Persistent income, employment, housing challenges for Maui’s fire-impacted households
Lahaina Housing: ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’
Grassroot Bills Alive After Crossover
Senators Pour Another $50M into Aloha Stadium Boondoggle, Defer Bill That Would Have Killed Project
CB: … a joint committee of senators on Thursday killed a backup plan that would’ve redirected state funding for a rebuilt Aloha Stadium — which has ballooned to an estimated $650 million — to a stadium at University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa.
Instead, the senators advanced a measure that would give stadium officials access to a special fund with $50 million in cash that they haven’t been able to tap into yet. That’s on top of the $350 million lawmakers already allocated to the stadium project in 2019.
(CLUE: $650M-$350M-$50M = $250MM. 2nd M is for ‘missing.’)
The $50 million fund was to be used to pay consultants who have been working for the past six years to plan for the new stadium. But as they opened up the fund, the Senate committees directed the state to closely monitor those consulting contracts going forward.
Senators were concerned about a contract with Missouri-based Crawford Architects that has already cost about $35 million.
The panel pointed to a 2023 Civil Beat article that uncovered more than $400,000 in expenses that were not supposed to be reimbursed under the consulting contract, including first-class airfare and Waikīkī hotel rooms….
Due to the sudden closure of Aloha Stadium in December 2020, the UH football team was forced to relocate to campus and play its home games at T.C. Ching Complex. The team was at risk of losing its eligibility to compete in the NCAA’s Division I because of a requirement that facilities have seating available for at least 15,000 people.
Recent renovations expanded the seating capacity to meet the requirement of 15,000, but those were short-term solutions. Ching Field is five years into its 10-year life expectancy and is expected to last until Aloha Stadium’s estimated completion in 2028. …
(IQ Test: How hard are you laughing? -- Or, are you so used to hearing this silly 2028 number that you are bored with it already?)
read … Hawaiʻi Senators Want More Accountability For Aloha Stadium Spending
Canadian Tourism Drops by Half
CB: … Canada is way down again, for obvious reasons. Right now that’s usually 7% to 8% of our business, and that is cut in about half for those that still choose to come. Maui is a big recipient of Canadian business…
everybody’s asking about Japanese business, and when is that going to return? I’ve been doing this long enough to tell you that it’s not going to return. A half a generation is gone already. So when we see a 4% to 5% increase a year, that is my belief as to what it will be in the future. We think we can increase that number, but when we see numbers out there — 15%, 20% —that’s fantasy. It’s a currency issue. It’s a generational issue….
We are looking at markets, and I will tell you, the government business, for reasons we all can can agree on, is down 55% now. There is government business on the outer islands, but it’s more on Oʻahu. That’s very important, because to many of the hotels that is a base piece of business — that’s government and government contracts. Credit cards have been canceled. We are still getting about 45%, but that’s government contractors, etc. So that is a real big concern. That’s thousands of rooms that are base business….
… Senate Bill 1396 increases the TAT for climate change. It also would support tourism. You mentioned House Bill 504. It’s a $20 increase to the TAT and somehow it factors into a points or miles or loyalty program….
And speaking of the Climate Advisory Team, they didn’t only say go after the TAT. They offered other solutions, like a barrel tax…
McClellan: More importantly, we have some of the highest carrying costs for a hotel operation anywhere in the world.
What do you mean by that?
McClellan: Well, property debt service.
Donoho: Can I add to that? It’s in all capacities, the highest carrying costs, because we have the highest labor with all the union negotiation contracts that have gone through. We’re trying to give our people the highest living wage that we can.
Profitability at the hotel sector is down. It’s down in the last decade, and that’s why you see so much conversion to other types of units. On the Kohala Coast, we have fewer hotel rooms. We’ve been converting to timeshare …
CB: How Trump's Economic Policies Are Roiling Hawaiʻi's Economy - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … A Talk With The Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance About An Uncertain Time For Tourism - Honolulu Civil Beat
State House lawmakers defer hate crime bill
SA: … The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, expressed support for SB 1149 in a statement.
“We support any legislative effort to ensure that law enforcement accurately documents and reports all reported crimes that are allegedly motivated by bias or prejudice,” Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s national communications director, said in a statement.
But the bill that was posed to committee Chair Rep. David A. Tarnas (D, Hawi-Waimea-Waikoloa) and Vice Chair Rep. Mahina Poepoe (D, Molokai- Lanai-Hana) would have redefined a hate crime to “any reported incident, regardless of whether it results in criminal charges, where there is evidence or indication that bias or prejudice may have been a motivating factor” — a red flag to SB 1149’s opposition.
Deborah Umiamaka, who opposed the bill in written testimony, pointed to possible infringements on free speech, where certain expressions, protected under both the state and national constitution, could be criminalized as a hate crime.
“By requiring law enforcement to investigate incidents based solely on perceived bias or prejudice — without clear evidence of a crime — this bill risks chilling free expression and creating an environment where individuals may fear expressing their opinions.”
Native Hawaiian and Kahaluu resident Tiare Smith also opposed the bill in written testimony, stating that the broad language for defining a hate crime is dangerous for a multicultural state like Hawaii.
