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Salary Commission Approves 48% Raises For Legislators, State Officials
CB: … The state Salary Commission is recommending pay raises ranging from 35% to 48% over the next six years for judges, top state executives and lawmakers, with the largest percentage pay increases proposed for members of the Hawaiʻi Legislature.
The pay raises will automatically take effect beginning July 1 unless lawmakers pass a resolution in the weeks ahead specifically rejecting the increases….
The proposed pay package includes an initial 32% raise for state lawmakers that would increase their salaries from $74,160 today to $97,896 effective Jan. 1, 2027….
Those raises for lawmakers would be followed by 4% pay increases in each of the following two years and another 8% pay increase on Jan. 1, 2030, for a total 48% pay increase over six years. At the end of the six years, rank-and-file lawmakers would make $114,348.
The House speaker and Senate president would see their salaries increase from $83,052 today to $128,052 over the six years.
House Minority Floor Leader Diamond Garcia, a Republican from Oʻahu, said he will introduce a resolution in the House to reject the raises, and said Republicans in the state Senate will do the same….
On Tuesday the commission settled on a 15% raise for Green and Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke effective July 1, which will bring Green’s salary to $217,908. That would be followed by a series of smaller 4% raises and an 8% raise in 2027, for a total pay increase for the state’s top job of 39% over six years….
The commission is also recommending a series of raises totaling 40% to 43% over the next six years for about 95 state judges. Court officials have warned it is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain judges because the most qualified lawyers can make far more money in private practice.
Circuit Court judges would see their pay increase from $217,104 today to $327,948 in the years ahead, while District Court and Family Court judges would get a pay boost from $205,296 today to $301,776 in 2030.
The commission plan would increase the pay for the chief justice of the state Supreme Court in a series of steps ranging from 4% to 10% per year, upping it from $248,124 today to $364,752 in 2030.
Separately, an independent salary commission overseeing pay for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a semi-autonomous state agency charged with improving the lives of Native Hawaiians, voted last month to boost trustees’ annual pay to $91,560. The chair of the board would make $100,308. Those raises would also kick in unless the Legislature rejects them….
“The next few years are going to be incredibly painful for Hawaiʻi…”
HNN: Salary commission approves raises for hundreds of state officials
read … Salary Commission Approves Hefty Raises For Legislators, State Officials - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaiʻi House Advances Sports Betting Bill
CB: … The 35-to-15 vote on House Bill 1308 marked the furthest that a gambling proposal has made it in the Legislature in at least the last decade.
The bill would legalize online sports betting apps in the state and allow for up to four state-licensed operators….
SBC: Hawaii House Approves Betting Bill Despite Sex & Drug Fears
read … Hawaiʻi House Advances Sports Betting Bill - Honolulu Civil Beat
Mafia Thugs Suffer as Hawaii film industry down nearly 50%
KITV: … For the first time in 20 years, there are zero major productions using the Aloha State to create television magic.
This impacts at least 800 unionized production workers and hundreds of others on the talent and creative side.
”Where we have normally a robust $400 million film industry in the state for the last two years, we're at $223 million and less in 2024," said Georja Skinner, Creative Industries Division Chief.
The City and County of Honolulu passed a tax incentive bill in 2024 for a new private production studio in Kapolei, a partnership with Island Film Group and the University of Hawaii….
”Senate Bill 732 is the only remaining vehicle that we can utilize to be able to make some changes to the credit, which we feel will make it more attractive for people to use it, but also it will help keep our people employed, and that's the most important thing,” Skinner said. …
REALITY: Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0
read … Hawaii film industry down nearly 50%, government looks at options | News | kitv.com
Honolulu Hasn't Prosecuted A Single Ghost Gun Case Since 2020 Ban
CB: … In the four years since Hawaiʻi made it a felony to manufacture or possess unserialized parts used to create firearms, the number of ghost guns that police are recovering has increased dramatically.
Honolulu police reported 68 cases involving a ghost gun in the first 10 months of 2024 alone — a nearly 120% increase from that same period the year before, according to data presented to lawmakers in February.
Yet not a single person in Honolulu has been charged for possessing these untraceable weapons, which pose a threat to the state’s strict gun regulations and low gun violence rates.
Prosecutors say they have pursued other firearms charges against people caught with ghost guns, but that the current law — written to deter people from obtaining and manufacturing black market weapons — is unusable because it doesn’t apply to already-assembled guns and requires them to prove that someone intended to build an unregistered gun.
This stands in stark contrast to prosecutors on neighboring islands, who have successfully used the law to go after ghost guns and who view it as a valuable tool. More than 50 people have been charged in Hawaiʻi and Maui counties since the law was enacted in 2020….
read … Honolulu Hasn't Prosecuted A Single Ghost Gun Case Since 2020 Ban - Honolulu Civil Beat
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