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Wednesday, April 13, 2016
April 13, 2016 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:39 PM :: 3932 Views

Full Text: Resigning Horner vs Martin–HECO vs HART

Hawaii 2nd Highest Overall Tax Burden in USA

Video: The Christian Heritage of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Hawaii Featured in 2016 Congressional Pig Book

Auditor: Kahoolawe Trust Fund Gone After 20 years Without a Plan

State Revenues From Gambling: Short-Term Relief, Long-Term Disappointment

After Horner Ouster, Rail Will Only Get Worse

SA: …What the retired banker takes with him is his financial expertise, which the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) desperately needs, given the escalating price tag of the rail project, now at nearly $7 billion.

Yes, the rail project has been plagued by missteps: premature contracts delayed by lawsuits that drove up costs; dubious, overly optimistic financials presented to the City Council; and HART not fully taking into account utility clearance issues along the guideway’s path. Yet that cannot be pinned solely on HART’s board chairman.

While public confidence in the project has waned due to HART’s perceived mismanagement, using Horner as a scapegoat looks like political maneuvering on the part of Council Chairman Ernie Martin and Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Martin, in a letter last week, asked for both Horner and HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas to resign. Caldwell, who was out of state last week, said he had already planned to ask for Horner’s resignation upon his return.

Both now are trying to distance themselves from the rail snafus. But Caldwell in particular has been erratic in his leadership to, as he has repeatedly vowed, “build rail better.”

Horner’s departure comes just days before Friday’s expected release of a city auditor’s report on management of the rail project. Grabauskas, now in the second year of his latest three-year contract, is undergoing his regular evaluation by the HART board, which has the authority to terminate the executive director….

(Really Obvious Question: Who’s Next to Chair HART—Hanabusa?)

read … Upheaval at HART puts rail at risk

Hawaii High Taxes Killing the Poor—Literally

CB: …Hawaii has one of the highest rates of poverty (when measured properly) and the highest rate of homelessness in the nation. This should make us particularly sensitive to the threats to health presented by poverty.

The root of the problem is in the often overlooked, but painfully obvious fact about poverty: poor people don’t have enough money. A recent study by the Anne E. Casey Foundation found that 47 percent of Americans cannot handle a $400 emergency, like having to replace a car’s alternator or pay for out-of-pocket emergency medical expenses.

Being able to afford an unforeseen car repair, or an unexpected illness, can be the difference between low-income individuals seeking medical treatment and not. And low incomes impact people’s abilities to live in safe, health-promoting neighborhoods.

These facts point to an unexpected public health tool: tax policy.

We are not used to thinking about the health impacts of changes in tax policy. But, studies in recent years have found numerous health benefits—particularly for infants and mothers—associated with work-related tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

This, and other research, has led many state public health officials, in Wisconsin for example, to recommend expanding low-income tax credits as a way to alleviate poverty and reduce the negative impacts of social determinants of health.

Hawaii could learn from this approach. We desperately need to update and expand our system of tax credits for low- and moderate-income families. Hawaii is one of only 16 states that taxes wages and does not provide a state earned income tax credit.

Additionally, Hawaii is one of only a very small handful of states that tax the income of the poor. Our poor pay more in income tax than residents of every other state except for Alabama. Taxing the poor only serves to decrease their ability to make ends meet, and increases the stresses associated with poverty….

read … The Enormous Health Costs Of Living In Poverty

Cigarette Tax Rejected

SA: …Lawmakers generally are deeply reluctant to raise taxes in an election year, and this year is proving that rule. Proposals by the governor’s administration to increase the state gasoline tax, weight tax and registration fees to provide more money for construction and maintenance of state highways all appear to be dead for the session.

A bill that would have increased the cigarette tax to 20 cents from 16 cents per cigarette also appears to be dead in what could turn out to be a major blow to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.

The cigarette tax hike was expected to raise an extra $14.3 million a year, with about half of that additional funding to be earmarked for the cancer facility. However, that measure stalled in the House Finance Committee.

