Can the Governor Raise Taxes Now?
How to kill civic trust
Ige extends stay-at-home order through May 31—Limits Mayors Authority
COVID Count: 519 Tested, 2 New Cases, 6 Released
Some fear liberties will be lost in Hawaii’s COVID-19 pandemic orders
SA: … Have Gov. David Ige and the mayors of Hawaii’s four counties gone too far in curtailing civil liberties in the name of health and safety?
Some say the answer to that question is “yes” or, at the very least, they’re pushing the envelope.
“I’m not saying there shouldn’t be some restrictions,” attorney Jeff Portnoy said. “I’m just saying we have to be very, very careful at a time of crisis that our civil liberties don’t become the victim.”
Honolulu property rights attorney Robert Thomas said it’s important to note that constitutional rights are not suspended in times of emergency. The Constitution, he said, is designed to work in periods of calm as well as in times of emergency.
“The courts have ruled that an emergency does not create power,” Thomas told a recent Grassroot Institute of Hawaii webinar. “This emergency isn’t a war and it should be treated as such.”
Advocates of open government and transparency were alarmed in mid-March when the governor suspended the state laws requiring agencies to meet in public and make government records public as part of the administration’s emergency COVID-19 response.….
In making his announcement, Ige said the emergency proclamation made room for hearings and meetings to be conducted through remote technology and telecommunication tools.
But when the Office of Information Practices formally offered its opinion on the proclamation, it did not require boards and commissions to do what they can to abide by the Sunshine Law and the Uniform Information Practices Act within the social distancing limitations….
The interpretation left what appears to be the most extreme order covering such laws in the country, according to Brian Black, president and executive director of the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest.
Black, speaking at a Grassroot Institute webinar Tuesday, said the governor’s order threatens to set a bad precedent for how open meeting and records laws will be handled in the future.
In response to the order, Common Cause Hawaii sent a letter to the governor, signed by more than 40 different groups, asking that government meetings be required to remain open by remote access through audio and video means.
The letter said boards and commissions should provide adequate notice of a meeting and ensure that the public is able to join in via videoconference, telephone and written testimony. Among other recommendations, the letter said public bodies should record all meetings and make the recording available on a public website on a timely basis.
While some government bodies have taken it upon themselves to open up their closed meetings remotely, that hasn’t always been the case.
Sandy Ma, executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, said the Honolulu Salary Commission held a recent meeting that did not live stream or allow for any real-time remote testimony.
“You had to go in person, which is kind of crazy in this public health crisis, when people are under a stay-at-home, work-at-home order,” she said.
Elsewhere, a Honolulu Zoning Committee meeting was held but the materials for the items on the agenda were not posted remotely.
“You actually had to go to Honolulu Hale to access those Zoning Committee materials,” she said….
In an interview, Keli‘i Akina, Grassroot Institute CEO and president, said he and others have been wondering when the escalating parade of COVID-19 restrictions are going to stop.
At some point, he said, the economic and social damage caused by the near-lockdown may harm the state more than the virus itself.
“In my view, given the freedom and flexibility to do so, most individuals are quite capable of deciding how best to protect themselves against the coronavirus,” Akina said.
Akina said Hawaii residents must remain vigilant to ensure that individual liberties being given up in the name of public safety are not permanently lost once the coronavirus pandemic is in the rearview mirror….
read … Some fear liberties will be lost in Hawaii’s COVID-19 pandemic orders
State Supreme Court: Release More Criminals from Jail
SA: … An order issued late Friday by the Hawaii Supreme Court suggests that justices are unhappy with how lower court judges, prosecutors and the state Department of Public Safety have been carrying out the high court’s edict to release more inmates quickly in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The high court also said Public Safety must ensure all inmates under its authority be issued protective masks. There’s no timetable for providing the equipment, but the court’s language suggests it should be done quickly.
Public Defender James Tabe last month sued the state seeking the expedited early release of hundreds of nonviolent inmates…
A brief filed by Deputy Public Defender Jacquelyn Esser on Thursday said, “We are seeing some individual judges not following the Supreme Court’s Order that ‘release shall be presumed’ and denying motions even when a prosecutor filed a notice of no objection, and there is no finding of significant risk of danger to the individual or the public.”…
While no positive cases have been reported at any of the facilities, inmate advocates (aren’t going to let that stop them from exploiting the crisis to achieve the agenda they had before the crisis)….
