Results from Hawaii Republican Presidential Caucus
2016 Hawaii Legislative Watch: People vs. Government
Huge Voter Turnout for Hawaii Republican Caucuses
HNN: Voter Theresa Gomez said part of the big turnout was thanks to Democrats voting for a Republican.
"A lot Democrats here tonight going Republican because everyone is really upset about what Obama has done to our country in the eight years that he's been President and we're ready for change," she said.
Trump voters were behind much of the big turnout Tuesday.
"He's an outsider, he's a businessman and we think he might bring something different to the party and America and hopefully right now, since we are $19 trillion in debt, him being a businessman, hopefully he can get us out of the financial hardships," voter Tony Cox said.
Chow said, "He's a non-politician. He's a successful businessman and I think we're ready for a change with a non political individual," Chow said.
read … Huge Turnout
Sen Sam Slom, after a brief hospitalization, is back in true form at the Capitol
CB: If there are any worries that the state Senate’s only Republican is out of action, worry no more.
Sam Slom was his usual self Tuesday, voting “no” on countless bills sponsored by his Democratic Party colleagues.
Slom was hospitalized Friday after appearing ill at ease at the Capitol. But he promised a swift recovery, and then delivered.
The senator voted “no” so many times Tuesday that he probably should not have even bothered to sit down at his desk….
read … The Return Of Senator No
$75M Tax on gas, auto weight would go up via bill OK’d by senators
SA: Opposition mounted in the Senate on Tuesday to a proposal by Gov. David Ige’s administration to hike the gasoline and motor vehicle weight taxes and increase the cost of registrations. If enacted, Senate Bill 2938, part of the governor’s legislative package, is expected to increase costs for a typical motorist by about $83 a year.
The bill was the last on the list of dozens of bills that the full Senate voted on as part of what’s known as “crossover,” when hundreds of bills move between the Senate and House. It also sparked the day’s most heated debate.
“I see we saved the worst for last,” said Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Kahala-Hawaii Kai), the lone Republican in the Senate, as he rose in opposition to the bill.
The hike would bring in about $75.3 million in added revenue annually to the state Department of Transportation to repair the highway system. But senators criticized the Transportation Department for a history of inefficiency, poor contract management and a troubling track record of allowing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to languish unspent.
“I don’t think it is fair to ask people to take on faith that this three-way tax increase is going to translate into improved roads,” said Sen. Laura Thielen (D, Hawaii Kai-Waimanalo-Kailua).
The measure was passed 16 to 8. Six of the senators voting in favor of the bill did so with reservations. The House version of the bill never made it out of committee hearings.
read … Huge Tax Hike
Will TheBus be Handed over to Rail System?
SA: Voters will have the final say, but the Honolulu Charter Commission has begun the debate over who should oversee the city’s transit operations — including the setting of fares for TheBus, Handi-Van and rail.
Under city ordinance, TheBus and Handi-Van operations fall under the city Department of Transportation Services, with major decisions such as fares approved by the City Council. Meanwhile, decision-making on all matters related to the $6.57 billion rail project is currently in the hands of the semiautonomous Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board, whose members are appointed by either the mayor or Council….
read … Oversight of transit systems debated
Hawaii County employees can keep frequent flier miles Purchased with P-Card
WHT: The skies will remain friendly for Hawaii County employees.
Officers and employees are allowed to continue to use the frequent flier miles they accrue on their purchasing cards during government-paid travel for their own personal use.
That was the consensus Tuesday of the county Board of Ethics when it voted 4-0 to reject a petition filed by Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland saying the lack of a county policy violated the Ethics Code.
“It is not acceptable that county employees should use county funds to pay for travel and per diem expenses and then derive personal benefit for frequent flyer miles,” Hyland said in his petition….
read … Incentive to Travel on your Dime
What’s Up With Panel To Award Medical Pot Dispensary Licenses?
CB: With less than six weeks to go before the state is scheduled to announce the winners of licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana, the Department of Health still hasn’t chosen the members of a panel that will evaluate the applications.
The department received 66 applications for eight licenses on four islands, and state lawsays it must announce the winners by April 15.
“We’re making every effort to try to make that April 15 selection date,” said department spokeswoman Janice Okubo. “That’s still our goal but we realize it is creeping up and getting tight.”
The department doesn’t have a specific timeline — or even a procedure — for choosing selection committee members, said Okubo.
Margaret “Peggy” Leong, who was hired in December to lead the medical marijuana dispensary program, is single-handedly reviewing each of the applications to ensure that they’re valid and meet legal requirements, said Okubo.
