HB1252: Repeal Act 195, Abolish Hawaiian Roll Commission
PMA: We'll Pay ILWU's Obamacare Tax--Take it or be Locked Out
Hawaii Supreme Court Could Sock Expedia for $626M in Hotel Taxes
Tax Rate 50.4% on Small Business Income, Hawaii #2 in USA
Hawaii Personal Income Taxes: "Highest Dollar Amount of Any State"
Hawaii Ranks 3rd in Certificate-of-Need Laws--Which Mean Fewer Services for Patients
On the Move: House Omnibus Marijuana Package
HB1452 Heard Without Notice: Permits Vacation Rentals "In any area of zoning classification"
SB958: Repeal Corporate Income Tax
SB946: Repeal GE Tax on intermediary business transactions
DoE Opens Office of Hawaiian Education, Seeks Director
SB286: Proposes 'Very Powerful' Inspector General to Investigate Waste, Fraud, Corruption
SA: A proposal to create a new inspector general's office that would have the authority to investigate administrative agencies for complaints alleging fraud, waste, abuse or corruption got a cool reception from officials of several state agencies during a state Senate committee hearing Wednesday.
Senate Bill 286 would also give the new agency, which would be attached with the state Auditor's Office and the Legislature, the ability to arrest and possibly prosecute people.
The measure was introduced by Senate President Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Moanalua-Halawa), who first raised the idea as a move toward greater government transparency and accountability in her speech on the opening day of the Legislature on Jan. 21.
Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Kahala-Hawaii Kai) said the agencies cited by Aina have been largely ineffective in rooting out wrongdoing and making improvements.
Slom asked that the Attorney General's Office submit a list detailing the number of prosecutions it has undertaken that look into fraud, waste and corruption by state agencies.
"I'm sure you're aware that the public is very unhappy, generally, with the fact that we in government allow things to continue without having consequences for bad behavior," Slom said. "The general public feels it has been disempowered."
Voter turnout is low "because a lot of people have given up (and) that nothing's going to be done," he said.
But Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said he's concerned (about the poor crooks, just trying to get by) that the bill would create "a state-level FBI" (in a target-rich environment) that has broad discretion to investigate whomever or whatever it wants. "(It) would be a very, very powerful agency," he said, lips quivering....
SB286: Text, Status
read ... I smell Fear
Hawaii Consumer Advocate Rejects Call to Delay Review of NextEra Deal
CB: Hawaii’s consumer advocate, Jeff Ono, has recommended that the Public Utilities Commission reject a petition by renewable energy groups to delay reviewing the sale of Hawaiian Electric Co. to Florida-based NextEra Energy until the commission resolves pending cases related to the electric utilities’ long-term energy plans and future business model.
Last month, the Hawaii Solar Energy Association, Alliance for Solar Choice, Hawaii PV Coalition, Blue Planet Foundation and Hawaii Sierra Club filed a petition with the PUC arguing that commissioners need to first rule on several issues, including approval of HECO’s long-range energy plans, before taking up the NextEra acquisition.
The solar industry has been particularly alarmed by the sale because of NextEra’s reputation of being hostile to rooftop solar in Florida, where it operates the state’s largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light.
read ... The Fix is In
SB1268 on the Move: Allows Ige to Stack BoE with HSTA Operatives
CB: ...A proposal to enlarge the Hawaii Board of Education from nine to 11 members took at step forward Wednesday by gaining the approval of the Senate Education Committee.
The bill would also increase the terms of BOE members from three years to four and make most of the terms run concurrently with those of the governor, who appoints the members.
“There is a major flaw in the way the current process works,” Joan Lee Husted, retired executive director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said in written testimony. “How can we hold the governor accountable for the actions of the Board of Education and the Department of Education if he does not have the power to appoint the majority of Board of Education members?”
SA: Supports HSTA Power Grab
read ... the end of school reform
UH fires back over fired coach's contract, HGEA Files Grievance for Arnold
KITV: "Probably the coach would have the right to what he's asking for. Just based on this section of the contract," said Fujiwara.
Arnold said that amount comes out to $1.4 million.
Now the University of Hawaii is stepping up its own full court press. It argues the head basketball coach broke his contract with the alleged NCAA violations, and he could owe them money.
"If Coach Arnold did breech provisions of the contract then the University of Hawaii would be entitled to damages from him," said UH attorney William McCorriston.
