2025 Legislative Also-Rans
Rules Vote a Self-Serving Scam to Take Over Hawaii Republican Party
Six Weeks to Deadline -- Sketchy, Blurry Plans to Pay for Aloha Stadium
Shapiro: … The new Aloha Stadium is near a major turning point without clear answers on how much it’ll cost or how it’ll be paid.
The state set a June 30 deadline for signing a final deal … After that, things get blurry….
Makes you wonder if the priority is development supporting a stadium, as originally proposed, or if it’s the stadium supporting developers.
Lawmakers vowed they won’t commit more than the $350 million already approved. This session, they wouldn’t release $49.5 million in allocated funds to cover stadium-related consulting and administrative costs. Some House members wanted to kill the project and upgrade Ching Field at UH.
Plans to raise money for expansion are sketchy. A bill to put a casino on the site died quickly, and Gov. Josh Green’s search for philanthropic funding hasn’t borne fruit.
The state’s latest stadium newsletter floated tax increment financing or a community facilities district, which would use city-issued bonds repaid with future property taxes collected from the stadium development.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi didn’t respond to emailed questions about whether he’s OK with diverting property taxes reserved for counties under Hawaii’s Constitution to pay for a state project.
Sadayasu said by email, “Once further diligence is completed regarding the project’s finances, we will have a clearer picture of amounts sought (and able to be funded) and the most appropriate mechanisms. At that point, we will have formal conversations with the City and County of Honolulu and relevant state agencies.” ….
read … Playing ‘Wheel of Fortune’ with new Aloha Stadium
Green Campaigning in Washington DC
CB: … Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green is becoming a familiar figure in the nation’s capital.
In an email that interestingly came from his campaign committee, not the governor’s office, Green announced he’s leaving Monday for his third trip to Washington, D.C., this year. He plans to testify Wednesday before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.
(CLUE: Green for Senate, 2030)
Green took the prior trips to oppose the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy got the job anyway, and the longtime vaccine critic raised some eyebrows this week at another congressional hearing by saying, “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”
A physician, Green may be trying to position himself as “the anti-RFK,” John Hart, a professor of communication at Hawaiʻi Pacific University, speculated last week.
The governor also met recently in Los Angeles with Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, to lobby against budget cuts to public health programs, the email said.
One advantage of sharing his travel plans through his campaign office is that the email also thanks recipients “for supporting Josh and being part of Team Green,” complete with a green “DONATE” button.
As Civil Beat reported in Sunshine Sunday last week, Green has also launched Heal America, a national political action committee that aims to work for health care, homelessness, gun control and “pro-science candidates for federal office.” ….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Gov. Green Goes To Washington — Episode 3 - Honolulu Civil Beat
Cruise Lines Claim Inclusion in Hawaii's New Hotel Tax Bill is Unconstitutional
TP: … According to our sister publication, Travel Weekly, CLIA had sent lawmakers in Hawaii a letter in April hinting of potential legal action should the bill be passed—the organization would argue that the measure is unconstitutional, violating the Tonnage Clause, which prohibits states from taxing ship tonnage without congressional approval.
“To that end, SB1396, HD2 seeks to establish a funding mechanism to address environmental impacts from visitors to Hawaii through an expansion of the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) to include the cruise industry as well as an increase to the current TAT rate,” said Michael McGarry, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in the April 2 letter to Hawaii’s legislature. “However, application of this tax to cruise ship cabins violates the Tonnage Clause of the US Constitution as well as federal law, 33 U.S.C. § 5(b)(2).”
"We strongly urge the committee to ensure that taxes and fees proposed under the measure are allowable under federal law and do not expose the state to potential liability or risk of legal challenge," the letter continues. "For these reasons, we respectfully request that the committee amend this measure to avoid conflicts with federal law."
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said that Hawaiian per-passenger port fees and taxes could increase from $200 to $350 if the bill is passed and warned that higher fees might drive customers to cruise elsewhere.
There is likely to be a legal challenge to the newly passed bill following Green signing it into law. …
TMR: Hawaii’s New Cruise Tax Could Cost Families Hundreds, Faces Legal Battle
BH: Industry Prepares Showdown Over Hawaii’s New Visitor Tax - Beat of Hawaii
read … Cruise Lines Claim Inclusion in Hawaii's New Hotel Tax Bill is Unconstitutional | TravelPulse
Kona coffee farmers devastated by loss of deported workers
KITV: … "We're all affected and we're all grieving that loss," she said. "It's a very sad time for the Kona community the Big Island."
Victoria Magana knows firsthand.
She took over her father's coffee farm after he was deported in 2017.
"It was devastating," Magana said. "My brother and my sister were 12 and 14, and so I think that's the biggest pain for myself to know that my siblings were not able to grow up with my dad the way that I had him and I'm 28 and it still rips my heart out today."
In response to a recent news story about ICE targeting Big Island coffee farms, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the truth is ICE is actually targeting violent criminals who shouldn't be in our country, including illegal aliens charged with kidnapping, assault, distribution of deadly drugs, domestic abuse and theft….
read … Kona coffee farmers devastated by loss of deported workers | News | kitv.com
Blundering Gabbard Fiasco: Aide pressed analyst to redo intel on Venezuela gang
SA: … While officials close to Gabbard said Kent’s request was entirely appropriate, other intelligence officials said they saw it as an effort to produce a torqued narrative that would support Trump’s agenda. But after reexamining the relevant evidence collected by agencies like the CIA, the National Security Agency and the FBI, the council on April 7 reaffirmed the original findings.
Inside the administration, even some officials who do not think Kent injected politics into the intelligence report are angry for what they see as a blundering intervention. Little new information had been collected in the month after the original assessment and his request for a redo, so there was no reason to expect the council to come up with different findings….
When the council produced a draft memo, Kent insisted on several edits to its final form. The details of his changes remain unclear.
But his reaction to the final memo was surprising, the officials said: Kent was happy about it and pushed to have it declassified so that it could be discussed publicly, the officials said.
Kent’s request for declassification set in motion a chain of events that led to the agency’s release of the report this month in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Because the memo directly contradicts what Trump claimed — and is now public as an officially acknowledged document — it is generally seen as a legal and public relations fiasco for the administration.
The official who had reviewed the messages about the assessment said Kent’s reaction, recorded in emails to Collins, is clear evidence that he was not politicizing the process but merely wanted a fuller discussion of what intelligence agencies knew and the FBI’s take on the issue. But other current and former officials questioned that narrative. Why, they asked, if Kent was pleased with the redone assessment, was Collins fired?
It is not entirely clear why Kent seemed to believe that the memo supported Trump’s claim. But he and other officials who shared his view were focused on the section exploring the FBI’s partial dissent….
Kent has a history of embracing alternative versions of reality that align with his political views but are not supported by evidence. For example, as recently as his confirmation hearing in April, he promoted the conspiracy theory that the FBI secretly instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by Trump supporters trying to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
(CLUE: That’s why Gabbard hired him.)
read … Gabbard aide pressed analyst to redo intel on Venezuela gang | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii Just Won't Give Up Its Harsh Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws
CB: … The concept really took off during Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s “War on Drugs.” Prosecutors and law enforcement ramped up efforts to confiscate property associated with the drug trade.
The forfeiture gig proved lucrative.
Houses, vehicles, cash and bank accounts were up for grabs. And the government benefited so much that by 1984, the U.S. attorney general declared it was “now possible for a drug dealer to serve time in a forfeiture-financed prison after being arrested by agents driving a forfeiture-provided automobile while working in a forfeiture-funded sting operation.”
In 1988, the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office and the four county prosecutors and police chiefs pushed through the Legislature the forfeiture laws modeled after the federal government and Arizona.
These are the laws still at work today.
The police can seize property “without court process” whenever officers believe the property is associated with a crime. They even can confiscate property if they believe it is “directly or indirectly dangerous to health or safety.”
All it takes is probable cause for the officer to believe there’s a crime. No charges, no trial, no proof beyond a reasonable doubt and no criminal conviction required. The property owner isn’t even a party in the case. The defendant is the property that may as well be an evil object from the ninth century. It’s how we get wonderfully bizarre and perfectly pidgin-sounding lawsuits titled Carlisle v. One (1) Boat or the amusing United States v. Approximately One Terrier Mix Type Dog.
It is very difficult for property owners to challenge the seizure of their property.…
read … Ben Lowenthal: Hawaii Just Won't Give Up Its Harsh Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws - Honolulu Civil Beat
Recktenwald to Retire in October
CB: … the application period for Recktenwald’s own position had to be extended to September because there were not enough qualified applicants.
By Oct 8, the chief justice will have retired because he turns 70. Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna will become acting chief, and the Senate will likely not confirm a new chief justice until the 2026 session that begins in January….
He doesn’t know what he will do next, saying he is focused for now on “pushing to the finish line.”
He’s always had interests beyond the courts. In addition to his service in all three branches of government, he worked as a journalist in Hawaiʻi for United Press International in the early 1980s.
It was politics that first brought Recktenwald to Hawaiʻi in 1980, when he was an advance man for John Anderson’s presidential campaign. Anderson was a little known Republican congressman from Illinois who lost to Ronald Reagan in the primaries but ran in the general election as an independent….
WIKI: Recktenwald turns 70 on Oct 8
read … Chief Justice Says He’ll Retire On High Note After Rare Legislative Success - Honolulu Civil Beat
Republicans to Elect Party Chair
Borreca: … you can only win elections if you have electable people to run. While that is still an open question for Hawaii’s tiny Republican Party, it was during the Lingle years that the Republicans put down some strong building blocks to shape the party — including former GOP Chairman Brennon Morioka, now dean of the University of Hawaii’s College of Engineering, and Micah Kane, now CEO of Parker Ranch and formerly CEO of the Hawaii Community Foundation.
As I write this column, there are many questions about who will be the next Hawaii Republican Party leader.
Tamara McKay is the current leader, but as of press time she has not said if she will run for reelection as party chairwoman. The only other (Another) candidate is Ana Mo Des, who is wrapping up her second term as Kauai GOP chair. (Art Hannemann is running.)
“This is the goal-oriented, no-nonsense leadership that I will bring to the HRP, which in my opinion is urgently required,” she said in a written campaign statement.
McKay in her own message to the party wrote that running the local GOP is a grind.
“The Party was burdened with debt, internal division, and a lack of operational structure. But with prayer, perseverance, and a dedicated team of supporters and volunteers, we began to rebuild,” she wrote in the Pono Report, billed as the “official newsletter of the Hawaii Republican Party.”
She complained that “the division within the Party goes back decades,” saying “year after year, documents, news reports, and meeting records reveal the same recurring theme … obstruction, infighting, and power struggles. These habits have cost us dearly.”
Not mentioned in the note was any acknowledgement of Donald Trump, president and ultimate GOP leader.
Although he may not be the most popular leader among local Republicans, a political party that doesn’t trumpet its own national leader may be in serious political trouble….
BESTCOMMENT: “Art Hanneman is running for state chair so Borreca seems to not have done his homework.”
read … On Politics: Time for Hawaii Republican Party to regroup on Kauai | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Loser Complains About GOP Selection Process
CB: … the governor is expected to soon announce the appointment of a Republican to replace the late Rep. Gene Ward, who died April 4, in Hawaiʻi House District 18, which includes Portlock, Hawaiʻi Kai and Kalama Valley.
The three candidates selected by the Hawaiʻi Republican Party are Michel “Joe” Gedeon, a Hawaiʻi Kai resident and business owner; Alexander “Alika” Malabey, a Kaiser High School graduate, small business owner and caregiver; and Tara Malia Gregory, a marketing consultant and wellness entrepreneur.
But The Blog has heard complaints about the search process. One party member willing to speak publicly, Steve Lipscomb, told The Blog in a recent email, “There was no transparency regarding the criteria to be used by the Selection Committee to down-select from 13 candidates to the final three. Such transparency would have allowed candidates to speak directly to those factors during our 10-minute interview.”
