February 5, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

February 5, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:13 PM :: 729 Views

Honolulu Charges the Highest Tourist Tax in the World

Here’s the Salary a Single Person Needs to Live Comfortably in Hawaii

Do you think the city spends your money responsibly?

Senate bill passes to waive SMA permits for rebuilding parts of historic Lahaina town

MN: … A bill to help with rebuilding historic Lahaina town advanced Monday afternoon out of the Senate Water and Land Committee, chaired by Sen. Lorraine Inouye of Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island.

Senate Bill 1296 would not require special management area permits for structures in Lahaina town if they were destroyed in the deadly Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire disaster and if planned reconstruction stays within the footprint of the structure as it stood before it was consumed by flames.

Sne Patel, president of the LahainaTown Action Committee, said the bill is essential for Lahaina’s rebuilding.

“The Maui wildfires devastated Lahaina, displacing families, shuttering businesses and halting our local economy,” he said in written testimony. “Without streamlining the permitting process, rebuilding efforts will face unnecessary delays, leaving our community in limbo. While this bill is a step forward, we urge lawmakers to increase the SMA minor permit threshold to $1 million rather than $750,000. With construction costs exceeding $1,000 per square foot, compounded by inflation, labor shortages, and increased tariffs on steel and lumber, a higher threshold is critical to prevent further permitting roadblocks.” ….

McKelvey’s Senate bill would not exempt properties directly on the shoreline. The bill also increases the valuation threshold of development subject to a special management area permit from $500,000 to $750,000 when it’s located within the area covered by a federal disaster declaration on Aug. 8, 2023….

(TRANSLATION: Only mauka side of Front Street.)

read … Senate bill passes to waive SMA permits for rebuilding in historic Lahaina town

Governor questions Trump picks’ experience, tells loyalists: ‘You have been tricked’

HNN: …. Green said Kennedy is partly to blame for a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa and that science is being ignored, but Kennedy said he’s not responsible for deaths in Samoa and that the measles outbreak started a month after he got there in 2019.

Separately, the Senate Intelligence Committee advanced former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be national intelligence director.

Green says Gabbard is qualified to run Veterans Affairs.

“I don’t want to ever say anything negative about our local people so I’m not going to do that. I’ll say in general, people are being placed into positions that they don’t have extensive experience,” said Green.

The Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the federal government with the states picking up more of the tab.

Green didn’t mince words.

“There is absolutely a president who is a dictator,” he said. “Even if you are straight up MAGA, if you are not a multi-multimillionaire, you are going to see your relatives and your friends get hurt. You have been tricked.”

Despite strong words, Green said he does support Trump’s move to arrest illegal migrants who have criminal records….

read … Governor questions Trump picks’ experience, tells loyalists: ‘You have been tricked’

Victim: Red Hill advocates wrong to mix with RFK antivaxxerism

SA: … Last week it was reported that two Red Hill advocates were in D.C. to show their support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services. While there, they wore T-shirts saying, “Red Hill families need RFK Jr.”

Advocates being at this confirmation hearing while wearing these T-shirts implies that there is a consensus among Red Hill families regarding RFK Jr. This is not the case. They do not reserve the right to endorse any political candidate or a Cabinet pick on our behalf, especially when we were not asked for our opinions on the matter.

Advocates should keep up the good work, but be mindful of when they are speaking for themselves and when they are speaking on behalf of 98,000 others….

SURPRISE: Red Hill moms organized by Antivaxxer RFK—in DC to Attend Confirmation Hearing

read … Letter: Red Hill advocates wrong to mix cause with politics | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

OHA Kakaako Makai housing bill advances

SA: …The Senate Committee on Housing voted 4-0 Tuesday to advance Senate Bill 534 with amendments.

On Monday, Water and Land Committee members voted 4-1 to advance the bill with the same amendments, as did the Hawaiian Affairs Committee on a 3-1 vote.

(QUESTION: Why is OHA getting free stuff without negotiating away any past claims on ceded lands revenue?)

The three committees received nearly 400 pages of written testimony on the bill discussed Jan. 29 during a three-hour hearing. Supporters of the legislation outnumbered opponents by more than 3-to-1.

SB 534, drafted by OHA, proposes to allow towers rising up to 400 feet, twice the current limit, on two agency parcels fronting Ala Moana Boulevard. OHA’s bill would mandate that more than 50% of all resulting homes on these two parcels be reserved for Hawaii resident households that don’t earn over 140% of Oahu’s median income.

Furthermore, buyers of these reserved homes would have to be owner-occupants, and a preference would be given to those who work within 5 miles of the area in “essential” fields that include ~~education, health care, law enforcement, hospitality and construction~~ (OHA HQ staff, KSBE staff, lobbyists, lawyers, bureaucrats, union bosses, campaign contributors and other insiders.)

The new amended version of the bill adds that these reserved homes must have perpetual price limits keeping them affordable for all future owners with the same income restriction.

(That will be stripped out in the end. These units are no good to insiders if they cannot be flipped.)

On three other OHA parcels, the agency wants to produce market-priced housing within existing height limits and for only Hawaii residents with an owner-occupant restriction, or perhaps a hotel or condo-hotel on one parcel….

HPR: OHA, lawmakers try again to lift residential ban on Kakaʻako Makai lands | Hawai'i Public Radio

read … OHA Kakaako Makai housing bill advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

First climate tax hike bills pass initial hearing

SA: … Gov. Josh Green’s bills to fund Hawaii’s climate change response by increasing the state’s hotel room tax and dedicating all of the interest from the $1.5 billion rainy day fund were unanimously passed out of a House committee Tuesday, but with concerns that they need “a lot of work.”

“There’s a lot of work to be done on this and the subsequent bill,” said state Rep. Nicole Lowen, who chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, which passed House Bills 1076 and 1077 Tuesday.

“The governor’s team, if they want to work on it, needs to put some work in,” Lowen said. “We’re going to leave it to them to work on it.”

Specifically, Lowen said, “There’s a lot of concerns about what this might be used for. The bill language is extremely open-ended. Climate mitigation and resilience, as laid out in this bill, could apply to almost any project.”

the tourism industry continues to push back on any increase in the TAT.

The bills that moved out of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee on Tuesday are just the first to be heard in the Legislature this year among several others to pay for the state to adapt to climate change.

Others are also aimed at tourists, such as HB 1139 and its companion bill, SB 1458, which would create an “environmental stewardship fee program” that would charge only visitors for an “environmental stewardship license” that would be valid for one year.

Neither bill specifies how much the license would cost.

The license would allow nonresidents to access state beaches, parks, forests, trails, recreational natural areas and coastlines.

The revenue would be used to ~~“protect, restore, and manage natural and cultural resources through grants to nonprofit organizations,”~~ (create more vacant positions) ….

read … First climate fee bills pass initial hearing, with concerns | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii Legislature Considering Geothermal and Nuclear Power

IM: … Bills were heard yesterday by the Hawaii State Legislature to study the possibility of nuclear energy and to fund nearly a dozen slim hole geothermal wells to identify hot spots that could be tapped for future geothermal facilities….

The Hawai`i State Constitution was amended in 1978 with a new Article XI, Section 8. “No nuclear fission power plant shall be constructed or radioactive material disposed of in the State without the prior approval by a two-thirds vote in each house of the legislature.”….

read … Hawaii Legislature Considering Geothermal and Nuclear Power

Marijuana Legalization Gets Initial Approval From 2 House Committees

CB: … House Bill 1246, which would legalize the personal use of marijuana for people 21 years of age and older beginning in 2026.

But HB 1246 goes beyond legalization. It calls for creating a new state agency within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate adult use of recreational and medical marijuana, and hemp, which contains low levels of THC, the active ingredient that gets people high. That regulation would include taxing retail sales….

MM: Hawaii Marijuana Legalization Bill Gets Approval From House Committees At Joint Hearing - Marijuana Moment

SA: Column: Recreational marijuana rears ugly head | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Marijuana Legalization Gets Initial Approval From 2 House Committees - Honolulu Civil Beat

Bill would create statewide policy for police car chases

HTH: … A bill that would establish a statewide policy for police motor vehicle pursuits will be heard at 10 a.m. Thursday by the House Transportation Committee.

House Bill 277 was introduced by Rep. David Tarnas (D-Kohala) with Rep. Jeanne Kapela, a fellow Big Island Democrat, among six co-sponsors…

HB277: Text, Status

read … Bill would create statewide policy for police car chases - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

State stops 24/7 enforcement of Waianae Small Boat Harbor

KHON: … State officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources started 24/7 enforcement at the entrance of the Waianae Small Boat Harbor after two shootings within less than two weeks in August 2024.

HPD’s crime map shows the effort was successful since zero reports have been filed within the past month….

(TRANSLATION: It worked. So they’re leaving.)

read … State stops 24/7 enforcement of Waianae Small Boat Harbor

Trump News:

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