Labor Board Nails DPS Conspiracy, Cover-up
‘Visitor impact’ fee inherently flawed
Honolulu Rehab Boss got $500K Salary and Absconded to Colorado with Miss Hawaii--Stiffed Employees for $452K, Federal Probe Finds
CB: … A prominent Honolulu drug rehab underpaid dozens of counselors, shorting them by hundreds of thousands of dollars, a federal labor department investigation found.
Many of the counselors at Sand Island Treatment Center had struggled with addiction and went through the two-year treatment program themselves after being sent there by Hawaii courts.
The nonprofit drug rehab underpaid 34 of these workers about $452,000 over two and a half years, according to a settlement agreement signed Feb. 22 with the U.S. Department of Labor.
Almost four years ago, a Civil Beat investigation found that Mason Henderson, the chief executive officer of Sand Island Treatment Center, got a salary of almost $500,000, far beyond what similar operations in Hawaii paid their top administrators….
The 34 employees were owed $347,437.80 in unpaid overtime, the Department of Labor said, and 21 of them were also paid less than minimum wage and were owed $104,552.04 to meet that threshold. The violations occurred from June 1, 2019 through Nov. 26, 2022.….
For decades, the facility operated on public land near the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant rent-free and without a lease.
But when the sewage plant expanded, Sand Island had to find a new home, and the city of Honolulu bought one for it for $9 million. The rehab was considered essential to treating people struggling with addiction, many of whom had been caught up in the legal system. …
Judges often require defendants to do the two-year Sand Island program as an alternative to being locked up. In one recent year, courts referred 275 criminal defendants to the rehab.
(TRANSLATION: The mob and the soft-on-crime crowd need this place as an excuse to avoid prison. So it gets propped up again and again.)
2019: Profitable Nonprofit: Sand Island Rehab Exec Scores $500K Salary and a Slightly Used Miss Hawaii
read … Honolulu Rehab With Lucrative Pay For Top Staff Stiffed Regular Workers, Federal Probe Finds
Not Dead Yet--Government Reform Bills Still Moving At The Legislature
CB: … All of a House commission’s recommendations are moving except for a bill on term limits….
(CLUE: ‘Conference Committee.’)
read … Government Reform Is Happening At The Legislature
Green Says he Will Sign Bills To Make Hawaii Government More Open--If Legislature Approves Them
CB:… Gov. Josh Green says he intends to use the power of his office to make state government more open to Hawaii citizens, including making changes at the state office that oversees public information if it continues to perform badly.
Green has said since taking office in December that he will sign a bill aimed at reducing the cost of obtaining public records if the Legislature sends it to him.
But last week, at a meeting with the Civil Beat Editorial Board, the governor stepped up his support for transparency and accountability, saying, “Where I have the capacity to act with executive order, I will strongly position ourselves to do that.”
One issue on Green’s radar is the high fees some agencies charge to produce public records, including sometimes charging thousands of dollars just to find the documents in various agencies’ often archaic and cumbersome filing systems, reviewing them and blacking out information the agency decides shouldn’t be released. And there are copying fees.
House Bill 719 would cap copying fees at 25 cents a page with no charge for electronic copies. Search and redaction costs would remain where they are now and still apply to commercial interests, including attorneys seeking records for lawsuits and data marketers. But fees would be waived for records that are being used to provide information aimed at furthering the public’s understanding of issues or government operations, such as those requests made by news organizations and many nonprofits….
read … Green Says He’s Already Taking Steps To Make Hawaii Government More Open
Pension fund exec optimistic despite $13.5B shortfall
SA: … Legislative steps developed in 2017 that increased state and county employer contributions have put the fund on pace to be 100% funded by June 30, 2046….
Hawaii’s largest public pension fund, which has been inching its way back to being fully funded after topping out at a $14.6 billion shortfall in fiscal 2020, posted a 0.9% gain in its fiscal second quarter that ended Dec. 31 and was down 0.8% through the first six months of fiscal 2023. The fund was up 3.7% in fiscal 2022 but gained a whopping 26.2% in fiscal 2021. It has been up six fiscal years in a row and nine of the past 10 fiscal years.
The ERS has set a 7% annual average target, or assumed investment return, to meet its financial obligations. The pension fund uses a four-year smoothing strategy to dampen the volatility in funding requirements year to year, either up or down.
“We remain hopeful of achieving our target return this year, but that appears increasingly more challenging,” Williams said…
read … Pension fund exec optimistic despite $13.5B shortfall
As Marijuana Becomes Legal, Tobacco is Outlawed
SA: … >> House Bill 551, prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products, is backed by the legislative Keiki Caucus. Supporters include the state Health and Education departments, American Heart Association, Hawaii State Teachers Association and American Cancer Society….
>> Senate Bill 975 would make shipping tobacco products to those under 21 a criminal offense in Hawaii. It would also place a 70% tax on e-cigarettes/vapes, consolidating supervision and taxation under the state’s cigarette and tobacco tax laws.
read … Curb e-cigarette use among youth
Unlicensed midwives push to practice in the islands without getting certified
KITV: … Midwives and other birth assistants are pushing for House Bill 955 that if passed, will exempt them from licensure requirements to continue practicing in the field….
Four years ago, the state legislature required all midwives to get a national certification to practice home-birth by July 1, 2023.
There are almost 60 midwives who are practicing in Hawaii without one….
Some unlicensed midwives said there is little to no access to the training for certification in Hawaii….
According to the National Library of Medicine, babies born with brain injuries are more likely to happen in a planned home-birth.
The Hawaii Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that represents more than 200 physicians in the state opposes House Bill 955. In written testimony they said:
"The majority of births occur without major complications, whether they occurred in the hospital or out of the hospital. However, we do know that complications occur. Evidence shows better maternal and neonatal outcomes when midwives are clinically trained to Handle life threatening emergencies and integrate well into higher levels of care."
Many others that testified against it added, all medical professionals must be held to a standard across the board to prevent poor outcomes and keep the community safe….
KHON: There is a high demand for more midwives in Hawaii
read … Unlicensed midwives push to practice in the islands without getting certified
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