After Winning Suit Against IRS, Maui TEA Party Dissolves
Rep Ing wants HGEA and UPW government jobs for Everybody
SA: State Rep. Kaniela Ing is proposing a state task force to study whether a government job can be provided for everyone who needs one.
Ing (D, South Maui) has introduced House Bill 1992 to create a task force to study a “public sector option to provide jobs for all” in Hawaii. The task force would study the feasibility of guaranteeing all Hawaii residents over the age of 18 a job in government and determine how much funding would be required to provide those jobs.
Not surprisingly, not everyone agrees with his approach. State Rep. Bob McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) said Hawaii has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at the moment, and described Ing’s proposal as “a solution looking for a problem.”
SA: The government can’t hire everybody
read … State official want study of government ‘jobs for all’
SB2988: $4M for ‘Kupuna Caregivers’ Union Organizing Scam
CB: Senate Bill 2988, which has a hearing Monday afternoon at the state Capitol, would appropriate $4 million for the full implementation and sustainability of the Kupuna Caregivers Program.
The bill also requires the Executive Office on Aging to submit a report to the Legislature prior to each regular session that details program outcomes….
As Explained: How Paid Home Care leads to Union Membership Scam
read … Scam
Dumb Idea: Vending Machines with Free Food for Homeless So They Can Focus on Using Meth
CB: …Manahan, who represents Kalihi, introduced two resolutions Thursday. The first would establish a group to research how Honolulu can work with Action Hunger to install one or more vending machines. The second asks Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration to acquire machines and work with service providers to operate them.
Rather than feeding the vending machine money, users would insert a card provided by a nonprofit organization, Manahan’s resolutions say. Continued use of the card would require users to check in with the nonprofit provider weekly. (Yeah right)….
read … Dumb Idea
Legislature Keeps Written Testimony Under Wraps Til The Last Minute
CB: The common practice of not releasing testimony to the public until an hour before a hearing has one Republican lawmaker pushing for change….
read … Under Wraps
No HI-EMA tapes exist, state says
SA: …The Honolulu Star-Advertiser filed a formal request under the state’s Uniform Information Practices Act for video or audio recordings of events in the HI-EMA operations facility that morning, but HI-EMA spokesman Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony said no such recordings exist.
Anthony said the security cameras at HI-EMA’s Birkhimer Tunnel are facing outward and are used to see who is approaching the facility, not to watch employees perform their duties….
read … No HI-EMA tapes exist, state says
Kealohas could lose taxpayer-funded lawyers after stopping mortgage payments
HNN: Former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his deputy prosecutor wife, Katherine, have apparently stopped paying the mortgages on their Hawaii Kai home, and haven’t paid the property taxes on their Kahala condo either, Hawaii News Now has learned.
Legal experts say these new developments could threaten their legal team, made up of taxpayer-funded attorneys and could get the Kealohas sent back to jail….
Now that the two have been charged with multiple counts, including theft, fraud and perjury, the federal government has put a lien on the home.
If the Kealohas are found guilty, the lien ensures the victims will be paid back.
"Basically it sits in escrow until there's a final determination,” says Ricky Cassiday, a real estate expert. “You’re innocent until proven guilty.”
The bank also owns part of the home and there is another lien, from the Kealohas’ former attorney, Kevin Sumida, who claims they owe him about $800,000 for past legal expenses.
But not paying the mortgage means it could fall into foreclosure, which brings the value down. And that could mean, there isn’t enough equity to go around.
The home is clearly not what it used to be: The grass is overgrown, dead leaves hang from the trees, and the paint is chipping. Neighbors say the couple haven't been there in months….
read … Lose
New bill would require all boaters to purchase insurance for their vessels
KITV: …"Many boat owners who have their boats on their racks, or they park them on the streets, or at their storage facilities, they may not have insurance," said Senator Will Espero.
Espero is sponsoring a bill that would require all boat owners to get covered, no matter where they store their vessel.
"You can get super coverage on your vehicle or you can get minimal coverage and I'm hoping it will be the same with boats as well," Espero adds.
The bill passed Ways and Means and the Committee on Water and Land Friday.
According to the legislation, the state has spent more than $2,000,000 to address grounded and abandoned vessels over the past 15-years….
Those who oppose paying for insurance on their boats say it's unfair to Mandate such coverage especially on smaller motorboats. Some believe the bill targets Lower income families….
SB2635: Text, Status
read … New bill would require all boaters to purchase insurance for their vessels
HCDA Sells Out Commitment to Affordable Housing—Rents Going up 35%
CB: …Seniors in a Kakaako housing complex are worried they will end up on the street after receiving notices that their rent is scheduled to go up to $916 per month, a sharp increase from the current monthly rate of $675.
The development, Na Lei Hulu Kupuna, is across the street from Mother Waldron Neighborhood Park at the corner of Halekauwila and Cooke streets. It has 75 studio units and is part of the Kakaako state redevelopment district that’s seen a recent influx of high-end condominiums.
Garett Kamemoto is acting executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency that’s in charge of zoning in the district. He said the agency previously owned 1 percent of the facility but sold it to Mark Development because the private developer promised to upgrade the aging building.
The other 99 percent of the building was owned by Bank of Hawaii. Mark Development paid nearly $2.9 million for the property.
The change in property ownership went into effect on Dec. 29, according to a letter Mark Development sent tenants.
Residents received letters on Jan. 25 asking them to sign a new lease with the higher rent by Feb. 15 or vacate the premises by March 1.
HPR: Rent Spike Scare Highlights Anxiety Over Displacement
read … HCDA Sells Out Affordable Housing
Agenda: Keep Energy Expensive
CB: This legislative session, I introduced four related House bills:
- HB 1836 prohibits utilities from engaging in large-scale import of LNG that would be imported into Hawaii by an LNG carrier, meaning a tank ship that primarily transports the fossil fuel and holds more than 100,000 cubic meters of it.
- HB 1837 requires the Public Utilities Commission to conduct a study of fracking and establish limits on the amounts of fossil fuels derived from fracking that gas utility companies may use. It also requires gas utility companies that use imported fossil fuels to comply with an application and public hearing process. (A resolution is being drafted for introduction.)
- HB 1838 requires the PUC’s annual report to the governor to include information about the fossil fuels that each gas and electric utility uses in Hawaii.
- HB 1839 requires gas utility companies to establish renewable energy portfolio standards for gas, similar to that of HECO.
read… Keep Energy Expensive
Kahele Unsure About Reelection Campaign
HTH: …In the other state Senate seat up for election this year, incumbent Democrat Kai Kahele raised $4,980 and had a $22,208 Dec. 31 balance. His biggest contributors were the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters with a $2,000 donation, and Outrigger hotels with $1,000.
Kahele’s campaign has scheduled a $250-per-ticket event Feb. 20 at the Sheraton Waikiki. But he said Friday he doesn’t plan to pull nomination papers until after the legislative session ends in May. First he’ll sit down with his family and decide the best course of action, said Kahele, who currently juggles his obligations to his young family with jobs as a senator, full-time Hawaiian Airlines pilot and National Guardsman.
Kahele said he’d made a deathbed promise to his dad, the late Sen. Gil Kahele, that he would finish his term and try to get his final priorities passed. This is the final year of his term, he said.
“It has been the greatest honor for me to sit in his seat and walk in his shoes,” Kahele said. “I’m not saying I’m not going to continue.” ….
read … Unsure
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