Red tape strangling Hawaii's energy future
Tax Liens: Light at the End?
Pearl Harbor to Commemorate 80th Anniversary of the End of WWII
Some Hawaii Republicans try to Rationalize their Support for BJ Penn for Governor
SFT: … A reminder of what a threat BJ Penn was to the establishment with his run for Governor of Hawaii in 2022!!! We remember telling BJ when we first met him… “Thank you!! You know they will come after you and your family...” We don’t know specifically what has happened since then, but it was clear that the Hawaii political establishment knew they needed to stop BJ Penn and the movement he created. And it appears to us that they found a way. BJ, we will always remember and be grateful for what you did to help wake up and fight for the people in Hawaii. We wish you and your ohana peace and happiness. And we wish we knew how to help….
(CLUE: Conspiracy-brained hand-wringing from supporters of ousted GOP Chair McKay. First they lose their Chair. Then their Gubernatorial candidate loses his mind. Not really a good week for Team McKay, eh?)
(IQ TEST: Are you surprised?)
Meanwhile: New Republican Chair Pledges to Focus on Winning Elections
Former UFC star B.J. Penn arrested 3rd time in 6 days amid abuse charges | Crime & Courts | kitv.com
Eric Stinton: BJ Penn Needs Help, But He Doesn't Seem To Know It - Honolulu Civil Beat
read … Some Hawaii Republicans try to Rationalize their Support for BJ Penn for Governor
Senate WAM Chair Dela Cruz gets Defensive
CB: … Senate Judiciary Chair Karl Rhoads recently referred to them as the “stopper committees.”
Change may be coming, at least in the House, where Rep. Kyle Yamashita lost his Finance Committee chairmanship to Rep. Chris Todd after the session.
Todd almost immediately sounded a reformist note, saying he thought fewer measures should be under control of the money chairs….
After watching the post-session axing of his House counterpart as chairman of the Finance Committee, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz is defending the controversial process the money chairs use at the end of each legislative session to kill bills.
The chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee sent out a newsletter to constituents Friday titled, “The Critical Role of Committees in Fiscal Oversight and Budget Balancing.”…
read … The Sunshine Blog: Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz Strikes Back - Honolulu Civil Beat
Green Fee Tip of a Half-Billion Dollar Pyramid
Shapiro: … The tax is projected to raise about $100 million annually, well short of the $500 million to $600 million more Green says is needed to protect against natural disasters, beach erosion and other threats as the climate warms.
But he hopes to multiply revenues using bond issues and appeals for philanthropic matches.
“Hawaii’s doing what other states and other nations are going to have to do,” Green said. “I hope that the world is watching.”
His grand hope of providing a blueprint for the U.S. and beyond depends on whether the fee is truly used for high-impact new climate projects or is swallowed by the state budget as just another general tax increase to be spent on whatever lawmakers wish.
The Legislature didn’t put revenues raised by the climate fee into a special fund specifically for climate impact. Instead, the money goes into the general fund, and the governor must include in his proposed state budget a list of climate projects equal to the amount the impact fee is expected to raise.
The Legislature can monkey with the list and possibly fill it with climate and tourism projects the state is already funding, resulting in less new money for climate impact and extra for lawmakers to spend on other things.
This structure for getting climate tax revenue to fresh climate needs is based entirely on good faith, which can be in short supply when it comes to money and politics….
read … David Shapiro: True execution essential for new climate impact fee | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Cataluna: Green Fee Doesn’t do enough to make Hawaii Like it was During COVID Shutdowns
Cataluna: … Things got better at Hanauma Bay when a reservation system was put in place. And things got better at ʻĪao Needle and Haleakalā on Maui when daily visits were limited and the sites stopped being a free-for-all with people clambering all over everything.
Remember how nice it was out on the roads and at the beaches during the pandemic? Hawaiʻi was peaceful and verdant. You know things are out of whack when you wistfully look back to Covid as “when Hawaiʻi kind of felt like Hawaiʻi again.”….
read … Lee Cataluna: It Will Take More Than A Green Fee To Solve Tourism Problems - Honolulu Civil Beat
Legislators Push Gigantic Land Swap to Grift Luxe Alii Place Offices for Themselves
SA: … State lawmakers want a posh downtown Honolulu office tower partly for their own use, but a bill they recently passed to achieve that goal faces challenges if enacted into law.
The Legislature has set its sights on Ali‘i Place, a 25-story building with a marble-clad lobby that lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to buy from its private owner a decade ago for as much as $90 million in an effort to reduce privately owned office space leased by state agencies.
Now lawmakers are pursuing the property next to the state Capitol as part of a land swap with the city in part so that the 76 members of the Legislature can move with staff into the tower during an anticipated Capitol renovation.
The intended land swap also might sideline state plans to build office space and affordable housing in a two-tower project in Iwilei called Liliha Civic Center.
A bill to make the land exchange gained unanimous final approval April 30 in the House and Senate.
But even if House Bill 800 becomes law, with or without Gov. Josh Green’s signature, the envisioned takeover of Ali‘i Place could be complicated given opposition from Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the fact that a company owns the building on land leased from the city that is bordered by Alakea, Hotel and Richards streets.
“The proposed land exchange, as framed, is simply not within the best interest of city taxpayers,” City Managing Director Mike Formby said in written testimony on the bill in February.
City spokesperson Ian Scheuring said in an email Tuesday that the land transfers put forth in HB 800 require Honolulu City Council approval and that such approval is not expected if the bill becomes law….
read … City, state at odds over urban Honolulu land swap
Fully funded Olowalu fire station on hold over ‘iwi kupuna discovered 2 years ago in subdivision
MN: … A planned new fire station in West Maui was going nowhere for years until the deadly and destructive August 2023 wildfire highlighted the need for the facility just south of Lahaina.
The tragedy, in which at least 102 people died, jumpstarted the public-private project, with monetary donations pouring in and Maui County expediting permits.
Now, the $3 million station is fully funded and ready to build, but there is one holdup, according to Joe Pluta, the president of the West Maui Improvement Foundation that is spearheading the project.
A decision needs to be made about how to appropriately handle the ‘iwi kupuna, or ancestral bones, that were found two years ago in the Olowalu Mauka Subdivision that the land parcel for the new station is located within….
read … Fully funded Olowalu fire station on hold over ‘iwi kupuna discovered 2 years ago in subdivision : Maui Now
Media to Regain Access to Police Scanners?
CB: … Some mainland cities have found ways to use encrypted channels and other communications technology for sensitive discussions and have let the media back onto the airwaves for general dispatches.
The Honolulu Police Department has remained true to its overall theory that people shouldn’t really know what it’s doing anyway and has dug in its heels on scanners. HPD took them away from public ears a few years ago and has refused to find a compromise like their mainland counterparts have done.
Now City Council Chair Tommy Waters is coming to the rescue of the news media. Last week he filed a bill that would give the press and the public their scanners back. It’s slated to be heard sometime in the next few weeks ….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz Strikes Back - Honolulu Civil Beat
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