Ige asked lawmakers to appropriate $4 million this year to support the operations of the Cancer Center. With the cigarette tax increase apparently failing, Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine and interim director of the Cancer Center, said Ige’s request for extra funding is the “key centerpiece to restoring the support that the Cancer Center had from the state.”

The center already receives a share of the revenue from the state cigarette tax, but has seen that income stream taper off as revenue from the tax has declined….

read … Taxes

GMOs: Trying to work with social justice warriors on the new left is like trying to wash your hands with crap

KE: …what's difficult and demoralizing is having people like Gary, Marghee, Fern and Felicia, none of whom know anything about agriculture, weigh in so heavily about what farmers should and shouldn't do.

Though their regulatory efforts are currently directed at the seed companies, we're already hearing calls for pesticide disclosure from the taro farmers, and soon other small farmers who cannot afford more regulations will be called to task for their operations — even when they are operating legally in agriculturally-zoned lands, as the seed companies are. These recommendations may seem benign on surface, or just desserts for those dirty, genocidal chem companies. But they have far-reaching implications for all farmers at a time when Hawaii ag is already on the ropes.

And while I like and respect Peter Adler, who facilitated the JFFG, I was concerned when I read this comment from him in today's paper:

Adler pointed out “much has already been accomplished,” by the preliminary draft. Monday, a house bill relating to the state agricultural budget included a $500,000 readjustment in the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s 2016-2017 budget.

The recommendation suggests the money, in general funds, be used to “address concerns related to pesticide use,” according to the bill. The funds would be used to increase pesticide regulations and to strengthen data collection, as well as establish new standards for chronic, low-level exposure to pesticides.

In my opinion, the facilitator shouldn't be invested in the outcome, or deliver judgments on the effect of the recommendations, particularly at the draft stage. It's his job to shepherd the group to create a factual, impartial report that the community can use to inform its next steps.

I'm quite certain Peter came into this project wanting to do the right thing for the community, and I know he's not motivated by the money. But I think he did underestimate the very low road that some people are willing to take to advance the anti-GMO platform, and thus themselves. Those of us on the front lines have been experiencing the ugliness of that dynamic for a few years now. As one commenter so astutely observed on yesterday's post:

Trying to work with social justice warriors on the new left is like trying to wash your hands with crap….

read … SJWs

DoE Siphons Ratepayers Taxes--Next Pot of Gold for Green Energy Schemers

IM: …The State Senate and the State House passed SB 3126to alleviate this problem.

SB3126 SD2 HD2 is headed to Conference Committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

The Department of Education “shall establish a goal of becoming net-zero with respect to energy use, producing as much renewable energy as the department consumes across all public school facilities, by January 1, 2035.”

This is a goal not a requirement. Furthermore “net-zero” with respect to energy applies only to electricity….

Some of the funding will come from the green infrastructure loan program. The State borrowed $150 million to fund the ill-conceived GEMS program. The money is sitting in an account and is slowing going down due to interest payments. The money was originally intended to finance solar for economically challenged individuals, renters and businesses at a higher than market interest rate….

Tax Foundation addressed the use of GEMS funding.

“Apparently GEMS is an attractive target for raiding because most of the $150 million raised in the bond issue is still there. But three things need to be remembered: First, it’s a financing program, not a grant program. Second, it’s been established for specific purposes. Third, it is funded by all users of electricity through a `green infrastructure fee` on our electric bills.”

Hawaiian Electric Company also expressed concerns.

“For example, if the net zero requirement drives the DOE to singularly focus on building as much PV as they can at all their school sites, they may face significant technical integration challenges that can be very expensive to work through.

Or if the DOE determines that they can only meet net zero by building several larger scale PV farms at a handful of DOE sites, and the goal is applied very literally to require their consumption of this energy, then that could lead the DOE to have to advocate for energy wheeling which can negatively impact other customers and renewable generators.