“For a Native Hawaiian like myself, who has witnessed the resilience of our communities in overcoming historical injustices, this approach is antithetical to the spirit of reconciliation and coexistence,” Smith wrote. “It risks casting neighbors as adversaries, compelling officers to scrutinize every interaction for latent prejudice, rather than fostering dialogue or resolution.” ….
read … State House lawmakers defer hate crime bill | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
‘Climate Change’ Emergency Declaration to be Expanded?
IM: … Hawaii became the first US state to declare a climate emergency with Senate Concurrent Resolution (S.C.R. 44-2021), prompting state-wide collaboration and action to address the climate crisis, particularly focusing on sea-level rise and its impacts.
Led by James McCallen, Director of Community Preparedness and Resilience for the Hawaii Public Health Institute, Climate Change & Health wrote a resolution seeking to expand the climate emergency resolution to include health.
(CLUE: The Earth’s climate has been ‘changing’ for 4 billion years.)
The Senate Concurrent Resolution 111 (SCR 111) introduced by Senators Gabbard, Chang, Rhoads and Richards, was assigned to be heard by a single committee. The Senate Committee on Agriculture And Environment will hear the resolution this afternoon.
The House Concurrent Resolution 188 (HCR 188), introduced by Representatives Lowen, Amato, Belatti, Grandinetti, Iwamoto, Kahaloa, Marten, Perruso, and Poepoe
“Declaring a public health emergency relating to climate change and requesting statewide coordination to identify, plan for, and create cross-sector solutions to strengthen hawaii's public health response to the climate crisis.”
“Leading scientific and medical authorities, including the United Nations, World Health Organization, and American Public Health Association, have identified climate change as a major public health crisis.”
Climate Change & Health Working Group`s website includes a Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment. There are four subcommittees: Mental Health, Policy, and Education, and Community….
read … Hawai`i Climate Change & Health Working Group | Ililani Media
Amid Concerns About Campus Violence, Police To Come To Oʻahu Schools
CB: ... As a security attendant at Nānākuli High and Intermediate School, Kaui Asinsin often felt overwhelmed by the frequent fights on campus, including a week in 2022 with more than two dozen fights and a mob that ended with a student in the hospital.
Asinsin left the job after less than a year and started petitioning the neighborhood board to better protect students by putting police officers on campus.
“I was just on a mission, like, let’s go find some help and see what we can get for our students and our community,” she said. As a parent with kids at the school, she felt that trained law enforcement officers called school resource officers would help calm the violence. …
read ... Amid Concerns About Campus Violence, Police To Come To Oʻahu Schools
Teachers want DOE’s new immigration enforcement policy to include more than just administrators
HNN: … Hawaii’s public school principals now have guidance to deal with immigration cases involving students, but the Hawaii State Teachers Association said that should be shared with all campus staff.
The new policy is in response to an incident at Konawaena Elementary School last month.
A 7-year-old boy was taken by a school resource officer to his father, who had removal orders. They were deported to Central America.
At the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, schools superintendent Keith Hayashi told board members that internal guidance was developed for principals and vice principals if another student becomes part of an immigration operation.
(TRANSLATION: HSTA wants to use this for propaganda.)
read … Teachers want DOE’s new immigration enforcement policy to include more than just administrators
Senate Bill 106 presents an opportunity to modernize our pedestrian laws.
CB: … Millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent in Hawaiʻi over the years enforcing jaywalking laws, yet we have little to show for it in terms of improved pedestrian safety.
A bill currently before the Hawai‘i State Legislature, Senate Bill 106, offers a commonsense solution: Reduce jaywalking enforcement by allowing pedestrians to “act contrary to the statewide traffic code when a reasonably careful pedestrian would determine that there is no immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle if the pedestrian is more than 200 feet from a crosswalk.”
SB 106 recognizes that pedestrians often cross outside of designated crosswalks due to infrastructure challenges, such as long distances between crosswalks or poorly designed intersections. It would reform Hawaiʻi’s outdated and punitive jaywalking laws by limiting enforcement to situations where pedestrian crossings present an immediate safety hazard. …
read … Promote Safety, Sound Budgeting And Equity Through Jaywalking Reform
Aloun Farms Revitalization plan in works for milk production on Kauai
SA: … President and General Manager Alec Sou of Aloun Farms, shown before the County Council on moving 65% of its agricultural activities to Kauai, seeks legislative backing to establish a dairy farm there….
The Senate unanimously approved the bond financing measure, Senate Bill 1547, in February after two public hearings. On Wednesday the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems further advanced the bill, which has received a mix of support from farm industry backers and opposition from environmental and animal welfare advocates….
Gordon LaBedz, representing the Kauai chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, noted in written testimony that the foundation helped stop a prior Kauai dairy farm plan over concerns that cow effluent would pollute the environment (slightly inconvenience the tourism industry) ….
CB: Hawaiʻi’s Imperiled Milk Industry Has A Rare Chance To Grow - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … Revitalization plan in works for milk production on Kauai | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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