The justices also declared that while Public Safety is supposed to provide inmates with copies of the conditions and continuing obligations once they are released, they should not be required to sign such documents as a condition of being released. (LOL!)
USDOJ: Justice works through Hawaii’s COVID-19 crisis
April 21, 2020: Prisoners ARE being released from jail because of pandemic --- One of them is now charged with sex assault
read … Hawaii Supreme Court order mandates quicker release of non-violent inmates
Credit-rating agencies lower Hawaii’s debt outlook to ‘negative’
SA: … Hawaii’s tourism meltdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted two major credit-rating agencies to revise downward their debt outlook for the state to “negative” from “stable” as they monitor the local economy.
Despite the downgrades, Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings maintained their strong long-term ratings on the state’s general obligation bonds….
Both Moody’s and S&P expressed concern in recent reports about the effect the virus is having on the state’s No. 1 industry — tourism.
“We expect a sudden and severe decline in the state’s tax revenues as a result of the rapid downturn in visitor arrivals and the negative economic effects of the state’s own efforts to stem the outbreak,” Moody’s said in its report issued April 15. “We expect that the decline in fiscal 2020 and 2021 will be more severe than in other states and the recovery beyond fiscal 2021 will be slower due to the significance of the tourism industry in Hawaii and the industry’s dependence on air travel.”….
S&P said the magnitude of the effects on Hawaii’s budget will depend on the severity and duration of the recession.
“Prolonged budgetary pressure from the pandemic and the current recession could limit the state’s flexibility in addressing the costs to contain the coronavirus and the potential loss in revenues through fiscal 2021,” S&P said….
BB: Hawaii, emptied of tourists by coronavirus, gets another negative outlook
read … Credit-rating agencies lower Hawaii’s debt outlook to ‘negative’
Star-Adv: As long as COVID-19 cases tamped, strategic phased reopening in Hawaii makes sense
SA: … Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has just unveiled a plan to reopen public spaces, public and private, starting this weekend with the city parks.
He further announced that the city’s stay-at-home order would extend through May 31. That date had the effect of overwhelming his other important message: Caldwell is eyeing a phased-in reopening of businesses that present a lower risk, beginning May 1.
The mayor also wants to expand testing for the novel coronavirus, through the island’s community health centers, involving a $2 million purchase of 10,000 test kits. Ideally this would offer a good way to get a clearer picture of how far infections have penetrated into the population.
However, little about testing is ideal these days, with the development and distribution of a fast, reliable platform still a work in progress. The standoff with the state Department of Health on that issue — the mayor tabled the purchase of the test kits over state concerns about the tests’ reliability — has been the most troubling.
Encouragingly, the two sides now claim to be working toward some compromise. The department has asserted that the testing can be analyzed locally; DOH should provide needed direction and be part of the solution. But ramping up testing is the broadly accepted means of getting a handle on this disease, and state officials need to get on board with that.
As that conversation develops in the coming days, the mayor is also working to identify businesses that are most easily adaptable to social-distancing requirements and thus can open first.
Guided in part by a set of principles aimed at governors by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the administration’s “environmental assessment” indicates that Oahu has an encouraging public-health profile, with lowered incidence of infections and stable capacity within the health-care system.
Caldwell added that the selection of businesses to open first will depend on their “risk assessment.” The list is likely to include golf courses, automated car washes, real estate agencies and car dealerships under prescribed limits, and certain smaller businesses….
Big Q: What do you think of Gov. David Ige’s decision to extend the stay-at-home order until May 31?
KHON: City and State dispute continues over non-FDA approved tests
As Explained: A Low-Risk Plan to Re-Start Hawaii’s Economy Now
read … As long as COVID-19 cases tamped, strategic phased reopening in Hawaii makes sense
UHPA: Re-Start Academic Research
SA: … The university system must be ready to offer relevant, quality training to its residents to restart the economy. A hiring freeze or staff reductions would only increase class sizes or cut entire classes.