McCorriston stated the school could sue for the costs of NCAA investigation as well as the damage to the reputation of the University and its athletic department.
"The integrity of the athletic department has to be first and foremost," said McCorriston.
A lot hinges on whether Arnold did in fact violate NCAA rules. If he did, the legal question will be whether his actions before he was fired will make a difference on his final payout.
"It can possibly affect it. Depending on the facts and what was known or not known. Also if they can prove he did do something wrong," said Fujiwara.
Wednesday afternoon the Hawaii Government Employees Association confirmed it has joined the fight by filing a formal grievance with the University -- on behalf of Gib Arnold. (B-ball coach is union member? Wow. Just wow.)
Both sides are now setting their lineup for the financial face-off. Along with attorneys, NCAA specialists on the mainland have also been hired to deal with the allegations against UH.
read ... UH fires back over fired coach's contract
UH's mounting legal bills
HNN: As the NCAA investigation into the University of Hawaii basketball team heats up, the school's legal tab continues to mount.
According to testimony provided to the state Legislature, the UH has budgeted $120,000 for a mainland firm to defend against the NCAA investigation.
And it recently hired high-profile attorney William McCorriston to fight claims by former basketball coach Gib Arnold, who said he's owed more than $1.4 million in severance pay.
But that's just a fraction of the school's overall legal cost. Since 2009, the University of Hawaii has paid more than $8 million to more than two dozen outside law firms, school records show.
One firm – Carlsmith Ball – received nearly half of that total for legal and regulatory work on the UH's observatory at Maunakea. A big chunk also went to law firms that did employment-related work.
"That's a lot … when you have your own in-house legal counsel that supposed to be providing you with legal advice,” said attorney Eric Seitz, who has a number of lawsuits against the UH....
State Sen. Sam Slom said some of the legal work appears to have been done to protect the self-interests of administrators.
He pointed to the controversy over the bogus Stevie Wonder concert in 2012, in which the university wound up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
“We discovered that the university was paying law firms to redact names out of information they didn't want to provide to lawmakers,” he said....
read ... UH's mounting legal bills
Ige Backpedals On Posting Care-Home Inspection Reports Online
CB: State health officials want the Legislature to bail them out for not meeting a statutorily required deadline to start posting inspection reports for adult care homes online beginning Jan. 1.
And Gov. David Ige is looking to help accommodate them, despite saying on the campaign trail last year that he would ensure the deadline was met.
The Department of Health was given all of the resources it sought and 18 months to figure out how it would implement the new requirement from the time the law took effect in 2013.
Apparently that wasn’t enough. The department is asking lawmakers to pass a bill this session that would retroactively change the deadline to July 1, delaying implementation for at least another six months. (Watch for trickery on this bill.)
read ... Still Stalling
LURF, Lobbyist Fined $4000
SA: The developer-funded Land Use Research Foundation and its executive director, David Arakawa, have agreed to each pay a $2,000 fine to settle charges for failing to register as lobbyists with the state Ethics Commission.
PDF: Ethics Comm Report
read ... Lobbyist Fined
Ige Blocked Renters' Tax Relief
CB: Thirty-eight years ago, Hawaii lawmakers enacted a “modest” renter’s tax credit of $20 per year to help alleviate some of the challenges that low-income renters faced. Qualified renters — those whose combined family income was less than $30,000 — received an increase to $50 per dependent in the early 1980s....
A 2014 omnibus bill in the state House and Senate would have boosted the renter’s tax credit from $50 per dependent to $146, as one of an array of measures to improve the economic situation for the islands’ numerous low-income earners.
Unfortunately, the tax credit measure died in a conference committee led by then-Sen. David Ige and Rep. Sylvia Luke, who chaired the House and Senate money committees.
The nonprofit Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice has called for tripling the tax credit to $150 per person for qualifying households, and for doubling the income level for families who can receive it, from $30,000 to $60,000.
read ... Tax Relief
HMSA contests bills forcing Connector participation
SA: Hawaii Medical Service Association, which no longer sells small-business plans on the Hawaii Health Connector, is opposing a bill that would require insurers with 20 percent market share to offer Obamacare policies on the state's health insurance exchange.
