SB1150 Would Legalize Child Kidnapping for Sex Change
Monday: Salary Commission to Hear Testimony on Salary Increases
Legislature Votes on Abortion, Vaccines and Marijuana--Sex Change Next
‘Enough is enough’ says Case regarding Jones Act and Hawaii
First Christian Good News Clubs in Hawaii Schools after Court Victory
SB893: Casinos at New Aloha Stadium and Convention Center
SA: … A bill proposing legal gambling in Hawaii — with casinos only at the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District and the Hawaii Convention Center — will be voted on by the state Senate today after passing its Economic Development and Tourism Committee on Thursday.
(UPDATE: Passed 2nd read, Re-Referred to EDT/CPN, WAM. Hearing set for Thursday, Feb 13, 2025. Submit testimony >>> HERE <<<.)
Senate Bill 893 calls for a five-member gaming control commission, appointed by the governor and falling under the administration of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The casinos would be taxed 15% of gross receipts and operated under 20-year licenses….
There was no testimony on the bill Thursday, but Sen. Glenn Wakai, a NASED proponent, is clearly an advocate….
SB893: Text, Status
KHON: New bill seeks to build casinos and legalize gambling | KHON2
CB: The Sunshine Blog: Viva Honolulu? Casino Bill Quietly Surfaces In Senate - Honolulu Civil Beat -- The email from the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee popped up in the The Blog’s inbox at 12:46 p.m. Thursday: Senators were going to talk about a bill granting 20-year licenses for casinos in the planned New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District and the old Hawaiʻi Convention Center…. Problem was, the hearing was scheduled for 1:20 p.m. that very day. That meant The Blog and anyone else who wanted to learn more would have to hustle to get to Conference Room 229 at the Capitol. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the link to the proposed draft of the bill was pretty much blank — no mention at all of casinos.
CB: House and Senate Bills Push Hawaii Toward Legal Online Sports Wagering - CasinoBeats
Meanwhile: HB1494: ‘Stop all Procurement’ for Aloha Stadium Boondoggle
read … Senate to vote on bill calling for legal gambling | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Samoan tragedy kept in forefront of Kennedy fight
NYT: … It was a spasm of tragedy on a remote Pacific island that only a few months later was overshadowed by a pandemic. But to Gov. Josh Green, the measles outbreak on neighboring Samoa that killed 83 people, mostly babies and children, was a preventable catastrophe wrought by the man President Donald Trump now wants to steer U.S. health policy.
In December 2019, Green, an emergency medical physician and Hawaii’s Democratic lieutenant governor at the time, rounded up a medical team and thousands of vaccine doses and flew to Samoa to help. Last month, he flew to Washington aiming to alert lawmakers from both parties about the role Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary and a longtime vaccine skeptic, played in the Samoa outbreak.
Democrats are attempting to leverage Kennedy’s connection to the Samoa outbreak to build opposition to his nomination. Green recently appeared in an ad by an advocacy group, 314 Action, saying, “RFK Jr. had spread so much misinformation that the country stopped vaccinating, and that caused a tragic and fatal spread of the measles.” …
read … Samoan tragedy kept in forefront of Kennedy fight
Bill Could Allow Maunakea Authority To Side Step Sunshine Law
BIN: … The Hawaiʻi State Legislature is considering a bill that would allow members of the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to discuss business outside of public meetings.
On Thursday, the House Committee on Water & Land held a hearing on House Bill 144. The bill authorizes two or more members of the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to meet during its transition period “regarding any matter relating to the Authority’s business; provided that no commitment to vote is made or sought and no decision-making action is taken.”…
The Office of Information Practices (OIP) expressed “serious concerns” about the bill in written testimony, saying “this proposed exemption from the Sunshine Law for everything but the Authority’s actual decision-making is not a ‘narrowly tailored’ one as suggested in the purpose statement. Rather, it is an almost full exclusion of the public from the Authority’s discussions and deliberations, contrary to the statutory intent of the Sunshine Law in section 92-1, HRS, to ‘protect the people’s right to know.'”
Other organizations like the Public First Law Center, the League of Women Voters of Hawaiʻi, and KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, opposed the bill.
“Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi strongly urges this Committee to reject HB144,” wrote Healani Sonoda-Pale, who also testified during the committee meeting. “If enacted, this bill will set back efforts to repair the harm done to Mauna Kea and its people. True reconciliation can only be achieved through transparency, accountability, and genuine public engagement—not through closed-door meetings that exclude the very community most impacted.” …
read … Bill Could Allow Maunakea Authority To Side Step Sunshine Law
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