Academic research led by UH faculty is another economic engine for the state that is often overlooked. The expertise and reputation of the faculty are able to attract millions of dollars in funding for research, which also creates jobs for graduate students and support staff. To reduce our state’s dependency on tourism, research and innovation are key to economic diversification and resilience….
As Explained: A Low-Risk Plan to Re-Start Hawaii’s Economy Now
read … University of Hawaii key to state’s economic recovery from COVID-19
Oahu’s mayoral race and rail problems obscured by coronavirus crisis
Borreca: …. The race for mayor has lured a slew of candidates, but interestingly, only two of the major candidates have staked positions on Honolulu’s No. 1 issue: rail.
Streets are pothole-filled obstacle courses, the homeless are a wretched dilemma and city-sponsored opportunities for both the young and old seem to shrink each year — but paying for the construction, operation and maintenance of the yet-to-be completed $9 billion project is still Honolulu’s Job 1….
read … Oahu’s mayoral race and rail problems obscured by coronavirus crisis
Covid-19 Financial Impacts -- HECO, MECO & HELCO
IM: … COVID-19 is causing a reduction in the demand for electricity. This does not affect the level of funds raised by the utility.
The Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission adopted Decoupling which separates sales from revenue.
Rate cases determine the level of funds the utility needs for future years. Changes in sales are offset by changes in rates enabling the utility to maintain the revenue needed.
Thus Covid-19 will increase electric rates offsetting kilowatt-hour decreases.
No customer will have their electricity cut-off during the pandemic. The utility expects that there will be an increase in unpaid bills.
During the decoupling discussions, Blue Planet Foundation suggested that for the utility to have skin in the game, they should only charge customers for 95% of the change in the increasing price of fuel.
Thus, as the price of petroleum and diesel rose, the shareholders would cover 5% of the price change, thus motivating or incentivizing the utility to move faster in adopting renewables.
The Commission adopted a 2% rule.
Covid-19 drove down the price of oil. As space in global oil storage facilities has maxed out, the price of petroleum has fallen to near zero. As the price of oil has fallen, Hawai`i ratepayers will only enjoy 98% of the cost savings.
The exact financial impact that Covid-19 is having on the utility revenue and staffing is reflected in confidential monthly filings that HECO, MECO, and HELCO file with the Commission.
The information remains confidential until the utilities file quarterly (10-Q) and yearly (10-K) filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hawaiian Electric files a publicly available quarterly report on revenues, expenses and kWh sales 5-6 weeks after the end of each quarter. …
read … Covid-19 Financial Impacts -- HECO, MECO & HELCO
Despite pandemic, some protesters continue camping on Maunakea
HTH: … a handful of people remain up there at any given time, along with a few abandoned tents and other detritus….
“There are about 7-15 people that stay here each day to watch the road and make sure nothing happens to the mountain,” said one of the occupants, Akila Kinamika, on Thursday.
However, none of the people currently at the access road are officially affiliated with Pu‘uhonua o Pu‘uhuluhulu, the organization that formed to support the protests….
“The people who are up there are up there on their own,” said protest leader Noe Noe Wong-Wilson. “A handful of people made their decision to stay.”…
Wong-Wilson cautioned that, while the camp in its heyday operated under strict rules of cleanliness, those rules “went down when we did,” and the present occupants may not be motivated by the same love of the ‘aina as the protesters — although Kinamika called the current occupation “the organic extension of the protests.”
When the stay-at-home order is lifted, Wong-Wilson said camp occupants will return to dismantle the rest of the camp.
While the TMT opponents have not changed their position, she said she does not predict the TMT project to move forward in the near future.
“Much as we loved living on the mauna, it’s not the place for people to live,” Wong-Wilson said. “To be honest, I’m glad (the mauna is) resting right now, not just from all the tourists, but from us.”…
read … Despite pandemic, some continue camping on Maunakea
Tulsi Gabbard is Back
Shapiro: … U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard blew back into town after dropping out of the presidential race and filled the local airwaves with coronavirus opinions. She’s like the fair-weather friend who wants to hang out again after the big kids she ditched you for wouldn’t play with her….
read … Everything looks ‘covidiotic’ in long coronavirus pandemic lockdown
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