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Government IT Transformation: 2016 Legislative Priorities
Sen Gil Kahele Dead at 73
Charter Commission Defers Proposal to Repeal Affordable Housing Fund
Legislators Propose Tax Hike on Workers to Pay others not to Work
HTH: An East Hawaii lawmaker is proposing a new payroll tax to fund paid sick leave for most employees in the state.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Mark Nakashima, would require businesses that employ at least 10 people to provide up to five days of paid leave a year for illnesses. (To be treated by medicated marijuana, no doubt.)
The move would make Hawaii only the fifth state in the nation with a sick leave law, though it would be the first to levy a tax to pay for it. (We are number 1!)
California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon (the usual suspects) each have laws requiring employers to provide paid sick leave, but the businesses are required to pick up the expense.
Under Nakashima’s bill, a tax of 0.025 percent would instead be levied on incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 to cover the wages of sick employees. The tax would increase to 0.05 percent for those making six figures.
(Before subsequent tax hikes needed to make the program sustainable) That would translate to a tax bill of $12.50 a year to someone making $50,000, which is about the median income for Hawaii County. An employee making $100,000 a year would pay $50…. (Which is $50 more than this bill is worth.)
Other Sick Leave Taxes Being Proposed:
read … Proposed new tax would fund sick leave for most
Ige’s already nervous. This is gonna be painful.
SA: The man is never going to have the vocal resonance of Albus Dumbledore or the oratory brilliance to make his speeches go viral like Billy Kenoi….
Not that any of the legislators were chee-hooing for him. Tough crowd…..
When he started by taking a sip of water and a deep breath before uttering his first words, it was like, “Aw, man, he’s already nervous. This is gonna be painful.” …
The middle of the speech got pretty wonky and dry, but those arid plains of bureaucracy are where Ige most understands the terrain. He talked about expenditure control policies, fiscal initiatives and debt service, and everyone had to fight the urge to check email. There were times when he paused to wait for applause that was slow to come or didn’t happen…..
…public speaking is never going to be his superpower. His shoulders started to climb up to his ears near the end, he pronounced “world” like “wrold” and words like “pluralism” tumbled around his mouth like shoes in a dryer….
read … Shoes in a Dryer
Ige ‘Cooling’ Plan: $100K Per Classroom
SA: …the devil is in the details.
The governor’s plan highlighted the fledgling Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) program, which lawmakers authorized in 2013.
The following year, the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) was formed to oversee GEMS under a mandate “to make renewable energy investments accessible and affordable to Hawaii’s consumers, especially underserved communities, low- and moderate-income homeowners, renters and nonprofits,” according to the HGIA’s 2015 report to the Legislature.
The state issued bonds in November 2014, making $145 million available to finance clean-energy improvements through low-interest loans.
The bond is paid back through an electricity-bill surcharge of about $1.40, an amount not expected to increase under Ige’s plan.
GEMS is set up as a revolving fund, meaning consumers or nonprofits apply for low-interest loans for photovoltaic systems or other infrastructure and pay back those loans, plus interest, over time, or enter into power purchase agreements.
Ige’s office confirmed that the interest on the $100 million loan would be paid from general funds, meaning taxpayers foot the bill. The total cost is unavailable since final terms of the loan have not been determined — but it’s information that will need to be shared publicly.
Still unknown is whether the governor’s proposal to use GEMS funds to outfit schools with cooling systems is an acceptable use.
Under the state Public Utilities Commission’s September 2014 Decision and Order regarding the GEMS program, “heating, ventilating and air conditioning and related systems” are pre-approved eligible technologies, but just how the DOE fits into that picture remains unclear.
It seems unlikely that state government agencies were intended beneficiaries of GEMS; in any event, the PUC will have to determine if Ige’s plan is compatible with the program’s intent….
read … Plan to cool classrooms needs details
Criminal Escapes Lunatic Asylum Thanks to HGEA Members Leaving Gate Open
KHON: Honolulu police captured Richard Leibman, who they considered “dangerous,” just before 2 a.m. Tuesday morning outside Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki.
We pressed officials again Tuesday about hospital procedures and how Leibman was able to get out.
That’s when we learned about a gate that is left unlocked, because it hasn’t worked since it was installed.
Officials couldn’t say exactly when the gate was installed, but they know it has never worked properly, and there’s been at least one incident when hospital staff have been locked in.
State Hospital officials tell us that after reviewing the incident, Leibman’s escape was caused by human error.
“I can’t go into details, but there was a visitor who was let in and then a staff member did not do something at that point that should have been done, and that is what allowed the gentleman criminal lunatic to exit the building,” said Hawaii State Hospital administrator William May.
May said Leibman then walked out of a gate that should have been locked.
“That gate is open until we can make sure that it operates in a safe and effective way. The last time we tried to close the gate — it’s a sally port system — we had staff members trapped within the secure system for close to an hour,” he said….
read … Thanks, HGEA
Mainland Dopers Like Hawaii’s System for Selling Weed
CB: …Americans for Safe Access released its Medical Marijuana Access in the US: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws Tuesday.