"Only HMSA has 20 percent market share in the small-group market so really again you're just targeting HMSA," HMSA lobbyist Jennifer Diesman told lawmakers at a hearing called Wednesday by the House Health Committee. "We communicated repeatedly the continued difficulties working with the Connector. We do not believe there is value for small businesses."
In a major blow to the Connector, HMSA announced in August it would stop selling policies on the small-business side of the exchange, leaving Kaiser Permanente Hawaii the sole health plan choice for employers. HMSA still sells individual plans on the exchange.
"It would place us in a competitive disadvantage with other issuers who are not subject to the 20 percent market share threshold and are able to offer health insurance coverage without being encumbered by the administrative, technical and financial burdens of participating in the (Small Business Health Options Program)."
Through House Bill 726 and Senate Bill 745, lawmakers are attempting to increase competition on Connector, the online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act to provide Obamacare health plans in Hawaii.
House Health Committee chairwoman Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili, Makiki, Tantalus) said lawmakers are trying to have parity with the federally-run exchanges, which require insurers selling individual policies on the exchange to also offer small-business plans.
read ... Forced
Crackpot Anti-GMO Bills on the Move
CB: House Bill 1514, introduced by the panel’s chairman Rep. Chris Lee from Kailua, seeks to ban pesticide spraying near certain areas including schools, hospitals and watersheds as well as require more disclosure from companies on what chemicals they’re using....The Hawaii House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection is holding a hearing Thursday morning.....
House Bill 687 would allow counties to regulate GMOs and pesticides, in an apparent response to recent court rulings that struck down a GMO farming ban on Hawaii County and a pesticide disclosure bill on Kauai County.
Senate Bill 610 takes the opposite tack by forbidding counties to pass legislation related to GMOs and pesticides.
House Bill 504 and Senate Bill 734 increase the licensing fee for pesticides and add more positions to the Department of Agriculture.
Senate Bill 692 makes it a felony to harm anyone through negligent application of pesticides.
Senate Bill 1037 imposes disclosure requirements for pesticide use.
read ... Kill Agriculture in Hawaii
Hawaii Co Council: Make The Activist Lawyers Defend their Own Anti-GMO Laws
WHT: The County Council, by a 6-3 vote late Wednesday, agreed to allow attorneys from (the misnamed) national advocacy groups Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety to assist in the county’s defense of a lawsuit filed by Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association and other agriculture and biotechnology groups.
Puna Councilmen Greggor Ilagan and Danny Paleka joined Hilo Councilmen Dennis “Fresh” Onishi on the no votes. Onishi and Chung said special counsel isn’t needed because the lawyers can’t bring up any new issues on the appeal that haven’t already been argued by the county Corporation Counsel at the lower court level.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren invalidated the county’s partial GMO ban in a Nov. 27 order, saying state law pre-empts county law on the issue. He said lawmakers intended the state to have broad oversight of agricultural issues in Hawaii.
read ... Make the Activists pay for their Own Stupidity
While Legalizing Marijuana, Legislators Plan Powdered Alcohol Prohibition
KHON: As discussions over powdered alcohol wage on at the Federal level many states including Hawaii are looking to be proactive and stop the product before it ever even hits the market.
“The serious health concerns and safety concerns that are raised by powdered alcohol being readily available particularly to children raises some serious concerns,” said Rep. Della Belatti. “So I think we’re going to have support for this, but of course we need to wait and see. (Hopefully we will be able to make time to prohibit powdered alcohol given that we are so busy legalizing marijuana.)
If approved, the bill would make it illegal to consume, sell or purchase the powdered alcohol in Hawaii.
For anyone who violated the law it would be a misdemeanor.
read ... Prohibition
Sheriff, Prison Guards Not required to disclose misconduct
KHON: All week, KHON2 has been reporting on misconduct by police officers in counties across the state. Read those reports here....
But while county police departments are required by law to disclose the information, no such rule exists for other types of law enforcement.... (Sheriff, Prison Guards, DLNR Police)
Tenari Maafala, president of SHOPO, the Honolulu police officers’ union, says it’s only fair to hold other law enforcement officers to the same standards and be held accountable for any wrongdoing.
“Without a doubt we all should. There’s no one above the law, myself included, so whether you’re a county, state or federal officer of law enforcement, no one’s above the law,” he said. (GREAT IDEA! LETS HAVE DISCLOSURE FOR EVERYBODY!)
Sheriffs and adult corrections officers fall under the Department of Public Safety. A spokeswoman said in a statement, “We comply with the current statutes on reporting to the Legislature. These are policy decision(s) for the legislature.”
Espero says it might be time to change the law.
“The idea of having state law enforcement provide that information is certainly one that I would support and I would look into it to see if we can have that information shared on a regular basis,” he said.
Nothing to see here: Sheriff Souza tied to Pali Golf course shooters’ mob
read ... disclose misconduct
Another HPD Officer With Domestic Violence TRO
HNN: Pictures show, the black eye and bruises on her body.
The 22-year old woman, who we are not identifying, claims this wasn't the first time she was attacked by her boyfriend, Honolulu Police Officer Danson Cappo.
A grand jury indicted the 27-year old officer last week for assault, property damage, and felony theft -- he allegedly took the woman's phone as she tried to call for help.
That attack happened last March and the woman filed for a Temporary Restraining Order....
In February of 2014, she says Cappo tried to push her out of his car.
But it was in March of 2014 that she apparently had enough. She writes that the officer grabbed, slapped and punched her. He was arrested and that's the case that resulted in the grand jury indictment.
The woman's TRO request was granted for five years. Cappo cannot carry a gun while the TRO is in effect.
He was put on desk duty where he was been for almost a year. He has only been a police officer for two years....
Cappo's trial is scheduled for April. I'm told HPD is waiting on the outcome of that trial before determining his future with the department.
read ... Five of First Seven Years
Kauai County: Retaliation Pays
KE: The long-standing dispute over whether Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. had authority to suspend Police Chief Darryl Perry may be settled by the state Legislature, instead of a judge.
Oahu Sen. Will Espero has introduced SB677, which gives the mayor of each county authority to remove the chief of police “for good and just cause.” ...
As you may recall, the mayor suspended the chief in early 2012 after a police officer claimed that the chief had ignored her workplace harassment complaints. The police commission challenged that action in court, contending that panel had sole authority to hire, fire and discipline the chief.
Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano upheld the mayor's action, and the police commission is appealing that ruling.
Speaking of legal action, I recently spent some time digging into the mess at the Auditor's office, which has been essentially dead in the water for the past two years, though still sucking down money.
Former staff auditor Ron Rawls filed a whistle-blower complaint [corrected from "lawsuit"] against the county over the actions of his former boss, County Auditor Ernie Pasion. And Pasion filed his own complaint against the county and former Council Chair Jay Furfaro over the manini punishment meted out for his bad behavior.
As part of that legal tangle, the Council, which oversees the Auditor's office, hired Honolulu attorney Lynn Toyofuku to conduct a fact-finding investigation into Rawls' complaint.
As I've previously reported, Rawls contends Pasion and former Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho doctored a county fuel audit investigative report to make the their political enemy, the mayor, look bad....
Pasion, meanwhile, is suing the county for medical and legal costs because the Council “held the threat of termination” over his head, “disrupting his ability to perform his duties as auditor.” ....
Meanwhile, the county is spending more taxpayer money defending against Pasion's claims. A redacted version of Toyofuku's report has been filed in court, providing a disturbing glimpse into the pettiness, back-biting, retaliation, childishness, political payback and unprofessionalism that has characterized the county Auditor's office — all on the taxpayers' dime.
KGI: Californian Pens Anti-Dairy Screed
read ... Everybody Gets Paid (by the taxpayer)
American Samoa Chief Procurement Officer Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges
SN: There is no word from the administration as to his status as CPO (Chief Procurement Officer), following federal court release of documents that he and his wife will be pleading guilty on federal charges of one count each of “knowing conversion of government property” for personal and business use — which is a felony....
Federal prosecutors says John Emil Kruse and his wife Elaine “shamelessly stole hundreds of thousands of federal dollars” awarded to them under the Section 1602 Program for their personal and business use and that the couple’s crimes “are marked by dishonesty, corruption and greed,” according to the U.S. Justice Department’s 23-page Sentencing Memorandum filed Tuesday at the federal court in Washington D.C.
The Kruses are set to enter pleas of guilty and be sentenced thereafter during a status hearing set for Feb. 5....
According to prosecutors, the defendants “stole money” intended for construction of low-income housing, depriving both the taxpayers of the rightful use of public funds and the people of American Samoa of much-needed affordable housing.
They argue that the defendants used these federal dollars to pay off credit cards, buy products for their beverage importing and retail company, subsidize a condominium in Hawai’i, and a range of “other illicit purposes”.
Prosecutors say the Kruse family is prominent and well-connected in American Samoa and John Kruse is a cabinet member, serving as chief procurement officer, while his (brother), Michael Kruse, serves as American Samoa’s chief justice....
The (housing) project was never completed, said prosecutors, who included in federal exhibits 18 photos taken in February of 2014 showing what the unfinished project looks like...
read ... Just another Day in American Samoa
Armed guards in Hawaii: No mental health checks, no firearm training
DN: According to the report, Hawaii does not require any firearms training for armed guards. That’s right: zero.
Training requirements vary greatly per state. See the table at Guards with guns for a comparison table. Firearms training requirements vary widely from state to state, from a high of 57 hours down to states like Hawaii with zero hours required.
Put it all together and Hawaii’s lax requirements could indeed be leaving the public unprotected.
read ... Armed guards in Hawaii: No mental health checks, no firearm training
Tulsi Gabbard Co-Sponsors Bill for Republican Mega-Donor
Time: Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson is making a renewed push to ban online gambling after it failed last year.
Reps. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, and Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, reintroduced an Adelson-backed bill Wednesday, provoking another battle within the deep-pocketed gaming community pitting Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands against MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, which hope to make money online.
read ... Republican Mega Donors Can Rely on Tulsi Gabbard, all the progressives in CD2 are very proud.
House will decide if Rep. Say should lose his seat
SA: In what's believed to be a first in the Hawaii state Legislature, lawmakers have decided to formally investigate whether to strip one of their own of his seat based on residency issues.
House Democratic leaders announced Wednesday that they've created a special committee to look into the latest challenges over whether Rep. Calvin Say (D, Palolo-St. Louis Heights-Kaimuki) actually lives in his House district and is qualified to represent it.
That committee, composed of six House leaders, will weigh the evidence at a future hearing and give its recommendation to the full House for a floor vote on Say's future, officials say.
The move comes after years of assertions from some voters and political opponents that Say actually lives in Pauoa Valley - not Palolo Valley....
Those on the House special committee are Reps. Karl Rhoads, John Mizuno, Scott Saiki, Cindy Evans, Ken Ito and Beth Fukumoto Chang.
read ... Sen Galuteria Next
Taxpayers cover costly tab of Washington Place compound
KHON: The lawns are manicured and watered, the facilities kept prim and proper. There’s air conditioning, surround security and they’ll even leave a light on for you in the middle of the day, ticking away at the meters that run up quite a tab for taxpayers. We found bills for $5,000 a month in electric, hundreds for multiple phone land lines, nearly $2,000 a month for water and sewer.
“Some people may say why are you making a big deal about this? We’re talking about a $25 billion dollar operating budget,” government-spending watchdog Sen. Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai, said when Always Investigating showed him the numbers. “But to the people paying for it, it’s significant and it means that they’re going to have to do without certain things to maintain this standard of living or these buildings.”
Not many can afford a standard of living at $500 a month for cable and Internet, but taxpayers buy it for the governor....
Those utilities are only the beginning. In recent years, Washington Place got an $844,000 renovation, tens of thousands in landscaping alone, a big re-carpet job and even a very costly scrub-down between occupants.
“I don’t think it’s one individual thing other than cleaning the showers for $4,000. That seems a little excessive,” Slom said as he reviewed the bills, “but look. Here I am. I’m Joe Homeowner. I’m looking through my own bills I’ve got to pay every month and I see these are like five times more and I’m already complaining about the extent of mine.”
View the following bills for Washington Place and Hale Kia Aina:
Search for other expenses related to the governor’s compound via the State Procurement Office’s website.
read ... Expensive
Middle-Class Millionaires
CB: People who don’t pay attention to real estate markets might not know it, but the days of the million-dollar mansion in the islands are long gone. Today that kind of cash would barely buy this 1,100-square-foot eight-decade-old home in Manoa....
A buyer with $990,000 to splash down for a dilapidated 928-square-foot structure in Kailua (visible on this link)would even have a few thousand bucks to spare to pay the title company fee.
The way things are going, it may just be a matter of time before telling someone they “look like a million bucks” is an insult.
(Another Civil Beat article paid for by Hoopili & DR Horton.)
read ... Million Bucks
QUICK HITS: