Political problems not the same as true emergencies
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted February 22, 2025
TAT Is Not Duct Tape
Hawaii Family Forum Legislative Week in Review Feb 21 2025
Rail Line to Terminate at Iwilei Station? Hanabusa squabbles with engineers
HNN: … Rail Board Chair Colleen Hanabusa challenged Deputy Project Director Matthew Scanlan claiming Skyline’s policy makers have been stonewalled by Skyline’s engineers.
“Are you saying that whatever the board states or questions you chose to ignore?” Hanabusa asked.
Scanlan responded, “I don’t think we’ve ignored it, but I would suggest that I think we should get back on topic of what we are trying to present.”
“Now just a minute this is on topic because you are asking us to change or to permit something here,” Hanabusa said.
Scanlan wanted to talk about expensive escalators.
“This is a really important issue,” said Anthony Aalto, a boardmember .
He said he’s been asking for two years whether the Iwilei Station will be built with a so-called “stub out,” so the line can someday be extended.
“The city at the moment is drawing up designs for housing in that area,” Aalto said. “And they’re doing on the understanding that there will be a stub out.”
The short answer: No.
Scanlan said, “We have not seen a study or anything from a long range plan that said we needed to provide a turn out or an opportunity for an extension that guided us from a design standpoint.”
(TRANSLATION: Iwilei is the end of the line.)
All this as rail leaders face increasing scrutiny from a Trump administration looking to shore up federal funding.
“And we can’t just say we’re going to give money and then not hold states accountable for how they spend that money,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“I was very shocked to see that,” Honolulu Rail Authority CEO Lori Kahikina said.
The feds have approved Honolulu’s rail financing plans, but there’s still uncertainty.
“I sent that email to our federal liaison and said please assure me we are not in the same situation,” Kahikina said.
Also unclear on Friday, the future of the rail surcharge.
The 0.5% tax on Oahu goods and services was supposed to end three years ago.
State lawmakers extended it twice and are now being asked to extend it again to 2045.
But some worry that President Donald Trump’s tightening of federal finances will spook the Legislature into killing the surcharge bill.
Fourteen years after the rail line broke ground and then nearly doubled in price…
read … Leaders still sparring over plans for Honolulu’s rail 14 years after the project first broke ground
Trump policies threaten University of Hawaii ethnic studies programs
SA: … President Donald Trump’s order banning diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs has University of Hawaii students and faculty worrying about the future of academic programs that focus on Hawaiian, Filipino, Korean and other ethnic cultures.
“We don’t know what this means for the university,” said Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, dean of UH’s Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. “We’re not different from any other government agency that employs people, or even businesses, here. I am certain these conversations are taking place everywhere.”….
(REALITY: UH Ethnic Studies founded by Communist Party member Koji Ariyoshi.)
Trump’s attack on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility places a target directly on UH, according to political analyst Neal Milner.
“The university’s mission statement talks about an Asia and Pacific focus and this school prides itself on its ethnic studies programs,” he said. “And the Hawaiian studies program is unique.”….
Trump’s purge of DEIA programs, language and policies also could affect a wide range of student clubs and organizations at UH-Manoa that include the Filipino Law Students group, Micronesian Wayfinders Club, the Gender Equity Movement, Timpuyog for Ilokano Language and Literature Program, Black Student Association, Ethnic Studies Student Association and Latinxs Unidxs, which describes itself as “a group of students who are descended from the peoples and diverse cultures originating from the Americas.”…
ETHNIC STUDIES BACKGROUND:
read … Trump policies threaten University of Hawaii ethnic studies programs | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii Undermines anti-Trump ‘Resistance’
Shapiro: … The leading advice for Democrats to regain national political relevance is to focus less on DEI and cultural wokeness and more on the cost of eggs….
It falls to blue states, where the party holds actual power, to show the country Democrats can make government work — and Hawaii is being watched as Gov. Josh Green and Attorney General Anne Lopez raise their profiles in the national Trump resistance.
Unfortunately, right now Hawaii is more a model of government futlessness than excellence.
Droves of residents are leaving for other states as state and county plans lag to provide affordable homes and living-wage jobs. Those living on the streets with no homes at all seem to be getting more visible rather than less as officials aren’t bothering to count this year.
Federal attorneys recently concluded a series of prosecutions that revealed shocking corruption at the heart of our local government.
We can’t seem to do any major undertaking right. Honolulu rail started as a $5 billion project that incompetence grew to a $10 billion disaster that won’t even reach its intended destination. Now state lawmakers are considering throwing another $5 billion at it without stepping up accountability.
The state Capitol was closed several years for costly repairs and now might close again for fixes they missed the first time.
A roof leak in the Hawai‘i Convention Center grew into a $64 million crisis as legislators deferred maintenance while conniving to combine the fixes with nearby development opportunities for big campaign donors.
The new $160 million Hawaii State Hospital remained closed for over a year after its completion because of building defects, and four years later the state is looking at almost $40 million to fix roof, plumbing and drainage problems.
The state abruptly closed Aloha Stadium following decades of neglected maintenance, and after years of changing plans is moving to replace it with a facility that’s overpriced and undersized at $400 million for 25,000 seats and features a giveaway to developers of adjoining lands under a convoluted public-private partnership that drew only one bid.
If blue-state leaders are to be the chief political sales reps nationally on the virtues of Democratic rule, they’d best back up the CNN clips by actually delivering excellent government at home….
read … David Shapiro: Hawaii Dems take spotlight as blue states resist Trump | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Miske death certificate filed in court while sentencing of his associates continues
ILind: … Honolulu Medical Examiner Masahiko Kobayashi certified his death. No cause of death is indicated on the death certificate….
read … Miske death certificate filed in court while sentencing of his associates continues
Jones Act Keeps Hawaii Energy Expensive
SA: … The United States has experienced an energy boom for well over a decade, but Hawaii has been largely left out.
As U.S. oil and other fuels flow around the world, an outdated shipping law called the Jones Act means that the Aloha State obtains most of its energy from far more distant and costlier foreign sources.
The result for Hawaii has been higher gasoline and electricity prices — already among the nation’s most expensive — and more financial strain on local businesses and consumers….
read … Column: Jones Act hurts more than it helps | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
240 Vacancies at Lunatic Asylum: State hospital employee says horrific conditions are putting everyone at risk
KHON: … They said lawmakers are focused on fixing faulty construction in the new $160M Hale Hoola building when things are much worse in the older buildings….
“It’s horrible,” the worker added. “Morale is horrible. The staffing is despicable. The conditions we’re working in are horrific.”
“We’re compromising patient safety and staff safety in order to make the numbers work,” the worker explained.
Mark Linscott, the Hawaii State Hospital Administrator, said they have 240 vacancies that the leadership team is working to fill.
In a statement, Linscott said “in order to meet standards, we must augment staffing with agency or temporary hires to staff for census, acuity and assure the highest quality of care for our patients.”
The worker said those people aren’t qualified to do those jobs.
The worker said they are afraid what happened to Bautista could happen again.
“It’s going to happen again. It’s just a matter of time.”…
REALITY: Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit
read … State hospital employee says horrific conditions are putting everyone at risk
The Legislature’s Schedule Works Only For The Most Powerful Committees
CB: … Key deadlines are too soon and skewed to help the judiciary, consumer protection and money committees….
First lateral — when all bills must go to their final committee — dampens democracy. This early internal deadline means there are fewer opportunities and time to have candid, respectful discussions and explorations of alternatives with colleagues and the public in private. It leaves most legislators writing resolutions and observing the big issues from the sidelines.
Later, after bills cross over from one chamber to the other, there is a second lateral deadline, which is equally problematic….
A bill with multiple committee referrals has to move even sooner. In the end, many end up in the centers of real power: the judiciary, consumer protection and budget committees.
In less than one month, the chairs of Senate Ways and Means and House Finance committees have already captured a huge number of complex and controversial issues, and all the money.
In addition, virtually every other member of the House and Senate is begging those chairs to include their pet projects in the state budget.
Already this year, the overwhelming number of legislators have, in essence, had their power diluted. Time to turn that dead bill into a resolution!....
read … The Legislature’s Schedule Works Only For The Most Powerful
Dead Or Alive? With A Week To Go, Some Sunshine Bills Are Teetering
CB: … By the end of this week bills need to have passed out of all the committees to which they’d been assigned, including the money committees, or they are dead for the year. In January, lawmakers introduced about 3,100 bills. As of Friday, 780 remained on the House’s list and 835 in the Senate.