The annual report evaluates “the array” of differing state medical cannabis programs across the country “from a perspective often overlooked in policy debates: the patients’ and provides policy makers with model legislation and regulations.”
How did Hawaii do? We received a grade of B.
Hawaii scored well in categories for patient rights, functionality, ease of navigation and access to medicine cannabis and/or cannabis products….
PDF: Report (Hawaii pg 54-55)
read … Ease of Access
HB1675: Molester Can ‘Turn’ your Son and You Can’t Turn him Back
Gay Star News: ‘Teenagers are quite vulnerable (which is why homosexual child molesters like them so much),’ Democratic Rep. Della Au Belatti said. ‘This is an issue because we don’t want them to be subject to further pressure (except drugs for sex) and stigmatization during their formative years in school (when we will ‘form’ them).’
Republican Rep. Bob McDermott, who vociferously challenged the state’s same-sex marriage law, said parents should be able to decide whether to give their children ‘treatment’.
He said: ‘What if I want my kids – they’re questioning, they’re on the fence – and I want to steer them to the rich life of being a heterosexual, and as a parent, I don’t have that right?’….
(Repeat after me: “Gender is changeable, sexual orientation is not.”)
(Question: Will NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio be arrested for straightening out his ex-lesbian wife?)
read … Gay Conversion is mandatory
Gay Panic: ‘Conversion Therapy’ Does Not Exist in Hawaii
KHON: …KHON2 reached out to the Hawaii Department of Education to find out if gay conversion therapy is happening, but a spokeswoman says there have been no reports.
We also called various private schools, like Saint Francis School in Manoa, which says it does not do gay conversion therapy.
So we checked with Life Foundation, a non-profit that works with gay, lesbian, and transgender youth. Monoiki Ah Neeban says students have not reached out to the foundation….
read … Trendy Politically Correct Nonsense Bill to Outlaw Something that Does Not Exist
Bill would criminalize consensual sex between teachers and teens
HNN: Lawmakers are debating a bill that would make it a crime for a teacher to have consensual sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old.
Hawaii's age of consent is 16, but under House Bill 1044, an adult in a position of power who engages in sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old would face fourth-degree sex assault charges.
The bill was before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and some expressed concern with the measure as written.
The city Prosecutor's Office supports the intent of the bill, but has concerns about the wording and scope of the measure.
The state public defender testified against the bill….
The measure grew out of an incident last year at Kalaheo High School, in which a teacher pleaded no contest to harassment.
Under Hawaii law, teacher Marc Murdock's crime wasn't his consensual sex with a 17-year-old female student, but his unwanted and repeated phone calls, text messages and emails afterwards.
On the Big Island, a female teacher at Waiakea High School allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student in 2014.
The DOE placed the two educators on leave to investigate. The department prohibits employees or volunteers from engaging in any romantic, sexual, or other inappropriate relations with a student.
Both of the teachers no longer work for the department, according to DOE officials.
(Summary: If the ‘teacher’ turns your son gay, he’ll go to jail, but you won’t be able to turn your son back. But you can try to get him on Oprah to talk about how proud you are of your brave gay son.)
read … Criminals
Hawaii per pupil spending is $11,743 rank 16th in USA
WaPo: Hawaii per pupil spending is $11,743 rank 16th in USA … it dropped more than 3 percent….
read … Per Pupil
DoE Double Pays 223 Teachers—May Try to Get $100K Back
SA: The Department of Education is working to collect nearly $100,000 it mistakenly paid to more than 200 substitute teachers over a year ago.
Most of the overpayments were the result of the teachers being paid twice — in August 2014 and again that September. In all, 223 substitutes were overpaid a total of $94,940.46, the department said.
The error was brought to the DOE’s attention in 2014 after three substitutes questioned their paychecks, but officials say it took about a year to determine and verify what happened because of the department’s manual payroll process. (Translation: This could happen all the time and never be noticed.) The department plans to recoup the money by garnishing future paychecks. (Translation: Two years later, none of the money has been recovered. Many of these people no longer work for DoE.)…
But that recovery method only works for employees who are still on the state’s payroll. Some overpayment cases are referred to the state attorney general, while other amounts (ie most) are eventually written off if the debt can’t be collected.
read … DOE garnishing pay to make up for error linked to dated system
UH Manoa: Howling Lynch Mob of Perfessers Screaming ‘Racism’
CB: …the auditorium had a lot of spectators in attendance this time and they were not senators. There was something unusually interesting about to happen: a resolution proposed by the leadership of the Manoa Faculty Senate (called the Senate Executive Committee) to express “no confidence in” – essentially calling for the firing of – the most powerful academic officer on campus, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Reed Dasenbrock.
The charges against him had been brewing for better than a year. They included “sexism,” “bullying,” “failure to embrace diversity” (i.e., racism), and that he had created a “hostile campus environment via public threats and insults, lack of respect and civility, hostility, and retaliation against faculty and staff who disagree with his views.” Pretty serious (subjective) stuff.
The first thing I noticed, having just come back from sabbatical leave since last summer, was that the folks bringing the charges included a majority of our own Executive Committee, so we were dealing with heavy hitters. Clearly, this was no fly-by-night resolution and the implications were huge. (Translation: The lunatics have taken over the asylum)
The floor was opened for discussion, most of the senators who rose to speak were in favor of Dasenbrock’s dismissal, and their comments on his behavior were grim, to say the least. One lone voice expressed a great discomfort at what he saw as “premature strangulation of the VCAA.”
And so it went. Then it occurred to me that all we had before us was the case for the prosecution. And that the folks who had brought the charges were also the ones asking us to bring in a verdict of “guilty.”
Where was the defense? Had the charges been proven? Was there fact-finding? I had, absolutely no idea. I had never personally witnessed the terrible acts alleged. Were the really true? Had the VCAA presented a response for us to read? ….
I voted “no.” I was one of 10. Forty-three voted in favor and a couple of profs decided they couldn’t decide….
read … A Rush To Judgment At The University Of Hawaii?
HB2156 Fund Campaign Spending Commission
SA: …Recent projections by the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission predict that the fund may not be sufficient to sustain Hawaii’s Partial Public Financing Program, by as early as December 2017, affecting candidates who depend on public financing in 2018.
The Campaign Spending Commission itself may have to cease operations by 2019, if the Legislature refuses to restore its funding….
House Bill 2156 and Senate Bill 2438 would require the commission’s operating expenses to be funded by the general fund instead of the HECF, and appropriates funds to the commission for its operating expenses….
read … Funding
Should Hawaii Elect Its Judges And AG?
CB: Instead of being appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, with the consent of the Senate, Senate Bill 2238 proposes giving voters the power to elect district judges to six-year terms during the general election….
Senate Bill 2418 says the attorney general shall be elected to a term of four years by voters at a special nonpartisan election held every four years in conjunction with a general election….
Rather than electing the lieutenant governor, lawmakers are looking at making that an appointed position. Senate Bill 2419 proposes a constitutional amendment to allow the governor to appoint a person from the same political party as a running mate for lieutenant governor in the general election….
read … Elect?
Kauai: No GE Tax Hike
CB: We should repair roads rather than build new ones, and pay with gas taxes instead of raising the excise tax…..
read … No Tax Hike
Reps. Evans, Mizuno and Morikawa Raising Cash During Session
CB: If by chance you step into Cafe Julia at 1040 Richards Street Tuesday at cocktail hour, you’ll find three state representatives asking for campaign donations of $100 each.
They are Rep. John Mizuno of Oahu, Rep. Cindy Evans of the Big Island and Rep.Dee Morikawa of Kauai….
Some say the money is not intended to influence the passage of legislation.
But no one really believes that….
read … Hands Out
More Legislative News:
NextEra-HECO Hearings to Re-Start on Monday
IM: The second phase of the Public Utilities Commission evidentiary hearing examining the proposed acquisition of the Hawaiian Electric Companies by Florida-based NextEra Energy will start on Monday, February 1, 2016.
The hearing will take place at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Hawai`i Suites, starting at 9:30 a.m. The public is welcomed to attend. `Olelo Community Media will live-stream the event.
IM: New HECO Coal Deal at Hawai`i PUC
read … NextEra-HECO Hearings to Re-Start on Monday
Micronesians ‘Younger, Sicker’ Than Other Hawaii Groups
CB: The study — “Younger and Sicker: Comparing Micronesians to Other Ethnicities in Hawaii” — was published last month in the American Journal of Public Health. It says that the results and conclusions may help researchers, governments officials and hospitals, medical providers and health systems help “this vulnerable group.”
read … Younger, Sicker
Isles rank near bottom for jobs in STEM fields
SA: …Honolulu ranked dead last in the affordability of housing as well as cost-of-living-adjusted annual median wages for STEM workers, and below 50th in all other measures except STEM employment growth, a category in which it placed 39th.
In per-capita job openings for STEM graduates, Honolulu ranked 54th. The market was 56th for annual median wage growth for workers in the field. Honolulu is 58th for the percentage of all workers in STEM-related positions; 61st in the quality of engineering universities; 68th in mathematics performance by fourth- and eighth-graders; and 79th in the number of projected STEM jobs needed in the year 2020….
PBN: Tax Credit Schemers Make Excuses for Lack of STEM Jobs
read … STEM
What is WalletHub and why are we listening to them?
ILind: Take yesterday’s report that a “personal finance website” ranked Hawaii as “the third worst state for retirees, just above the District of Columbia and Rhode Island.”
First, of course, there’s the question of the source. What is WalletHub and why are we listening to them? That’s never explained.
Second, there are the criteria. I have to scratch my head. If Hawaii is so bad for retirees, why is it that those retirees can look forward to living longer in Hawaii than any place else in the country? Isn’t staying alive the most important thing, not something to be mentioned in an aside?
read … Wallet Who?
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