December 10, 2024 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

December 10, 2024 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:06 PM :: 2257 Views

ANOTHER ONE: Alleged CEO Assassin is Honolulu Resident

Hawaii’s continuous exodus could get a whole lot worse

Justice Thomas slams Hawaii’s gun permit laws in SCOTUS denial

Senators Urged To Examine Gabbard's 'Deep and Intense' Ties To Hawaiʻi Cult

CB: … Anita van Duyn says she spent 15 years inside the Science of Identity Foundation, a fringe offshoot of Hare Krishna that was formed in the 1970s and has been described by defectors as a cult.

Van Duyn has sent letters to Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, detailing Gabbard’s deep ties to the organization and its reclusive founder, Chris Butler, who still resides in a multimillion-dollar beachfront home in Kailua.

The letters come as Gabbard is trying to salvage her nomination on Capitol Hill this week after national security experts, former colleagues and others have openly questioned her fitness for the job, with many of the criticisms centered on her lack of intelligence experience, her parroting of Russian propaganda and sympathies for international strongmen, such as Syria’s recently deposed President Bashar al-Assad whom she visited in 2017….

The van Duyn letters outline what she says are Butler’s long-standing political ambitions and the ways he groomed and supported his disciples in their pursuit of public office while promoting his own ideologies, which include a long history of espousing anti-gay rhetoric.

Van Duyn says she worries that Gabbard is still under Butler’s influence, which could compromise national security, noting in her letter that she suspects that any sensitive intelligence Gabbard is privy to will be “communicated to her guru.”…

P: Tulsi Gabbard goes on offense after Bashir Flees to Moscow

read … Senators Urged To Examine Gabbard's 'Deep and Intense' Ties To Hawaiʻi Sect

The Miske Enterprise case is about to disappear

ILind: … The immediate unanswered question is what legal effect his unexpected death has on the criminal case.

The answer is simple, straightforward and startling.

Miske’s death means the case against him will disappear.

All of it. From the original indictment in 2019 through the three subsequent updates, the six months of complex trial proceedings, the jury’s repeated verdict of guilty on 13 charges, and the jury verdict requiring him for forfeit his home, vehicles, bank accounts and other assets.

Miske’s indictments, trial, convictions and forfeitures will all disappear in a legal sense, as if they had never happened.

I wrote the story yesterday (Monday), and submitted it to Civil Beat around 4 p.m. Later that evening, around 7:30 p.m., Miske’s attorneys filed a motion to vacate the jury’s verdicts along with the indictments, as my story had predicted.

My story should have made clear that none of this impacts the cases of Miske’s twelve co-defendants or the other Miske associates who were charged separately who entered into plea deals with prosecutors. All told, about 20 former Miske associates took those deals. Some are still awaiting sentencing, while at least one has already served their sentence….

CB: The Case Against Mike Miske Could Be About To Disappear As If It Never Happened - Honolulu Civil Beat

read … The Miske Enterprise case is about to disappear | i L i n d

No Transsexual Agenda for Maui Prep after Board Member Ousted

HNN: … The proposed changes would come to Maui Preparatory Academy in 2025. The new gender policy states in part: “…respect he/she pronouns exclusively... no alternative pronouns will be acknowledged.” “Restroom facility use is based on biological birth gender.” “Students shall dress themselves in the uniform of their birth gender.”

“Just gets me so upset,” said former Maui Preparatory Academy Trustee Dr. Flo Wiger. The proposed policy is the reason Dr. Wiger says she was forced to resign from the school’s Board of Trustees last month ….

(CLUE: Enrollment will increase because of this.)

read … New policy would ban transgender students at West Maui school

Hawaii Second Amendment case may be Eligible for Second Bite of Supreme Apple

SA: … it might not be the final word on this case….

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, in writing on the high court’s denial to review the case, noted that once Wilson’s case is tried, the constitutional issue could well resurface. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito responded separately in a joint statement.

Thomas complained that Hawaii’s Supreme Court should have reviewed the constitutionality challenge of Hawaii’s laws, even if Wilson had not applied for a license. And he hoped Wilson, or another plaintiff would bring that specific challenge back to the high court for a full review….

(CLUE: Less than 1/10,000 of certiorari petitions are accepted for review by SCOTUS. In this case, they are begging you to bring it back to them right.)

read … Editorial: Court reiterates gun safety stance

City council to vote Wednesday on empty homes tax bill

HNN: … Bill 46 also has fierce opposition, and a similar measure faced lawsuits in San Francisco.

“I do think it’s unconstitutional. It’s violating due process rights and many people do not want to be landlords,” said Donna Kohl, who testified against the bill.

“The San Francisco superior court invalidated the city’s empty homes tax based on property rights infringement,” said Ronda Ching Day, who testified against the measure.

Andrew Kawano, director of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services, asked council members to slow down and wait until a study is completed in January before making a final decision.

“The number of exemptions that have been added to the bill that I believe could extremely water down the number of homes that are quote empty,” said Kawano.

Bill 46 is up for the full council vote at 10 a.m. on Wednesday….

PRI: So-Called Vacant Housing Tax Will Make SF’s Rental Housing Problems Even Worse

read … City council to vote Wednesday on empty homes tax bill

‘Empty Homes Tax’ will Drive Up Rents

CB: … The 3% tax rate that is likely to be charged is about 856% (almost 10 times) more than the residential tax rate.

One of the unfair provisions is that the sale of a home the second time in a five-year period does not qualify for the “for sale” exception. This is grossly unfair.

BFS will be tasked with educating owners, collecting and reviewing evidence and assessing and then enforcing this new tax, among other duties. BFS will also need to establish rules by Dec. 31, 2025, to implement the tax. The director has stated a new division within BFS will be required just to handle this tax.

Most of the evidence for exceptions in the bill will be specified during the rules-making process, but we have an idea of what will be included based on prior versions. Some of the documents include lease agreements, general excise and income tax returns and related proof of payment, vehicle registration, utility records, personal bank and credit card statements, driver’s licenses, death certificates, court orders, building permits, proof of military deployment, proof of medical care, etc.

Most of these documents do not show how long someone has occupied a property; it’s therefore likely that multiple documents will be required. This not only raises questions about privacy as it is highly invasive, but can lead to a check-the-box attitude of staff who are trying to work through hundreds of thousands of documents in a short period of time. And keep in mind this is an annual process.

This tax is likely to drive up rents, as property management companies will also need to handle additional paperwork on their end. For owners who manage the rental property themselves, no doubt there will be some who miss the deadline, are assessed the tax and then pass it along to tenants….

read … Oahu Homeowners Should Not Be Coerced Into Renting Their Homes

Legislative Agenda: Yamashita to grab for County Revenues (again)

CB: … Last spring Yamashita, who is chairman of the House Finance Committee, engineered the largest tax cut in Hawai‘i history. The eye-popping impact of that tax cut startled some of his colleagues — and alarmed others — because it will reduce total state tax collections by nearly $8 billion over the next eight years.

To hear Yamashita tell it, there is much more to come. In a floor speech shortly before the tax cut bill passed May 1 in a unanimous election-year vote, Yamashita described the measure as “a foundational piece in restructuring our tax code.”…

Some observers are taking him at his word, and believe this year’s unprecedented state income tax cut was designed to steer Hawai‘i down a radical new path. They believe the tax cut may become a political lever Yamashita will use to pry loose hundreds of millions of dollars in excise tax revenue from the city and counties.

But critics say that would cause a fiscal crisis and political pain for the counties, and could threaten the long-term prospects for the Honolulu rail project….

Hawai‘i has the lowest property taxes in the nation, and Yamashita has long believed property taxes here should be higher. He contends the ultra-low property taxes encourage out-of-state investors to buy homes here, which drives up prices and squeezes locals out of the market.

But the Legislature does not set property tax rates, which are controlled entirely by the city and counties. However, in a public hearing at the State Capitol in February, Yamashita suggested a radical workaround to solve that problem: “We stop giving the counties money, and then they have to make that shift.” ….

Last March he opined at a public meeting that Hawai‘i should not be relying so much on state income taxes. Wealthy people can simply shift their residencies to another state without an income tax to avoid paying, so Yamashita argued income taxes are better suited for use by the federal government.

“The state should be more into consumption taxes, and the counties should be more in, like, property and we tax you on your wealth,” Yamashita said in the March meeting. Many other states use that approach, he said.

He said in an interview after the income tax cut passed that he does not foresee a state budget crisis, at least not in the near term.

“Budget crises are created by economic situations, so not necessarily based on this,” he said of the tax cut. “I think this is a correction that was needed.”…

Actually, Yamashita has done more than merely think about it. He introduced a bill at the start of the last legislative session to strip the city and counties of the excise surcharge tax revenue after 2030, but then shelved the idea after the counties banded together to fight it....

Kawakami said Yamashita “has always been willing to at least listen and be reasonable.” He also noted new House Speaker Nadine Nakamura is a former Kauai County managing director and a former county council member who understands county issues.

But if the excise tax surcharge revenue is actually stripped away from the counties, he said, “it seems like we’re all going to be in the world of hurt.”…

BH: Visitor Fee Could Push Hawaii Hotel Taxes Past Breaking Point - Beat of Hawaii

CLUE: Kouchi, Kamakami to swap seats

read … Hawai‘i House Finance Chair Has Plans For Big Changes In The Tax Code - Honolulu Civil Beat

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