$40M Rate Hike for Hawaii American Water
How 'Big Beautiful Bill' Affects UH Student Loans and Research Grants
Trump Forcing UH to Dump Useless Programs?
CB: … An estimated 1 in 6 community college students are enrolled in programs at risk of losing federal loan eligibility if UH can’t prove graduates earn more than residents with a high school diploma….
The federal budget reconciliation act, which President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month, requires colleges to prove the value of their degrees by showing that their graduates earn more than workers with only a high school degree. Programs whose graduates fail the wage comparison test twice in three years will lose their eligibility for federal student loans.
UH is still determining how the rule will impact its students, and data is complicated. But a preliminary analysis from American University’s Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center shows that roughly 17% of UH community college students were enrolled in programs at risk of losing eligibility, according to 2019 data….
At UH community colleges, earnings vary widely for graduates. Students with associate degrees in health-related fields, like nursing or radiologic technology, can earn salaries upward of $90,000 just a few years after graduation.
But nearly 20 programs reported the incomes for their graduates fell below the median earnings of workers with high school degrees, according to a UH report on the wages of students graduating between 2012 and 2016.
Among the lowest paying programs were associate degrees in marketing and Hawaiian Life Styles, which focuses on Hawaiian language, history and culture, from Hawaiʻi Community College. Four years after graduation, marketing students reported a median income of $22,055, and alumni with their Hawaiian Life Styles degree earned a median wage of roughly $25,600.
Hawaiʻi high school graduates between the ages of 25 and 34 earned a median income of roughly $34,200 in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In a different UH database of earnings for community college graduates, some associate degree programs report higher incomes for their students. But the database includes the wages of students who earned their associate’s degrees and went on to pursue more education, increasing their potential earnings….
In an emailed statement, UH communications director Dan Meisenzahl said the university is still waiting for additional federal guidance to determine how the new law would impact programs and students. Compared to UH’s four-year campuses, relatively few community college students take out federal loans.
Less than 10% of UH community college students graduated with federal loan debt in 2024, although the numbers exclude students who transferred or dropped out of their programs. …
Related: How 'Big Beautiful Bill' Affects UH Student Loans and Research Grants > Hawaii Free Press
Read … College Students In Hawaiʻi Could Lose Access To Federal Loans - Honolulu Civil Beat
New Hawaii Fees Starting in 2026
BH: … These fees are applicable if you plan to stay in a hotel, vacation rental, or a cruise ship cabin. The most prominent change is the addition of a new and long-awaited green fee to Hawaii’s transient accommodations tax.
Signed into law earlier this year, the fee is a 0.75 percent increase on all transient lodging statewide. It raises the state’s TAT rate to 11 percent. When combined with county surcharges and the general excise tax, some visitors will face a tax load close to 19 percent just on their nightly rate.
That does not include any resort or destination fees that many properties already add on.
The increase goes into effect on January 1, 2026. Officials estimate that it will raise more than $ 100 million per year for a climate-resilience trust fund …
Beyond the new lodging tax increase already signed into law, Hawaii lawmakers have proposed other visitor-related fees, but none have been enacted. Senate Bill 439, which would have expanded nonresident fees at state parks and trails, died in the 2025 legislative session. Another measure, Senate Bill 304, aimed to create a $50 annual visitor impact license for access to beaches, parks, and hiking areas.
It remains unclear what, if anything, will be reintroduced when the Legislature reconvenes for 2026. For now, the green fee on accommodations and the new cruise passenger fee are the only new charges that are officially in effect moving forward….
Read … New Hawaii Fees Starting in 2026 | The Price of Paradise? - Beat of Hawaii
Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting dumps 27-year-old computer system
KHON: … Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting will have limited service beginning on July 28, as the department transitions from their old Posse permitting system to a new software.
According to the department, the current Posse system has been around for 27 years, and will be discontinued at the end of the business day Monday.
During the transition, ePlans will not be accessible and applications cannot be submitted, processed or otherwise handled, as well as their online permitting, DPP said.
The system will be transitioning to a more modern process: the web-based HNL Build software….
As a result of the transition, DPP asks that applications not be submitted during the transitionary period, and that the public wait until the Aug. 4 start date for the new system to submit applications….
Read … Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting to have limited service, improvements on the way | KHON2
Maui Food Bank Raises $77M After Lahaina Fire
CB: … Maui Food Bank’s revenues sprung from about $9.5 million in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2023, to $77.6 million in fiscal year 2024, according to its most recent IRS Form 990s. That’s more than the combined revenues for the Hawaiʻi Food Bank — which operates on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi — and The Food Basket on the Big Island, which took in $47.4 million and $15 million, respectively.
Paulson, who assumed her role a day after the first anniversary of the fires, said the nonprofit is in talks with two landowners as it narrows the search for a parcel to build its new headquarters and distribution center. She declined to estimate how much the new facility might cost, but said the goal is to strengthen the ability of Maui County’s primary safety net for hunger relief to feed residents for years to come….
Read … An Infusion Of Fire Aid Is Changing How The Maui Food Bank Does Business - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaiʻi’s Clean Energy Future Can’t Ignore LNG
CB: … LNG offers a promising compromise: a cleaner-burning oil alternative that could lower Hawaiʻi’s sky-high energy costs while better aligning with the state’s renewable efforts.
Based on a recent report by the Hawaii State Energy Office, LNG offers significant advantages over low sulfur fuel oil. With Hawaiʻi’s current infrastructure and import patterns, LNG could reduce lifecycle emissions (the total carbon pollution released from extraction to combustion) by up to 44%, at around 34% of Low sulfur fuel oil’s cost.
Additionally, Hawaiʻi’s current modeled petroleum-fired power plants run at about 32% efficiency, while basic natural gas configurations could reach 46% or more. Higher efficiency means less energy loss and more power from every unit of fuel ….
Read … Hawaiʻi’s Clean Energy Future Can’t Ignore LNG - Honolulu Civil Beat
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