SA: Power bills increase on 4 out of 6 islands

read … $100s of Millions

Batteries: Another $50M for Green Energy Schemers

SA: The full Senate passed an amended version of House Bill 2291, which would make batteries eligible for the state’s renewable-energy tax credit while decreasing how much residents get for photovoltaic. Also on Tuesday the full House passed an amended version of Senate Bill 2738, a measure that would appropriate $50 million for a battery rebate from a program put in place to help low-income residents who cannot afford the upfront costs of PV to get solar….

SA:  HECO under heat from PUC after cutting off Green Energy Schemers Cashflow

read … Rewarding National Democrat Campaign Contributors

Scam Coming: House Passes Geothermal Shell Bill

SA: …On the House side, lawmakers took the extremely unusual (totally typical) step of approving on the floor a bill relating to geothermal power that does not actually have any content. That so-called “short-form” bill will now go to conference committee and can be amended there to insert language that can then become law.

No public testimony is allowed in conference committee, effectively shutting out the public from providing input on a hotly contested issue.

“Significant issues that come before this body deserve the transparency that comes with a public discussion on the merits of the issue,” Rep. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kahaluu-Ahuimanu-Kaneohe) told his colleagues. He was one of six House members to vote against the bill’s passage.

House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said in an interview that she allowed the blank bill to advance because lawmakers from Hawaii island are divided over how to handle geothermal regulation. A previous version of the measure was criticized for undermining county regulatory authority.

“At this point in time, what we’re trying to do is allow the proponents and opponents to work out some language,” she said. “If they don’t come to an agreement, then we’re not going to pass anything.”

read … Shell Bill

Legislators May Strip Millions Of Hotel Tax Dollars From Honolulu

CB: Honolulu stands to lose millions of hotel-tax dollars from the state under a measure the House passed Tuesday….

Senate Bill 2987 initially set out to make permanent the $103 million cap on state transient accommodations tax revenues to the counties.

But the House Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Sylvia Luke, amended the measure last week to change what percent of hotel tax money each county receives.

Honolulu had received a 44.1 percent share of the amount the state gives the counties. The latest version of the bill knocks that down to 30 percent while boosting the portion each neighbor island county receives. Kauai would get 20 percent instead of 14.5 percent; Hawaii County would get 25 percent instead of 18.6 percent; and Maui would get 25 percent instead of 22.8 percent.

If the cap is $103 million, Honolulu would lose $14.5 million under the new allocation model….

read … Strip

Lawmakers may soon create a task force to reform our grossly inadequate lobbying laws

CB: …The Center for Public Integrity recognized that problem with tracking whose fingers are pulling plums out of the legislative pie when it gave Hawaii a D- in 2012 for laws regulating lobbying.

In response, a local group of leading lawmakers, lobbyists, watchdog group leaders and journalists convened to brainstorm solutions They put forward a report outlining a number of potential modest reforms. It has largely been ignored.

The report included basic ideas such as making legislators’ calendars public to allow citizens to know who they’re meeting with, and disclosing the authorship of legislation, so that the public can know when a bill is introduced at the request of lobbyists, unpaid advocates or others.

Executive Branch Lobbying

Unfortunately, this lack of disclosure doesn’t end with lobbying the Legislature. People lobbying the executive branch of government don’t have to register with the state or disclose their expenditures at all.

While some government observers dispute that this is the case, Civil Beat’s Ian Lind illustrated that “blind spot” in Hawaii lobbying law last year in a column about Ciber, an information technology firm that billed Hawaii more than $8 million in fees, failed to deliver a new accounting system for the state Department of Transportation and then used a high-powered lobbying firm to avoid consequences.

The State of Hawaii sued the firm last year in an effort to recover some of those funds, alleging “inappropriate political influence.” But virtually nothing about the business’s lobbying work with Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s administration was disclosed to the Hawaii State Ethics Commission; Ciber only disclosed nominal amounts it paid for legislative lobbying work.