(TRANSLATION: Lipscomb wanted to be nominated but was rejected. No surprise.)
Asked about Lipscomb’s criticism, GOP Party Chair Tamara McKay said in an email that the selection process was designed to be transparent and inclusive.
“It was communicated through newsletters, postcards mailed to Republican members of District 18, and through social media channels, ensuring community awareness and participation,” she wrote. “Mr. Lipscomb was aware of the process, and I personally reminded him to submit any relevant items.”…
REALITY: FBI Illegal Disruption of Hawaii Republicans? > Hawaii Free Press
read … The Sunshine Blog: Gov. Green Goes To Washington — Episode 3 - Honolulu Civil Beat
State agency’s preschool production pipeline bulges while other projects hit roadblocks
SA: … During the waning 2024-2025 school year, the SFA added new public preschool space for 849 children, after an initial 213 preschool seats the year before, when some state lawmakers were pushing to abolish the autonomous agency four years after its creation by the Legislature without initial funding or staff.
Next school year, the agency with eight employees and expanding funds anticipates adding preschool space for an additional 497 children toward a long-term goal to help produce classrooms for all Hawaii 3- and 4-year-olds by 2032 under a 2023 Ready Keiki initiative led by Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke.
Only a little more than half of all preschool-age children in Hawaii are enrolled in preschool, and 95% who are enrolled go to private programs that can cost several hundred dollars to over $1,000 per month. Serving more children with free public preschool can provide families financial relief and set up keiki for better learning outcomes starting in kindergarten.
Work to develop affordable rental housing largely for public schoolteachers plus a new middle and elementary school on Maui has not made nearly as much progress….
read … State agency’s preschool production pipeline bulges while other projects hit roadblocks | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Soft on Crime: Steroid-induced Road Rage Guy has 20 Year Record
CB: … By now, we’ve heard of the various forms of mayhem Radimak is accused of inflicting upon citizens in Honolulu — a mom teaching her daughter how to parallel park, a woman who got video of him harassing her at a gym and taking a swing at her face.
We may have heard he has a lengthy criminal record and that he was sentenced to five years for a series of road rage attacks in Los Angeles, where he became known as the Tesla Road Rage Guy, but that — regrettably, inexplicably, maddeningly — he was released on parole after serving just 10 months and came bopping over to Honolulu to carry on his wayward ways.
In 2023, when he was charged with a slew of violent incidents in Los Angeles, including stopping his car on the freeway to jump out and smash other cars with a pipe, assaulting a valet, slashing tires in Hollywood and punching a woman in the face, the judge who ordered him held without bail looked over the many pages detailing his brushes with the law and said with astonishment, “The defendant’s criminal record goes back to 2004, almost 20 years.”
(CLUE: Steroids.)
The judge actually missed a few of his earliest exploits….
In 2011, the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, New York, ran a baby-faced mug shot of Radimak under the headline, “Have you seen this suspect?”
“Nate Radimak, who has a lengthy criminal record, is wanted on charges of felony third-degree robbery, sixth-degree conspiracy and second-degree harassment, police said. “If you see Radimak, do not attempt to apprehend him, police said.”
The pattern of behavior continued and escalated, and by 2023, Radimak had criminal cases in eight states.
Then came the caught-on-video Tesla road rage attacks on Los Angeles freeways with Radimak brandishing a pipe and acting completely unhinged….
read … Lee Cataluna: Is Prison Vigilante Justice The Best We Can Do With This Guy?
We Moved From Hawaii to Italy. Our Mortgage Is Less Than Our Rent Was
BI: … Soon, we were moving out of the 350-square-foot studio that we were renting on Kauai and into a nearly 4,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house in Sardinia with an attached one-bedroom apartment included for the proprietors. After paying 85% down (bartending tips saved up plus a couple of lucky investments in 2020), our four-year mortgage is lower than our rent was in Hawaii….
read … We Moved From Hawaii to Italy. Our Mortgage Is Less Than Our Rent Was. - Business Insider
TRUMP NEWS:
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:
QUICK HITS: