Love-Hate Relationship with Tourism
HB622 Suicide Prevention
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted March 4, 2023
Proposed new category for ‘transient vacation’ rentals would burden residents
‘Wealth Tax’ has a wealth of problems
A Deep Dive into the Governor’s Tax-Cut Proposal
State $2B Surplus: Taxation without Reason
Borreca: … The state is graced with a roughly $2 billion surplus, so there is no defense for not now changing Hawaii’s government’s economic strategy. Either the state is taking in too much money or it is not using it effectively.
Green calls for raising Hawaii income tax brackets and increasing the standard tax deduction. That is, according to state estimates, about $2,000 in annual tax savings….
HNN: Can community clinic general excise tax exemption ease Hawaii’s doctor shortage?
read … Gov. Green’s tax push laudable, but not foundational change
SB741: Keep DHHL Beneficiaries Trapped on Waitlist
SA: … The renewed push against list jumping is being made via Senate Bill 741, which in part proposes to give the Hawaiian Homes Commission, a board overseeing DHHL, a first option to pay a fair-market appraised price to acquire homestead leases from beneficiaries who intend to sell for personal gain. This way, reclaimed leases could be awarded or resold to some of the roughly 28,700 applicants on DHHL’s waitlist.
(TRANSLATION: They are trying to force everyone onto the waitlist. You will be trapped forever and live at the whim of DHHL bureaucrats.)
SB 741 also proposes to bar someone who sells their homestead for personal gain from going back on the waitlist….
SB 741 has drawn opposition from some beneficiaries over concerns about unintended consequences, while DHHL does not favor the proposed legislation.
Opponents of the measure say DHHL lessees should not be impaired from capitalizing on the value of their property or acquiring a new lease after selling for any reason, including needs for a different home or wanting to pass a homestead to a family member….
(REALITY: Homesteads which cannot be sold will be abandoned. DHHL already has many vacancies due to abandonment.)
According to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser/ProPublica investigation, DHHL and other public records show that more than 450 Hawaiians have been able to acquire multiple residential leases in the past 25 years even as homestead development slowed to historic lows. Nearly a third of them weren’t on the waitlist at the time of the acquisitions, meaning they list jumped through purchases or transfers over those waiting their turn.
Hans Lundberg, a Honolulu police officer who is 25% Hawaiian, has bought five DHHL leases within two decades relying on his mother, who is 50% Hawaiian, as an initial buyer.
Lundberg, who declined to comment on his acquisitions, initially bought an undeveloped leasehold DHHL lot from another lessee in 2005 for $45,000. He then built a $180,000 house on the lot and sold it two years later for $375,000.
(TRANSLATION: He is a home builder making a profit.)
Over the next 15 years, Lundberg bought and sold four more leases and amassed more than $400,000 in profits from his homestead sales, according to DHHL trust and city documents….
(TRANSLATION: Only big time crony developers should be allowed to profit on DHHL.)
Helen Wai, a contractor with DHHL, acquired four residential leases, including one she still holds and others that were conveyed to members of her extended family.
Wai defended the transactions as deals with willing sellers. “The lessee is the one who has to make that decision,” she said….
In one of DHHL’s newer subdivisions, Kanehili in Kapolei, a five-bedroom house built in 2010 for $232,320 was resold in 2016 for $490,000 and again in 2020 for $630,000. A year ago, it was listed for $700,000 and sold Thursday for $750,000. The city for property tax purposes values the structure at $323,100 and the land at $480,500….
(TRANSLATION: DHHL property is appreciating just like fee-simple property. We are trying to stop beneficiaries from benefitting.)
A few individual testifiers on SB 741 said they oppose the measure because it could hurt some homesteaders who are forced to sell their property.
Marlene Kamuela Purdy said in written testimony that a few families have superseded the DHHL lease award process, but that the proposed legislation could hurt homesteaders who may have to sell their property to avoid foreclosure and would be penalized from obtaining another lease if their finances improve.
“This is a bad bill for all, including the State,” Purdy said.
Johnnie-Mae L. Perry told the committee in written testimony that a DHHL lessee should be treated no different than a traditional homeowner who can sell their home for a profit or pass it down to help their children….
REALITY: DHHL Leaseholds--many vacant or abandoned
FUN READ: Full Text: Robin Danner Evicts Jade Danner from Hawaiian Homelands
Prince Kuhio's Fight to Americanize Hawaii
Sweet Deal for Maui Developer--DHHL Affordable Housing Credits
read … Lawmakers target personal gains from homestead sales
Transgender athletes “impulsive decisions based on the fear of being politically incorrect”
SA: … This complex situation requires a sober- minded dialogue, rather than impulsive decisions based on the fear of being politically incorrect or offending others…..
2022: 9th Circuit Allows Class Action Suit over Lack of Female Locker Rooms in Hawaii DoE Schools
2019: ACLU: DoE Would Rather Litigate Than Build Locker Rooms for Female Students
read … Transgender athletes a complex issue
7 Things Hawaii Lawmakers Could Do Now To Vastly Improve The Legislative Process--But Won’t
CB: … • Take away the power of committee chairs to single-handedly kill bills. Require a full committee vote for a bill to advance or die.
• Make testimony available to lawmakers 24 hours ahead of a hearing, especially a hearing where decision-making is going to happen. Make testimony available to the public at the same time, at least 24 hours in advance and when new testimony or late testimony is filed.
• Make amended draft bills available to the public in a timely manner — before they are voted on — and require committee chairs to explain how and why the bill is being amended.
• Do away with allowing lawmakers to vote “yes with reservations.” Legislators should not have it both ways — just vote yes or no or abstain. The National Conference of State Legislatures does not know of any other state that permits voting “with reservations.”
• Identify the requester when a bill is introduced “by request.” The public needs to know who really wants this legislation, even if it’s a state agency but certainly when it’s a private person or organization.
• Limit the number of committee referrals for bills to only those committees that have a substantive interest in the subject matter. Multiple referrals — triple and more — can often make it almost impossible to move a bill before deadlines. And unless there is a legitimate fiscal component to legislation, there is little reason to have it heard by the money committees, where worthy bills often perish without a vote or hearing.
• Address the fiscal impact of a bill much sooner in the process. The cost of a proposal or program is too often left blank until the very end of the session where the fiscal impact is hammered out behind closed doors in conference committee. The money committees need the dollar amounts to fairly consider bills, which regularly are killed because House Finance and Senate Ways and Means say they don’t know the cost.
We’ve yet to hear House and Senate leadership explain why these things are not doable. In fact, in many ways it seems as if House and Senate rules are designed to make it easier for legislators at the expense of the public they serve….
read … 7 Things Hawaii Lawmakers Could Do Now To Vastly Improve The Legislative Process
Red Hill Not Really Shut Down?
SA: … The Pentagon announced last year that it was permanently closing Red Hill after a fuel leak from the facility contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system serving areas in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, sickening military families. But language in the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Joe Biden in December, seems to give military officials a ready escape from that commitment if the Defense Department wants to change course.
The NDAA states that the secretary of defense must first certify to the congressional defense committees that defueling the facility won’t adversely affect the military’s ability to fuel its Indo-Pacific operations before the Navy can begin draining 104 million gallons of fuel that is sitting in massive underground tanks, a process that is expected to begin in January.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has yet to issue that sign-off and it’s not clear when that approval is expected. A spokesperson for his office said she is working to provide responses to Honolulu Star-Advertiser questions….
read … Military spending act stirs new Red Hill worries
Hawaiians Moving to Las Vegas--No problem, there are still enough here to keep protesting
CB: … American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau indicates that in 2021 more Native Hawaiians resided in the continental U.S. (370,000) than in Hawaii (309,800), their homeland.
This major change represented a reversal of those relative positions in 2011 and indicated the magnitude of recent kanaka migration to the continent, particularly during a decade when the Hawaii economy was especially robust and jobs were widely available.
To no great surprise, the American Community Survey reported that the largest population growth of Native Hawaiians (and other Pacific Islanders) occurred in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas.
This population drain of Native Hawaiians to the continental U.S. does not necessarily mean a loss of Hawaiian culture when they move because sufficient numbers still remain in the islands for its maintenance.
Barring a substantial movement, population loss also may not negatively impact Native Hawaiian political efforts to advance their goals for self-determination.
Much of this struggle occurs outside the electoral arena, such as the recent protests at Mauna Kea, and thus is not dependent on Native Hawaiians voting for their own candidates for elective office. But what is especially being lost for Native Hawaiians and other islanders on both sides of the Pacific when they join the diaspora on the continent are their close family ties with one another.….
read … Hawaii's Brain Drain Is Getting Worse. It's Taking Our Culture Too
Public rallies to ‘Save Kaka’ako Makai’
KHON: … The rally was held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Kaka`ako Makai Gateway Park and comprised of 12 organizations.
The sole purpose of the rally was to keep Kaka`ako residential free for Hawaii’s future generations. The public was also invited to attend the rally and sign a petition to preserve urban Honolulu’s last ocean-front, high-rise free land….
The Save Kaka`ako Makai petition may be accessed here.
read … Public rallies to ‘Save Kaka`ako Makai’
Former athletic director at Mililani High allegedly stole $60,000 from school booster club
HNN: … Glenn Nitta was indicted on eight charges of theft and failure to report income from 2015 to 2021, when he retired. The former baseball coach served as Trojans athletic director for more than 20 years.
A grand jury indictment said Nitta used booster club money to pay off credit cards, pad his bank accounts and withdrew money from the booster club’s account at an ATM in Las Vegas.
He allegedly lied to cover it up.
On Friday, Mililani High School leaders posted a letter online saying they’re aware of the alleged misconduct involving a retired employee.
They said their new non-profit Mililani High School Foundation is not in any way affiliated to the former Athletic Booster Club, which has closed its accounts….
SA: Athletic director Glenn S. Nitta allegedly used the nonprofit’s money to pay $364,709 for personal expenses
read … Former athletic director at Mililani High allegedly stole $60,000 from school booster club
Soft on Crime: Judge dismisses 23-year-old murder case
KHON: … A man behind bars for years awaiting a Maui murder trial is about to be set free, after a judge dismissed the case against him. The family of the woman killed 23 years ago said they still demand justice. ‘Always Investigating’ has the story.
Somebody killed Kimberly Belluomini in her Maui home back in the year 2000. It took nearly two decades to make an arrest in that case, and prosecutors indicted Anthony Moreno, who has been awaiting trial since 2019. Today the case was dismissed.
“It was one of the judge’s findings that all the evidence that they had and that they needed, they essentially had back in 2001,” explained defense attorney, Matthew Nardi. “And then because of the delay, there were at least five or six different witnesses all of whom the judge found would be very beneficial for the defense and showing Mr. Moreno’s innocence have since passed.”
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors would not be allowed to refile an indictment or recharge. They’re only recourse would be to appeal the dismissal to a higher court.
read … Dismissal of case in 2000 Maui murder brings anguish and relief
Jails Crowded with Criminal Homeless Drug Addicts
HTH: … Conditions at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center have improved over the last six months, but there’s still more to be done, state officials say.
Last September, the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission published a report outlining a laundry list of poor conditions in HCCC, ranging from hygiene deficiencies, safety and security concerns, and, most notably, chronic overcrowding.
A series of monthly follow-up reports have noted that many of these problems have been addressed, but not the overcrowding issue.
According to the most recent report, published in mid-February, the jail’s main campus was housing 248 inmates as of Feb. 14, putting the facility — whose capacity is 152 — at a 163% occupancy rate.
The report also stated that “a massive portion” of those inmates are pretrial detainees, meaning they have not been sentenced for a crime.
“Much of this population is homeless and/or have a mental health diagnosis,” the report said….
No bills relating to HCCC have been introduced in the state Legislature this year. In his resolution last year, Chung estimated that a new jail facility that could meet the county’s needs could cost about $100 million on the conservative end….
read … HCCC strives for improved facility conditions
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