Legislation passed the House on Tuesday that would create a formal legislative task force to recommend reforms of our state lobbying laws before the 2017 session. Senate Bill 3024 already has passed the Senate; due to amendments added in the House, it now goes to conference committee for further consideration. The bill’s chances of final passage appear to be strong….

read … Lobbying Transparency

Billy Kenoi is a Sexist—Why Didn’t Anybody Say Anything Until Now?

CB: …You spent almost $900 of taxpayers’ money in one night using your official government credit card at a “hostess bar” in Honolulu, where they charge only $3 for beer. You did this before, about half a decade earlier, but got caught by a dogged journalist. With your pants down, you apologized to us for using our taxes.

Why did you not apologize to the person whom you “patronized?” Online reviews make clear what often goes on in hostess bars. Why, in over a year, has our only criticism been your method of payment?

Did you say to yourself, “She’s just a hussy, not like my wife?” Did you feel like a real live king when she sat on your throne? How much did you spend before your cash ran out and you resorted to using your pCard?

read … P Card

Bill Passes to Release 100s of Criminals so they can do it again

KITV: …Among those passed is one that would give the Public Safety Director the right to release certain prisoners and pre-trial detainees to avoid overcrowded conditions at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.

Senator Donna Mercado Kim had reservations on the bill, saying, “But OCCC has been overcrowded for so long that this makes the Director of Public Safety the judge and the jury."

The bill does require notification to the judge and prosecutor 24 hours prior to the release and a report to the legislature. But Kim said there is no input at the time the decision is being made. …

read … Give them a 2nd or 22nd chance for Recidivism

The Wilding: Honolulu’s Last Experiment With Homeless Tent City Led to Stabbings, Robberies

SA:  …It has been said by many that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So I want to remind readers of a little downtown Honolulu history.

In 1993 I was a Honolulu Police Department (HPD) detective. Detectives John Lim, Kyle Luke (now deceased) and I were assigned a series of interrelated violent crimes that The Honolulu Advertiser labeled the “WILDING.”

Several months prior, Aala Park had been outfitted with what could be described as temporary encampments. There was a row of huts for families and individuals to live in. Aala Park was utilized because of its central location, access to transportation and social services. It had bathrooms readily available and daytime staff assigned to oversee the location.

The night of the “wilding,” the group of male suspects had been drinking in Aala Park. They ran out of alcohol and went to a nearby liquor store on Hotel Street. They had no money, so they robbed the store and then kept going, yelling and taunting people on the street.

At the bus stop in front of 1111 Alakea St., a young male medical student was waiting for a ride.

Suspect Michael Rosado approached him to rob him and instead stabbed him over a dozen times with a knife he had tied to his hand, leaving the victim bleeding.

Suspects then robbed a female Honolulu Advertiser editor as she walked home after work on Beretania Street near Richards Street. An attorney driving by intervened as the men attacked her and the group ran off with her briefcase.

A male waiter riding his bicycle home after work witnessed that robbery and the suspects running. He gave chase and was assaulted as the suspects fled, and left him on Kukui Street-Nuuanu Avenue….

Related: Homeless tent cities: Seattle’s decade-long nightmare coming to Honolulu?

read … Criminal Predators

Homeless Refusing Shelter to be Cleared from State, HCDA Property

SA: The agreement could take effect as early as the end of the month and run through June 30, 2017, Caldwell told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

HCDA spokeswoman Lindsey Doi said the help from Caldwell and the city is welcomed, especially the plan to prevent homeless people from camping overnight along the mauka side of Ala Moana Boulevard.

“We could use some help,” Doi said. “That’s what we’re seeing now — they migrate over from the park. If we had enforcement, granted that would be a plus.”

But experience has shown that keeping Kakaako clear of homeless encampments can be elusive, Doi said.

“You always hope you’re fixing something,” she said, “but you never know what happens until it happens.”

The encampment in Kakaako runs along the makai side of busy Ala Moana Boulevard in plain sight of tourists driving from Honolulu Airport to Waikiki.

