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UH Trump Watch: New website on federal policy updates
Kōloa Rum Company challenges Jones Act in court
Proposed tax on foreign ships could increase costs in Hawaii
SA: … In a Thursday interview televised on Fox, newly confirmed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said “Donald Trump has announced the External Revenue Service, and his goal is very simple: to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay.”
“I’ll give you an example: cruise ships. You ever see a cruise ship with an American flag on the back? They have flags of Liberia or Panama. None of them pays taxes. Every supertanker — none of them pays taxes,” Lutnick said. “This is going to end under Donald Trump. Those taxes are going to be paid.”
According to Lloyd’s List, a publication that covers the international shipping industry, cruise line stocks plummeted just moments after Lutnick’s remarks. At their lowest on Thursday morning, the aggregate market capitalization of the four U.S.-listed cruise companies — Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Viking — was down $15.4 billion, or an average of 10%. The stocks gradually traded back as other investors saw an opportunity, but it offers a look into the uncertainty that oceangoing companies see in the American market.
Cruise ship passengers make up just 2% of Hawaii’s annual visitors, but foreign ships delivering oil and other goods commonly stop in the islands. Ships delivering fuel in particular have become central to how Hawaii’s economic, energy and transportation systems function — more than 80% of oil is imported from foreign sources.
“If he’s going to start imposing a surcharge or a tax on any foreign vessel that comes to America, in this case this would really affect our oil supplies, the cost of our energy,” said Mark Coleman of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a libertarian- leaning think tank.…
read … Proposed tax on foreign ships could increase costs in Hawaii
HB1308: Contentious Hawaii Sports Betting Bill Reaches House Floor
SBCA: … A bill to legalize online sports betting in Hawaii has reached the full House after hearings in multiple committees, but it has far from unanimous support.
HB1308 was approved by the House Finance Committee 12-3 on Monday, having previously been greenlit in the Economic Development and Technology Committee and the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee. It will now head to the full chamber floor.
Chair Kyle Yamashita called the proposal “a work in progress” after half of the 12 members who voted yes did so with reservations.
“I know there are concerns from many of the members…” he added. “The setting up of the regulatory process will obviously take some work. But every once in a while we do bring up gambling … I don’t think it’s a bad thing to talk about it every so often. I want to keep this thing moving.”…
read … Contentious Hawaii Sports Betting Bill Reaches House Floor
TRO filed against Honolulu Fire Battalion Chief in rape case
KITV: … A Honolulu Fire Department employee filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against a Battalion Chief for alleged sex assault. The 33-year-old woman filed the TRO last Friday.
In court documents, she claimed that on Feb. 14 the 49-year-old man "repeatedly raped me while using restraint and threats.
The Battalion Chief was released pending investigation and has not been charged at this time.
A judge is scheduled to hear the TRO petition on March 5th….
read … TRO filed against Honolulu Fire Battalion Chief in sexual assault case
Testifiers sound off on Hawaiʻi measure to ban non-medical vaccine exemptions in schools
HPR: … Hawaiʻi lawmakers are moving along the controversial measure to ban non-medical exemptions for school-mandated vaccines.
The House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs narrowly voted in favor of House Bill 1118 on Friday. The 5-3 vote included two votes with reservations, but it’s now set up to cross over to the Senate.
Prior to the vote, testifiers who opposed the measure cited religious freedom under the U.S. Constitution, questions about effectiveness, and concerns and reports about side effects — all of which they said make the exemptions necessary.
Rep. David Tarnas, who chairs the committee, expressed concern about falling vaccination rates and the cost to public health.
“Decreasing immunization coverage due to rising rates of exemptions which have no medical basis does increase the risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks that can be potentially fatal to children who attend school,” Tarnas said at the hearing….
SA: Bill ending religious exemptions to school vaccines makes headway | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Testifiers sound off on Hawaiʻi measure to ban non-medical vaccine exemptions in schools | Hawai'i Public Radio
Few Property Sales, High Prices in Lahaina As Victims Try To Recoup Losses
CB: … Many property owners believe that if they must sell, they’re not going to “just give it away,” said Tyler Coons, a real estate agent who has lived and worked in Lahaina for decades. “Everybody’s still very emotionally tied to their property and doesn’t want to take less than they could possibly get.”
There have been more property sales in Lahaina overall in the past seven months than there were in the year after the fire, according to real estate records. About two dozen properties that burned down have been sold since the fire; of those, 19 sales have occurred in the past seven months. Many appear to be transactions between family members, friends or neighbors. (Those figures do not include deed transfers for little or no money, which are often used to shift ownership among relatives.)
Even before the fire, residential properties in historic Lahaina were rarely put on the market, real estate agents said. Extended families often shared homes, and properties were passed down to younger generations over the years.
And when people have listed vacant lots, they’ve often asked for more money than the land alone was valued at before the fire, according to Coons and county tax records. One lot is listed for $800,000; in 2023, the land alone was assessed at $325,200, according to county tax records. Another plot of land listed for $599,000 had an assessed value of $339,500 in 2023. A third was assessed at $482,500 in 2023; it’s listed for $625,000….
read … Few Property Sales, High Prices in Lahaina As Victims Try To Recoup Losses
After DLNR Wrecks Banyan Drive, HCDA to Take Over?
KHON: … the push to revitalize Banyan Drive is gaining traction with HB818 breezing through the finance committee Monday afternoon.
The bill establishes the Waiakea Peninsula Community Development District, sets guidelines for Hawaii Community Development Authority tasked with creating a master plan for the area and gives the community a voice at the table.
“What the bill does is really just create that pathway for long range planning stakeholder conversations and really looking at iterations of a future for the peninsula,” Keohokapu-Lee Loy explained.
Early on, DLNR opposed the bill because it initially sought to transfer the land out of their purview.
“Our appreciation that you heard our concerns and you did delete the section transferring Waiakea Peninsula to HCDA,” DLNR Chairperson Dawn Chang said to the House Finance Committee during Monday’s meeting.
Keohokapu-Lee Loy said discussions about conveyance of land from one state agency to the other will require further conversations.
The legislature set aside $1 million dollars last legislative session for the Waiakea Peninsula Master Plan that should be transferred to HCDA if the HB818 passes….
read … Plans to revitalize prime real estate on Big Island moving forward | KHON2
People Have Been Waiting Most Of A Decade To Use This Bathroom
CB: … Kalaeloa Beach Park has a lot going for it: white sandy beaches, a view of distant downtown Honolulu, campsites you can drive up to and easy access for West Oʻahu residents.
But it’s missing something important: working bathrooms.
The bathrooms have been closed for years. A handful of port-a-potties dot the beach park campground, but ʻEwa resident Darrell Swayne said they’re inadequate for a weekend camping trip. …
Serota said the land used to be owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the city, similar to Bellows Field Beach Park on the Windward side of the island. That meant the city could do basic repairs but nothing large-scale. The city finally received full ownership last summer as part of the military’s wide-ranging Base Realignment and Closure program to get rid of land it no longer needs.
It’s too early to estimate when the bathrooms will reopen, Serota said. It could be several years after funding gets approved, especially since the project is close to the shoreline and may require a Special Management Area permit….
read … People Have Been Waiting Most Of A Decade To Use This Bathroom
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