California Home Insurance Crisis Provides Another Example of the Pitfalls of Government Intervention
Hawaii Attorney General Pledges to Continue Sex-Change Operations on Children
Proof of Concept Study Completed for New Oahu Jail
Lahaina Rebuild: Green's Latest Emergency Order Gives SMA Exemptions Mauka of Front Street
Maui Wildfire Settlement – Jack up Electric and Insurance Rates to Save HECO -- now before Supreme Court
CB: … The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on Thursday is scheduled to hear a case that will impact Hawaiʻi’s economy regardless of which side wins. The results could be bankruptcy for the state’s biggest electric utility or rising insurance premiums….
(IDEA: Let HECO go BK. The insiders should burn for their fiery indolence.)
On one side of the legal fight are parties to a proposed settlement of Maui wildfire litigation, including fire victims and Hawaiian Electric Company, whose equipment sparked the catastrophe. They want to settle the lawsuits from more than 1,000 homeowners, businesses and others harmed by the fire for $4.04 billion and move on.
(TRANSLATION: They want to make us all pay a lot more for insurance and electricity.)
On the other side are the insurance companies who covered those harmed homeowners and businesses. They want no part of the settlement. Instead, they want to sue HECO, its parent company and others responsible for the fire to recoup some of the $2.3 billion they’ve paid out in claims related to the fires, which killed 102 people, destroyed more than 2,200 structures and leveled much of Lahaina in 2023.
(CLUE: Thus driving HECO into bankruptcy.)
Such lawsuits are standard practice in the insurance industry — an insurer seeking to recoup some of the money it paid out to policyholders from entities that caused the policyholders harm. Such lawsuits are called subrogation.
But if the Supreme Court, which is hearing oral arguments in the case on Thursday, rules for the insurers, it could have cascading consequences. Such a ruling could upend the proposed settlement, delaying payments to wildfire victims. For HECO, one of Hawaiʻi’s oldest corporations, it could mean bankruptcy.
(CLUE: Political insiders own lots of HECO stock. KSBE and HECO are one thing, linked by interlocking boards of directors. Why should the little people suffer to save the insiders whose failures caused Lahaina to burn?)
On the other hand, a loss for the insurers could hammer a Hawaiʻi insurance market already reeling from risks related to climate change….
In extensive court filings to the Supreme Court, the insurance lawyers cite a seminal 1885 case in which the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi stated that subrogation “is recognized in every cultivated system of jurisprudence.” The legal throughline continues to 2017, when the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled insurers may seek clawbacks “regardless of outside settlement.”
(CLUE: To save insiders from their own failures, Supreme Court will have to find a way to make all of this go away.)
Even if the settlement is approved, the company still needs to raise $1.99 billion to pay for its portion. If it can’t do so, the company has said, HECO might need to seek “relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.”
(TRANSLATION: Screw insurers and ratepayers and still go BK.)
Aug, 2024: Trustees Raid KSBE -- 9% of Trust Burned to Save Hawaiian Electric
Aug, 2024: FAKE: Green Announces $4B Lahaina Settlement -- Without Insurers' Agreement
read … Stakes Are High As Maui Wildfire Settlement Case Goes Before Supreme Court
How High Will Hawaii’s 18% Hotel Tax Go With Latest Proposal?
BH: … Hawaii’s hotel tax, already among the highest in the U.S., could climb even further as the state refocuses its push for a Green Fee—this time embedding it directly into the transient accommodations tax. Ouch! This proposal differs from previous failed attempts to charge visitors separately, instead rolling the fee into existing hotel and short-term rental taxes. Both Hawaii visitors and residents will pay for this….
The bills advancing through the legislature, HB1077 and SB1396, outline a plan to increase the cost of staying in hotels and vacation rentals across the state. If passed, this would push Hawaii’s total lodging tax above 18 percent, cementing its position as the highest in the nation….
read … How High Will Hawaii’s 18% Hotel Tax Go With Latest Proposal? - Beat of Hawaii
SB1124: A Per-Box Delivery Tax
HPR: … Senate Bill 1124 would establish a “retail delivery safety fee” for stores that make home deliveries.
It would tack on $0.50 (and counting) to businesses for non-food deliveries, and the fees collected would go into the state's Safe Routes to School special fund to pay for safety projects (more vacant positions)….
The measure was heard Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts.
“We believe this bill will begin to address this issue by requiring a small amount of earnings from delivery services go towards a Safe Routes to School program, which supports the installation of pedestrian and bicycling projects within a 1-mile radius of schools (raise taxes, which we think is always good),” said Abbey Seitz, Hawaiʻi Appleseed's director of transportation equity ….
SB1124: Text, Status
read … Lawmakers consider delivery fees to support pedestrian and biking infrastructure | Hawai'i Public Radio
What will Happen to Pacific Island nations as Trump Deports Criminals?
SA: … Hundreds of Pacific Islanders with convictions are expected to be deported from the U.S., newspapers in Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands have reported, prompting concern over the capacity of small communities to absorb returnees with serious convictions for drug and gang activity.
Rabuka discussed the deportations in the meeting with caucus chairman Ed Case, the Democratic Congressman for Hawaii….
(IDEA: ‘Bukele’)
read … Fiji leader warns of risks from deportations of Pacific Islanders
Hawaiʻi recycling program headed by 911 trooother says accounts frozen by Trump's executive orders
HPR: … Justin Canelas is the program director at Recycle Hawaiʻi, which was nearly a year into an educational program funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However last week, he learned of the Trump administration's executive orders to block federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Canelas scrambled to withdraw money for the week's payroll. Since then, his organization's account has been locked. …
(Recycle Hawaii Exec Director is 911 trooother Kristine Kubat.)
read … Hawaiʻi youth-led recycling program reeling from Trump's executive orders | Hawai'i Public Radio
Red Hill community group says Trump memo is impacting talks with the Navy
HPR: … Marti Townsend, chair of the Red Hill CRI and specialist with Earthjustice, said a Trump administration memo limiting external communications has affected talks over the Red Hill controversy.
"I find it disconcerting that the EPA staff are severely limited in their freedom to speak to the public that they are serving, while the U.S. military just put out another invitation to a town hall. So it looks like the Navy folks get to speak freely to the public however they want. But other federal entities, especially regulators, don't have that freedom and flexibility at this stage," she said.
Townsend said that as federal agencies figure out what's happening, the CRI will continue to share information as best it can. However, she added that before the Trump administration, it was hard to figure out what was going on in the federal government — and now it's "infinitely harder." ….
The Navy said it has a webinar scheduled for Feb. 24 and an open house scheduled for March 12….
SURPRISE: Red Hill moms organized by Antivaxxer RFK—in DC to Attend Confirmation Hearing
MEANWHILE: Victim: Red Hill advocates wrong to mix with RFK antivaxxerism
read … Red Hill community group says Trump memo is impacting talks with the Navy
HB1118: Eliminate Antivaxxers’ Religious Exemptions
CHD: … SB1437 and HB1118 would eliminate all non-medical exemptions as a way to ensure high rates of vaccination coverage. The bill is part of the “governor’s package,” a set of proposed bills that make up Gov. Josh Green’s legislative agenda. Health freedom advocates (Antivaxxers) said they expect significant public pushback ….
CB: Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Want To Make It Harder For Kids To Skip Vaccines
PH: HAWAII to REMOVE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS for SHOTS
SB1437: Text, Status (No hearing set.)
HB1118: Text, Status (HLT Friday, 02-07-25 8:45AM)
read … Hawaii Lawmakers Float Bill to Eliminate Religious Exemptions • Children's Health Defense
SB1542: Parental Control Over Online Apps
CB: … . Senate Bill 1542 would require app stores to verify users’ ages, provide parents with tools to block unsuitable apps, and obtain parental consent before minors can download applications….
read … Helping Parents Protect Our Hawaiʻi Keiki Online - Honolulu Civil Beat
HB371: Bill To Close Pay-To-Play Loophole In Hawaiʻi Moves To Full House
CB: … people with ties to contractors contributed $24 million to political campaigns — about $1 in every $5 donated since 2006 — and the donations often coincided with key decisions by lawmakers regarding the contracts.
On Wednesday, lawmakers moved closer to closing the loophole, which banned donations from companies with government contracts, but not from company officers or their families.
The House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee voted unanimously to send House Bill 371 for a full vote in the House. The legislation would prohibit campaign contributions from officers and immediate family members of contractors as well as recipients of government grants….
HB371: Text, Status
read … Bill To Close Pay-To-Play Loophole In Hawaiʻi Moves To Full House
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