Homeless people have been living in the area for years, but the Kakaako homeless population exploded last year after the city’s so called “sit-lie” ordinance, which bans people from sitting or lying on city sidewalks, forced people to move out of financial centers such as Waikiki, downtown and Chinatown….

Before the city moves in, Caldwell said he will personally meet with every homeless person in the area and invite them to be shuttled down to Sand Island to look at the city’s Hale Mauliola complex, which houses formerly homeless people in converted shipping containers. Homeless people for the first time are allowed to live with their pets at Hale Mauliola, where the human clients receive social service help and assistance finding longer-term housing.

Homeless people who decide not to move to Hale Mauliola will no longer be welcomed in Kakaako, Caldwell said.

“We’re going to make it a lot harder to stay there,” Caldwell said. “No one has the right to be in one place at any time on property they don’t own.”

read … Deal in Works

English, Shimabukuro Push $95K Grass Huts for Homeless

AP: …Building a hale can cost from $30,000 for a 180-square-foot structure to $95,000 for 600-square-feet, including labor and materials, depending on size and location, according to rough estimates from Holani Hana, a nonprofit that builds non-residential hale to promote Hawaiian cultural values….  (See how profitable nonprofits can be!)

Sen. J. Kalani English, who pushed Maui County to adopt its hale building code, envisions updating those standards to a modern interpretation of indigenous Hawaiian architecture. He's stayed in thatched homes in Tahiti and throughout French Polynesia, some with sliding glass windows and air conditioning, he said.

"I've always envisioned a traditional style structure - indigenous architecture - with Wi-Fi and internet and TV and wall plugs and all of that stuff plugged into it," English said….

English co-sponsored legislation to encourage city and state officials to set aside land for hale building and to exempt the structures from some planning and zoning requirements, but state agencies and the Honolulu planning department opposed the bill….

"Any time that we can find ways to make it easier and cheaper for people to build homes, I think it's worth supporting," said state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro, who represents Waianae and co-sponsored the hale bill.

read … Your Tax Dollars at Work

Airbnb Claims 10,000 TVRs in Hawaii

PBN: Airbnb has approximately 10,000 active listings in the Hawaiian Islands, the company confirmed with PBN Tuesday.

The online alternative accommodations start-up company, which has secured $2.4 billion in funding nationwide. In 2015, there were 8,700 listings booked in the Aloha State….

read … Airbnb 10,000

Big Anti-Tobacco Bought off Hawaii County Council Chair?

HTH: An ethics complaint against Hawaii County Council Chairman Dru Kanuha pending since September remains unresolved after a 2-2 vote Tuesday by the county Board of Ethics, with one board member abstaining.

The complaint alleges Kanuha acted improperly when he accepted $536 in airfare from the Honolulu-based Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii on Sept. 11, 2014, and Nov. 10, 2014, prior to a bill he introduced to ban electronic cigarettes anywhere conventional tobacco cigarettes are banned. The resolution was introduced Oct. 14, 2014, and passed Dec. 11 that year.

The complaint, filed by Irie Hawaii Smoke Shops owner Mariner Revell, describes the two flights to Honolulu as gifts from lobbyists trying to influence Kanuha’s vote.

read … Bought

Hawaii product exports increase 31% in 2015

PBN: The top five exports were: broodstock shrimp, bottled water, chocolate covered macadamia nuts and papayas….

read … Hawaii product exports increase 31% in 2015

Officer acquitted in trial is under review by HPD

SA: …Seti, who has been on the police force for two years, was placed on restricted duty after he was charged with assault July 2. He is assigned to the central district receiving desk.

The misdemeanor offense, punishable by a maximum jail sentence of one year and a $2,000 fine, is normally handled by a District Court judge.

However, Seti, at his District Court arraignment July 31, requested a jury trial, and the case was turned over to Circuit Judge Christine Kuriyama.

Seti allegedly injured a 25-year-old man by throwing him to the ground Feb. 24, 2015, in Palolo Valley.

The incident was recorded on cellphone video taken by a friend of the victim.

The criminal case was handled by the attorney general’s office.

read … Under Review

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