Six, including Wille, testified. Only Brad Duff, the new general manager of Big Island Dairy, testified in favor of the proposal.

Big Island Dairy is in the process of expanding, which would include doubling it’s herd of milking cows from between 900 and 1,100 to between 1,800 and 2,200. Duff noted that only about 20 percent of milk consumed in Hawaii is produced in the state.

“In order for us to supply more milk, we need to secure contracts with processors so that we may plan for the future,” he said. “… We have to have a guarantee that our milk will be purchased. Current quota rules secure us a price on our milk but they do not guarantee that a processor has to purchase our product. With the amount of risk that the Big Island Dairy is undertaking in this (expansion), we need to know that our product has a buyer and at what price.” ...

Steve Whitesides said his company needs to be competitive with mainland-produced milk, which comprises about 80 percent of the milk consumed in Hawaii.

“The way the state law was written is that they don’t have any ability to force a processor to take the milk supply,” he said. “So, there lies the whole problem. If they can bring milk in cheaper from the mainland, how do they buy from me at a higher price?”

Whitesides acknowledged he has “an agreement with Meadow Gold to take our supply of milk,” but declined to talk specifics.

“I don’t call it a contract,” he said. “The price is based on an agreement we have. Sometimes it’s higher and sometimes it’s lower, and it’s been higher (than the minimum) recently. … It’s an agreement between Meadow Gold and myself and it’s a fair agreement. We have to be competitive with the mainland or else Meadow Gold won’t be there in the future.”

read ... Milk Price Supports

TOD: Mayor Wright right for revamp

SA: Mayor Wright falls near the Iwilei station, between the Kapalama and Chinatown stops, so including it in the redevelopment expected in that area simply makes sense.

The zone would become a mixed-use, mixed-income community, which means some of the property would be given over to commercial uses for purposes other than government-subsidized housing. Studies of such public-private partnerships have generally shown that greater economic diversity reduces crime and produces a healthier community overall.

This must be done, as the state now has promised, without displacing any of the qualified current residents, at least not permanently. It should be possible, largely because units in existing low-rise buildings can be accommodated in higher buildings. Officials have said that during construction tenants will be relocated, a process that should be kept minimally disruptive by careful phasing.

read ... Mayor Wright right for revamp

Mainland Homosexuals Switch from Hula to Nirvana

HNN: A company aiming to provide easier access to sexually transmitted disease test results and other medical records has found a new name after facing protests by Native Hawaiians for using the word hula.

Founder and CEO Ramin Bastani said Wednesday the Los Angeles-based company will now be called Healthvana Inc.

The previous name Hula drew complaints that it was culturally insensitive.

Bastani says the new name combines the words health and nirvana....

read ... Gay Imperialism Defeated

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