If all 66 applications reached the 50-page limit, that would equal 3,300 pages worth of applications, in addition to their attachments.
Leong is also busy finalizing the state’s contract with Bio Track THC, a software company that will track marijuana plants; testifying on bills at the state Legislature; and interviewing job applicants. She recently hired two surveyors and a secretary and is searching for an accountant.
read … What’s Up?
Idle Rich Behind Hawaii Anti-GMO Activism
KE: Public records show that for the past decade, mainland groups and philanthropists have carefully cultivated an anti-GMO campaign in Hawaii, arming it with money and training to execute a specific political agenda.
Kauai has been at the heart of this strategy, which employs nonprofit organizations that engage in political advocacy under the guise of “education,” thus skirting the scrutiny, transparency and accountability imposed on lobbying efforts. This tactic produces a movement that claims it's grassroots and broad-based, when in fact, it's a puppet of the national groups that fund its work and pull its strings.
As I've reported previously, much of this political advocacy in Hawaii has been funded by the Ceres Trust and the Cornerstone Campaign, which is bankrolled by the fortunes of two Rockefeller heiresses. Though founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Cornerstone functions only to disperse grants to groups active in the anti-biotech movement, including Friends of the Earth, Genetic Engineering Action Network, Organic Seed Alliance, International Forum on Globalization, Californians for GE Free Agriculture and Earthjustice.
In this post, I'll detail how money from the John Merck Fund — endowed by a scion of the Merck Pharmaceutical empire — has further bolstered this totally non-transparent political advocacy in the Islands.
read … Idle Rich
Plans for Rusting wind junk off Waikiki moving ahead
KITV: Progression Energy has been operating an ocean wind farm in Portugal for about five years. The Hawaii project calls for 40-to-50 turbines each about a mile to a mile-and-a-half apart.
The developer is asking the Interior Department to lease 121 square miles of ocean. It expects to start construction four years from now in 2020.
The company looked at five different sites, two on the North Shore, two on the East Side and this one here on the South Shore. The project would be located about 12 miles off Waikiki.
"It's off the migratory bird paths, it's the least impactful site we could find and it's still very competitive price-wise," said Ted Peck Spokesman for the Progression Hawaii project.
One big worry is visual blight. The floating wind farm would be between Barbers Point and Waikiki….
Complete Debunk: Rusting Windfarm Junk off Waikiki: Europe's Disaster Coming to Hawaiian Waters
read … Taxpayer and Ratepayer Money Given to Rich Phonies
Hawaii’s Public Charter School Movement At A Crossroads
CB: Big changes could be ahead, including how new schools are created and how they are overseen.
read … Crossroads
Judicial Appointment Bills are Retaliation for DHHL Ruling?
ILind: A face-off between the Legislature and the Judiciary over several bills that would reduce judicial independence and exert more political control over judicial retention decisions was apparently triggered by legislative anger over a recent court ruling in a long-running lawsuit over funding for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Two bills that would have required judges to be elected finally died in committee, but a third bill, Senate Bill 2420, was debated on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
This measure would require Senate consent or approval of judges seeking reappointment to additional terms. Currently, the state’s Judicial Selection Commission is responsible for screening judges and determining if they should be reappointed. The move to put the Senate into the mix is widely viewed as a further politicization of the selection process.
read … Backroom
Homeless Tent City: Arguments, Yelling and a Party
HNN: Complaints are growing as a homeless encampment expands along Wilder Avenue and Dole Street in the Manoa area.
Just a few steps from a well-known mural featuring great Hawaiians like Israel Kamakawiwoole (Bradda IZ), Don Ho and Gabby Pahinui, sits a not-so-pleasant sight. Pitched tarps, shopping carts and garbage bags occupy the area under the Wilder Avenue Bridge, off the H1 freeway.
Nearby resident Kira Shutt says she feels the need to tiptoe past the growing camp everyday on her way to and from work.
"Depending on the hours I'm walking past, I tend to be more cautious," Shutt said. "So if I work night shifts, when I get off I don't exactly like walking down. I'll take other alternate routes just for peace of mind."
Shutt says it's too close for comfort, especially with Voyager Public Charter School just a few hundred feet away….
"We've heard the yelling going on down there it sounds like a party sometimes of people having arguments," he said….
Bring-judiciary-to-the-homeless
Big Q Do you support a mobile community court to deal with homeless people’s misdemeanor citations?
read … Drug Addicts
Legislative News:
QUICK HITS: