Hawaii has third-lowest percentage of single-mother households, study reveals
Big Beautiful Blue Collar Tax Cuts Coming—but Hawaii Legislators Want EBT Cards
AP: … Republicans look to make permanent the individual income tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term, in 2017, plus enact promises he made on the 2024 campaign trail to not tax tips, overtime and interest on some auto loans.
To partially offset the lost revenue, Republicans propose repealing or phasing out more quickly the clean energy tax credits passed during Joe Biden’s presidency, helping to bring down the overall cost of the tax portion to about $3.8 trillion.
The bill also includes a temporary $2,000 boost to the standard deduction, bringing it to $32,000 for joint filers. And there is a temporary $500 increase in the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500.
House Republicans are looking to shift some of the costs of the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, known as SNAP, to the states.
States would shoulder 5% of benefit costs, beginning in fiscal 2028, and 75% of the administrative costs. Currently, states pay none of the benefit and half of the administration costs.
Republicans also are expanding the work requirements to receive food aid. Under current law, able-bodied adults without dependents must fulfill work requirements until they are 54, and that would change under the bill to age 64….
But lawmakers from New York, California (HAWAII) and other high-tax states say the boost for state and local tax deductions, called SALT, is insufficient. As proposed, it rises from $10,000 to $30,000 for joint filers making less than $400,000 per year. They are pushing for more….
read … What's inside Trump's 'beautiful' bill that spans over 1,000 pages | AP News
Legislators Will Try to Use EBT Card as Excuse for Special Session
CB: … The current average SNAP benefit in Hawaiʻi is $365 a person monthly.
The state “is monitoring very closely” the debate in Congress, Morishige said, and researching potential impacts. He cautioned that proposals are in the early stages of a long political process that still has to run through the U.S. Senate….
…Sen. Tim Richards. “You cut the SNAP benefits, it goes from bad to … absolutely horrific.”
Hawaiʻi Rep. Jill Tokuda, a member of the committee, said in a statement. She called the proposed changes a “cruel, calculated choice … that takes food away from hungry families on a larger scale than ever before in our history.” …
… State Sen. Brenton Awa, the Hawaiʻi Senate Minority leader, said that while he supports SNAP benefits, the program would be improved if the state took on a greater role.
“I don’t support cutting food from people in general,” Awa said, “but I do support shifting the responsibility to states so that we can hopefully better oversee where money is being spent or used.” He said his analysis of the federal bill suggests some 15,000 Hawaiʻi residents could lose SNAP benefits were the changes to go through as proposed — a calculation based partly on the effect of new work requirements — and that would be acceptable.
“If you’re able-bodied and you can work but you’re choosing not to, then we don’t think that person should be using the system,” said Awa, who said he was speaking for state Senate Republicans.
As for covering any increased costs, Awa said the state would be able to do so, partly with funds from a $700 million settlement with two pharmaceutical companies announced this month….
“These are funds that would otherwise support essential services like education, housing, and healthcare,” Gov. Josh Green said in a statement to Civil Beat this week. “Proposals to increase the state’s share of administrative costs and to impose stricter federal oversight, could place further strain on the systems we rely on to serve our residents efficiently and with care.”…
read … ‘Proposed’ Cuts To Food Stamps Program ‘Could’ Be Horrific In Hawai‘i
Hawaii: New housing units are coming online at the lowest rate since the 1940s
CB: … New housing units are coming online at the lowest rate since the 1940s, according to preliminary data.
Because of that, the state’s housing stock is aging more quickly than any other state’s. The median age of a house in Hawaiʻi in 2023 was 44 years, up from 39 years in 2018. In Texas, where many more homes have been built, it went from 32 to 33 years in the same period.
“As older structures reach the end of their usable life,” researchers wrote, “high land, regulatory, and construction costs imply that what replaces them will be less affordable unless redeveloped at higher densities.”…..
read … $500,000 Bargains And 5 Other Quirks Of Hawaiʻi’s Insane Housing Market - Honolulu Civil Beat
Retirement: Social Security to be Garnished to pay Student Loans?
CB: … Wyatt is one of 8,400 adults aged 62 or older in Hawaiʻi who owe roughly $440 million in federal student loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education. These seniors make up around 7% of Hawaiʻi’s 123,000 borrowers, whose total student loan debt reaches to more than $4.7 billion.
(IDEA: Tuition is up to pay for univ. administrators who are only there to impose DEI. Kill DEI and cut tuition. Jail unemployed diversocrats for fraud and put them to work making license plates until they pay off your student loans. Hawaii needs new license plates.)
Kūpuna in jeopardy of defaulting now face the additional threat of having their Social Security checks garnished. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education resumed “involuntary collections” and may withhold some Social Security benefits from older adults who have fallen behind on their loan payments.
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
That can create challenges for older adults already living on a fixed income and struggling with Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living, said Kayla Keehu-Alexander, vice president of community impact at Aloha United Way. More than a third of the state’s kūpuna have monthly budgets below what’s needed to cover basic necessities like food, transportation and health care.
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
For older borrowers who have defaulted on their loans, the federal government can take up to 15% of their monthly Social Security checks, although recipients must be left with at least $750 in monthly benefits.
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
While the average Social Security check is less than $2,000 a month, these benefits are a much-needed source of stable income that should “be there for them in its entirety,” Keehu-Alexander said, adding “that is what they have earned and what they’re owed.”
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
Nationally, student loan debt among older people has grown at a staggering rate, in part due to rising tuitions that have forced more people to borrow greater sums. People 60 and older hold an estimated $125 billion in student loans, according to the National Consumer Law Center, a six-fold increase from 20 years ago.
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
That has led Social Security beneficiaries who have had their payments garnished to balloon by 3,000% — from approximately 6,200 beneficiaries to 192,300 — between 2001 and 2019, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency.
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
This year, an estimated 452,000 people aged 62 and older had student loans in default and are likely to experience the Department of Education’s renewed forced collections, according to the January report from the agency….
(Wow. DEI is expensive.)
CBS: Between 1980 and 2023, the average price of college tuition, fees and room and board skyrocketed 155%.... "We spend about 70% of our budget on faculty and staff," she told CBS News. Many colleges and universities now operate like small cities, and some critics say that's led to administrative bloat. There are now three times as many administrators and staffers as there are teaching faculty at leading schools, according to an August 2023 report from the Progressive Policy Institute….
(See? Told you.)
read … Student Debt Puts Hawaiʻi's Older Adults At Risk Of Social Security Cuts - Honolulu Civil Beat
Retirement: Meth-Head Finally Agrees to Accept Shelter After 40 years on Streets
SA: … Randall Wallace, 67, was apartment hunting last week for a permanent home of his own following years on the street and after only two months living in the new Iwilei homeless kauhale community, where he’s gained an appreciation for how good a stable life can be.
(CLUE: The kauhales are retirement homes for the homeless.)
Wallace hasn’t had a home in his name since he and his wife divorced in 1985 ….
Then stints in prison for identity theft and fraud and an addiction to smoking “ice” left him bouncing around Oahu, often living in parks where he was constantly robbed of his belongings…
Now Wallace hopes to become the 12th resident of the Alana Ola Pono kauhale community to move into a permanent home of his own since it welcomed the first of 65 residents in November into 45 100-square-foot “tiny homes.”…
(TRANSLATION: He is retiring.)
It’s now the 11th homeless operation in an ever-growing Iwilei complex providing various programs for homeless people with different medical, mental health and physical health needs, many of them serious and life-threatening.
Wallace has a slipped disc that causes him pain and forces him to rely on a walker, along with diabetes that requires insulin, high blood pressure and stomach ulcers.
Since checking out of a clean-and-sober home on Date Street, Wallace no longer smokes ice and said he now takes better care of himself and keeps up with his doctor’s appointments with the help of his case manager.
“Hundred percent I go to my doctor now,” he said. “Before, I stay smoke my ice and nevah care.”
Michael Wayne Kalani Riveira, 67, grew up without a father in Mayor Wright public housing and only went to school for the free breakfast and lunch, he said, rubbing his belly.
Riveira’s mother died when he was 12, and his life spiraled even more.
“No more guidance,” he said, looking away.
Riveira got addicted to “crack and vodka,” “couldn’t hold a job” and became homeless in Waikiki until he was swept with hundreds of others and slept in other parts of Oahu until an IHS outreach worker brought him to Ala Ola Pono in January….
(TRANSLATION: He has retired from a five decade career panhandling tourists.)
read … The newest kauhale, Alana Ola Pono, moves 11 people into long-term homes | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Usual Suspects: Today they are Whining About Rocket Launches from Johnston Island
SA: … The U.S. Space Force under the Department of the Air Force in March issued a notice of intent to build two landing pads at Johnston Atoll, to be designed for up to 10 reentry vehicle landings per year over four consecutive years.
The purpose is to “safely test and demonstrate the |expeditious delivery of tons of materiel (military equipment) through space” to support ongoing research for the department’s rocket cargo program.
Testing is expected to begin sometime this year to help determine whether commercial rockets can transport military equipment more speedily around the globe, in hours rather than days to weeks that current modes of transportation require.
The Air Force said the testing must be done in a remote, securable, U.S. government-controlled location — and that of all potential sites identified, Johnston met all operational requirements.
Other sites considered were Kwajalein Atoll, Midway Island and Wake Island….
The Pacific Islands Heritage coalition — a diverse network of scientists, cultural practitioners and community leaders (the usual suspects) — already has launched a petition ‘strongly’ (lol!) objecting to the plan announced in March by the Department of the Air Force….
read … U.S. rocket-testing plans at Pacific atoll stir controversy | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Kahuku Coach Removed Over One Complaint
KITV: … In recent weeks, Kahuku's principal Donna Lindsey issued a statement including, "This letter is to inform you that effective immediately, Coach Sterling Carvalho will no longer be serving as head coach of the KHS football program. Plans are in place to ensure continued support and stability for student athletes and the football program, an interim head coach will be assigned while we begin the process of selecting a new coach. We remain committed to upholding a positive student centered athletic program."
Christian Parker works closely with Kahuku athletes and told Island News on Saturday, "The explanation that was given for his release as a coach, was a hostile environment. There are a few situations, but notably, the biggest situation is a specific player made complaints to the athletic director and the principal."
Just one former athlete made a complaint who played about two years ago, for Sterling, and now he's out of a job. Is that accurate?
Terra Daniel, President of Hoapili stated, "That's accurate it doesn't make any sense. I understand the accusation is Sterling created a hostile environment, but anyone who knows Sterling knows hostile environment and Sterling Carvalho don't go in the same sentence."
"What people need to know is we've been asking for answers. We've been asking for clarification on how one students voice would take over the voice of hundreds of others who say that's never been the experience. I know we have reached out to the superintendent, (other leadership also) nothing has been responded to. People know the great football coach that Sterling is, his record speaks for itself", added Daniel….
HNN: ‘It’s about clearing my name’: Ex-Kahuku coach Sterling Carvalho addresses abrupt removal
read … Hosting rally for dismissed coach, Kahuku community members continue seeking answers | News | kitv.com
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