With 48 Minutes Notice, House Votes $100M to Bulldoze Historic Ewa Battlefield, Build Raceway
List of Open Government Bills Crossing Over
Ige Nominates Three to BLNR
UHERO: Economic Impact of NELHA
Hawaii Disability Roll 12.5% Growth in 5 Years
Rail: Senate Approves massive GE Tax Hike 22-3
SA: The state Senate has advanced a measure that would extend Oahu's rail tax an additional five years after 2022, a move that many senators hope would close the rail project's nearly billion-dollar budget gap.
The vote was 22 to 3, with Sens. Gil Riviere, Sam Slom and Laura Thielen voting against the bill. Slom, the chamber's lone Republican and a staunch rail opponent, criticized the measure, saying that transportation leaders have not given state lawmakers straight answers on the proposed rail tax extension. Riviere (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) said he's not opposed to completing the project but he's against writing an "endless check" to fund the project.
"Is there a member on this floor who believes that's the final price? Five years?" Riviere said. "Let HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation) demonstrate some fiscal accountability. They've given us none."
read ... 22-3
Hospital public-private partnership passes House
MN: HB1075 that would allow the financially ailing Maui Memorial Medical Center to enter into a public-private partnership has passed the state House and will head to the state Senate, a hospital official said.
The vote was 41-10 in favor of the measure Tuesday afternoon. House Speaker Joe Souki, Rep. Angus McKelvey (West Maui) and Rep. Kyle Yamashita (Upcountry) voted for the bill. The other members of the Maui County House delegation - Rep. Lynn DeCoite (East Maui, Molokai and Lanai), Rep. Kaniela Ing (South Maui) and Rep. Justin Woodson (Central Maui) - voted for the measure with reservations....
A companion bill and a separate public hospital measure in the Senate did not pass. The House bill is now Maui Memorial's last hope....
read ... Partnership
Hawaii Health Connector Tax on Health Insurance Jumps 75%
SA: A bill that would allow the Hawaii Health Connector health insurance exchange to borrow as much as $28 million in bonds backed by the state moved a step closer to passage Tuesday.
Senate Bill 1028 moved to the House, two days before Thursday's official crossover deadline. Bills that don't pass out of their chamber of origin by the deadline are essentially dead.
The bonds are crucial to the continued operation of the Connector...because the program will not be self-sustaining until 2022....
Enrollment on the exchange grew to 30,000 last week, surpassing the Connector's 27,280 goal for the fiscal year ending June 30. The Connector collects a 2 percent fee on each health plan sold, which generates about $10 per member per month.
The latest enrollment figures will generate annual revenue of $3.6 million, far less than the $12 million in expenses the Connector is currently projecting.
In an effort to reach sustainability, the organization's board of directors Friday approved increasing the fee on health plans to 3.5 percent from 2 percent, starting July 1. (That's a 75% increase.) The nonprofit created by the Legislature in 2011 projects enrollment will grow to around 100,000 by 2024.
Senate Bill 1338, which also passed to the House on Tuesday, opens the small-business exchange to employer groups with up to 100 workers as early as July 1. Currently, only employers with 50 workers or fewer can purchase coverage through the exchange....
In addition, the bill makes large groups with more than 100 employees eligible purchasers starting in 2017. The legislation also would end transitional policies that don't comply with the ACA, but were approved by the state through 2016, a year early, and requires employers to notify laid-off workers about their options on the exchange.
read ... Insolvent
Ige: Rooftop Solar Systems Getting too Much Money for their Electricity
Ige said his administration will work to add more rooftop solar power, but changes need to be made to how much solar owners are paid for the excess energy their systems produce.
Solar customers will receive lower payments for the power they send to the grid, Ige said, adding that is consistent with the decreasing amounts the utility pays utility-scale power producers, such as wind farm operators.
"We do need to make adjustments," Ige said. "We've changed … the power purchase agreements, and it does make sense that we look at changing the net energy metering."
Net energy metering refers to the price HECO pays rooftop solar owners, which is currently about 29 cents per kilowatt-hour on Oahu, the same price retail customers pay HECO for power. HECO has proposed cutting the amount it pays new solar owners nearly in half. The rate was set at a level that would encourage homeowners to buy solar systems.
Ige said a major concern when adjusting the price will be to make it so the structure is beneficial for all ratepayers.
"The challenge is how do you deal with people who have made the investments previously and what is fair to them and how do you get equity amongst all the new people coming on line," he said....
read ... Cutbacks
State, City Looking to Crack Down on Illegal Vacation Rentals
CB: ...Two bills were passed by the full House on Tuesday. House Bill 825 would crack down on the regulatory requirements, while House Bill 792 would address property crime associated with tourist areas.
Another proposed measure, Senate Bill 409, has already crossed over to the House, and would allow zoning of single-family vacation rental units to phase out over time.
read ... Crack Down
Unexpected Flood of Info Before the Ching Hearing
CB: Sen. Laura Thielen may have set a new standard for transparency when it comes to early release of information about gubernatorial nominees.
read ... Flood
Legislators Vote to Keep the People Drugged and Homeless
AP: Hawaii is one step closer to having a system of medical marijuana dispensaries nearly 15 years after the drug was 'legalized' in the state.
The House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would establish a dispensary system. It would pave the way for at least 26 dispensaries that could open in every county....
They also approved bills to improve the rights of homeless families (make it harder to get the homeless off the streets) and to ban electronic cigarettes in condominiums and on public hospital grounds (marijuana legal, tobacco illegal).
read ... Keep the People Drugged
Federal judge may delay Maui GMO ban hearings
MN: A federal judge on Tuesday said she would consider delaying proceedings for a lawsuit challenging Maui's ban on the cultivation of genetically modified organisms because of legislation that could affect the outcome of the case.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway had been scheduled to hear arguments on the case's merits Tuesday morning. But she instead asked the parties whether the case might be rendered moot if bills before the state House or Senate were to pass.
The bills would prohibit counties from restricting farming and ranching practices that are allowed by federal or state law.
The lawsuit before Mollway challenges a Maui County law created when voters passed a ballot initiative last year. The law imposes a moratorium on GMO crops until scientific studies are conducted on their safety and benefits.
Mollway said she could hear the merits of the lawsuit shortly after the Legislature adjourns in May if lawmakers don't pass the legislation, and this would only postpone the case a few months.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, Monsanto Co. and Agrigentics Inc., a unit of Dow Chemical Co., didn't object. Plaintiffs' attorney Margery Bronster said passage of such legislation would make the Maui County law "even more indefensible" than it is currently.
The county's attorneys agreed to the delay, saying the county didn't want to spend resources enforcing the law only to have it rendered invalid later.
But a lawyer for the citizens group that sponsored the ballot initiative, the Sustainable Hawaiian Agriculture for the Keiki and the Aina Movement, or SHAKA Movement, objected ....
MTVN: Council Committee to Address GMO Cases Friday Morning
read ... Hearings
Will Hawaii Finally Become Last State to Ban New Cesspools?
CB: House Bill 1141, which would ban new cesspools as well as new structures tied to existing cesspools beginning in 2017, and House Bill 1140, which affords homeowners a yet-to-be-defined refundable income tax credit, have both passed the House and crossed over to the Senate for deliberation. The credits would help homeowners convert to septic tanks or an aerobic treatment unit, or connect to a county sewage system.
read ... Cesspool
Hawaii County: No Audits Since 2011
WHT: A changing of the guard in the Legislative Auditor’s Office has left Hawaii County without a single internal audit being completed since 2011.
But Auditor Bonnie Nims said she expects an audit report to be forthcoming within the next few months. Nims, who took over the post May 1, said she’s working on an audit of county procurement credit cards, known as P-cards.
Nims said work is progressing as fast as it can.
“You always hope for more,” she added.
Nims’ annual audit plan, submitted to the County Council on Sept. 17, also lists planned audits of real property tax delinquent accounts, and cash receipts from Parks and Recreation and the Mass Transit Agency among the priorities. In addition, she is following up on Elections Division issues as directed by a council resolution, and conducting a countywide risk assessment, according to the audit plan.
Nims said she is also looking at information technology issues as new computers and software are added.
The $99,000 annual position had been vacant for 16 months before Nims took over. She’s the second auditor hired by the council after a 2008 charter amendment giving the auditor more freedom from political interference.
Finance Director Deanna Sako said Nims agreed to hold off on the audit of delinquent property tax accounts until the department could finish its transition to a new accounting system.
Council members contacted by West Hawaii Today were largely satisfied with the auditor’s progress
read ... Four Years
Critics challenge Ho'opili traffic analysis
HNN: A traffic impact analysis report prepared for the Ho'opili project recommends adding one more East bound lane at the H-1 and H-2 merge. Ho'opili developer D.R. Horton-Schuler Homes wants to construct an additional lane West of the merge.
"What we would do to add the lane from the Fort Weaver Road interchange to Waiawa interchange, which is the H-1/H-2 merge, would work with them," D.R. Horton vice president Cameron Nekota said.
Ho'opili's traffic analysis said another H-1 lane would allow for 17 percent more vehicles on the freeway. But UH Civil and Environmental engineer Panos Prevedouros said Ho'opili and other planned developments will grow that traffic by 43 percent.
"It's a big difference. We're growing the traffic by 43 percent. We're growing the capacity of the road by 17 percent. And that 43 percent also accounts for the fact that rail will perhaps take 4 percent out of it," he said....
Ho'opili would add 11,750 homes between Kapolei and Ewa. Koa Ridge would add another 5,000. Kioni Dudley of Save Our Farmlands said there are 53,000 other houses already on the drawing board.
"When we get all of these houses coming down to feed into that merge, that's a major major calamity," said Kioni Dudley of Save Oahu Farmlands.
Dudley and 30 other people sent a letter to the City Council, challenging the validity of the traffic survey.
read ... Hoopili Traffic
60 Students Still Showing up for non-recognized classes at Corrupt Charter School
SA: The Charter School Commission voted Jan. 8 to issue a "notice of prospect of revocation" — the first step toward revoking the school's charter — on grounds that Halau Lokahi was insolvent and had failed to meet the terms of its contract.
Last week it sent a strongly worded letter by certified mail to the school board declaring that Halau Lokahi is no longer a functioning public school and that all employees were de facto laid off Jan. 31 when state funding ended.
The school's new governing board is challenging the decision and hopes to keep the Hawaiian-culture-based school alive in a new incarnation. It contends the commission is violating its own procedures by trying to shut the campus before holding a hearing, causing turmoil for children midway through the academic year....
A hearing on the board's appeal is set for March 30. In the meantime the commission is taking a firm stand.
"The commission has been advised by the Department of the Attorney General that students who still are reporting to Halau Lokahi at this point are not attending public school," Tom Hutton, commission executive director, wrote in its March 2 letter. "As we have indicated before, while Halau Lokahi continues to exist as a legal entity for purposes of the revocation hearing, this is not the same thing as continuing to operate as a public school under these circumstances.
"We urge you again in the strongest terms to ensure that all students are either enrolled in other schools where they hopefully still will be able to earn academic credit for this semester, or that they are registered as home-schooled."
read ... Corruption
State settles class action lawsuit with public housing residents
KHON: The lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of Mayor Wright tenants by the non-profit Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice and co-counsel, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, resulted in dramatic improvements at the 364-unit apartment complex.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2011. At the time, most of the tenants at Mayor Wright did not have hot water. Residents said they were afraid to leave their homes due to problems with security and a spate of assaults and murders at the property. Leaks from a decaying plumbing systems caused mold problems throughout the project. Residents also complained of overflowing dumpsters; rat, roach and bed bug infestations; and shoddy repairs, if maintenance was performed at all.
“(The garbage bins) were all wide open day and night. They were not closed, they were just opened up all the time. There were rats and cats getting things from the garbage to the units where we were, because nobody cared to close the garbage,” said resident Kasner Alexander. “My disabled wife and my two kids, son and a daughter, were going to school. They’d have to take a shower before they go to school, but they took a shower with the cold water.”
“There’s a variety of very big issues that affected the units at Mayor Wright Homes. we’re talking about instances in which severe lack of maintenance resulted in what can only be described as gaping holes in portions of bathrooms and kitchens resulting in health-related issues such as excessive leaking that could result in mold and mildew as well as pest intrusion,” said John Rhee of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing.
Some residents had kitchen sinks falling through deteriorating countertops “fixed” with duct tape. Others had gaping holes in their bathroom walls providing easy access by vermin intent on invading tenants’ apartments—holes that were left for months after maintenance staff attempted to fix plumbing problems, but failed to seal up the repairs.
In the years leading up to the filing of the lawsuit and even after, the property twice failed inspections by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, attorneys said.
In response to the lawsuit, the State of Hawaii invested over $4.5 million to bring conditions of the property up to an acceptable standard and, under the settlement agreement, continues to make critical repairs.
CB: State Settles Suit Over Substandard Public Housing for $350K
read ... Mayor Wright
Sierra Club settles with Turtle Bay Resort on land protection
SA: Another legal opponent of Turtle Bay Resort's expansion plan has agreed to settle its lawsuit, becoming the second of three plaintiffs to reach an accord.
The resort announced the latest agreement with the Sierra Club Tuesday, a week after reaching a deal with community organization Keep the North Shore Country.
The two entities, along with hotel worker's union Unite Here Local 5, challenged the validity of a supplemental environmental impact statement supporting the addition of two hotels with a combined 625 rooms and 100 homes on about 150 acres fronting the ocean on opposing sides of the existing 443-room Turtle Bay hotel.
If the resort can work something out with Local 5, it said it can complete a historic arrangement to protect much of its North Shore property from development in perpetuity. Discussions with the union are ongoing, the resort said.
Turtle Bay agreed last year to sell the state a conservation easement covering more than 666 acres that includes much undeveloped land and two existing golf courses for $48.5 million. The city and The Trust for Public Land chipped in $5 million and $3.5 million, respectively.
read ... Another Settlement
Chevron CEO says 'quite a bit of interest' in Hawaii refinery
R: The company hired Deutsche Bank and began seeking buyers last fall for the refinery, one of the smallest in its global portfolio.
"We think it's an asset that'll be very attractive," Watson said at the company's analyst day in New York. Chevron would not close the refinery if it's not able to find a buyer, he said.
read ... Chevron
UH Athletic Director Pendulum Swings Back to 'Local'
SA: The pendulum effect has been in full force when it comes to hiring University of Hawaii athletic directors. Since the 1980s it has swung back-and-forth each time, between the islands and the continent.
Stan Sheriff (mainland*), Hugh Yoshida (local), Herman Frazier (mainland), Jim Donovan (local), Ben Jay (mainland). Sheriff gets an asterisk because he was born in Hawaii and had strong family roots here.
Now, as the end game approaches to choose Jay's replacement, all indicators are that we're headed back to an AD who is already here -- either David Matlin or John McNamara.
Usually, I don't like the pendulum. It smacks of knee-jerk reaction....
read ... Reardon
Global Cooling Updates
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