We had about 200 Sunshine bills to watch as the legislative session began and about 60 of those were still alive as of Friday….
Once bills are resolved either way by Friday, lawmakers have until March 6 — the following Thursday — to vote them up or down in the full House and Senate. That’s called crossover and the surviving legislation switches to the other chamber for action. The session is scheduled to end May 2.
As we near the halfway point, some hoped-for measures to improve government operations and accountability are among the dead. Others are very much alive, some still need to make it through a final committee this week and a few even appear poised to sail through. That is, until they fall into the black hole of conference committees scheduled for late April….
read … Dead Or Alive? With A Week To Go, Some Sunshine Bills Are Teetering
Many Proposed Constitutional Amendments Dead
CB: … Legislators love proposing constitutional amendments and hate giving citizens the chance to actually vote on them.
Twenty-eight constitutional amendments were proposed this session and 19 are already dead.
Last session, 31 were introduced and two approved. And that was an exceptional year for ConAms.
During the five years before that, 194 were proposed and zero were approved….
The nine ConAms that are still alive would:
- Protect the right to obtain and use contraceptives.
- Enshrine the right to undergo abortions in addition to using contraceptives.
- Prohibit discrimination based on ethnicity, age, disability, religion, national ancestry, sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Increase the mandatory retirement age of judges to 75.
- Allow more time for the Senate to confirm judicial appointments.
- Base reapportionment on the resident population rather than the permanent resident population.
- Establish the right to clean water and air.
- Provide that the right of free speech does not include spending money to influence elections. (This would have no effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United was overturned.)
- Make the standard for voter approval of a ConAm more “yes” votes than “no” votes, without including spoiled, blank or over-votes that currently count as “no” votes.
read … When It Comes To Giving Voters A Say, Hawaiʻi Is No Aloha State - Honolulu Civil Beat
“Backend software” issue hides legislators’ connections to lobbyists
CB: … As The Blog blogged last week, the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission is pushing lawmakers to disclose financial relationships they or their spouses might have with lobbyists. At least one legislator, Rep. Ikaika Hussey, said he tried to comply (his wife is Earthjustice lobbyist Marti Townsend) but the disclosure did not show up online for public view.
Robert Harris, the commission’s executive director, blamed a “backend software” issue for not displaying legislators’ reported connections to lobbyists. “That issue was resolved,” Harris tells The Blog.
As of late Thursday, three legislators had reported their financial lobbyist affiliations: Hussey, Rep. Rachele Lamosao (with Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau) and Rep. Scot Matayoshi (attorney Matt Matsunaga, who represents Automated HealthCare Solutions and American Express Travel Related Solutions) ….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Josh Green Makes Another House Call To DC - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawai‘i Convention Center seeking $55M to reward contractors for campaign contributions
SA: … the usual leaks, rust, mold, blablabla—more coming next year .…
read … Hawai‘i Convention Center seeking $55M to fast-track projects | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Apparent settlement reached in Honokohau Harbor sewage lawsuit
HTH: … In the civil complaint filed Sept. 25, 2023, Hui Malama Honokohau accused the county of violating the federal Clean Water Act at its Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant.
According to the lawsuit, the plant discharges about 1.7 million gallons of treated sewage from two pipes into a natural disposal pit located “in a lava field upslope from Honokohau Harbor.” The suit alleges the sewage enters the harbor through groundwater, polluting the marine environment and harming harbor users.
The filing claims discharges from the plant entering into the Pacific Ocean via groundwater “began in 1993 and will continue into the future on an ongoing basis.”
While terms of the settlement are not yet public, Earthjustice said last July that the county committed to applying for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit within six months. The permit was a bone of contention in the lawsuit, something the plaintiffs described as “a necessary step to protect human health and the environment.”
The lawsuit also sought upgrades to the facility’s wastewater treatment process to reduce the contaminants entering the harbor, as well as recycling treated wastewater for irrigation, firefighting and other beneficial uses….
read … Apparent settlement reached in Honokohau Harbor sewage lawsuit - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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