February 20, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, February 20, 2026

February 20, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:19 PM :: 155 Views

Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s one-man tariff war

HDoT signs 10-year contract for 187 Red Light Cameras

FEMA Approves $33.4 million to Support Recovery in Hawaii

While Raising Taxes, State funds $904M Cash Giveaway to Public Employees

CB: … Gov. Josh Green is asking lawmakers to earmark nearly $100 million this year for additional pandemic hazard pay for public employees, marking the third consecutive year the administration has asked for large sums to settle pandemic hazard claims by the public worker unions.

The Legislature already appropriated nearly $459 million in 2024 and almost $145 million more last year for hazard pay, which was required during the pandemic under the state contracts with the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and the United Public Workers union.

The latest funding would be used for additional pandemic pay for members of the UPW, which has battled state government in arbitration hearings and in court for years to try to enforce the hazard pay provisions in its contracts.

Meanwhile, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association is also lobbying lawmakers for ($200M) pandemic ‘hazard pay’ for about 13,000 teachers (who pretended to teach from home during COVID). The teachers union is suggesting the state ~~close a tax “loophole” that benefits~~ (impose retail GE Tax on wholesale purchase of vehicles by) car rental companies as a way to finance the extra teacher payments….

(DO THE MATH: $459M + $145M + $100M + $200M = $904M COVID Cash bonanza. Who needs collective bargaining?)

read … Tab For Pandemic Hazard Pay Grows As Gov. Green Seeks Another $100 Million - Honolulu Civil Beat

DPP News: Failed $20 Bribe: 92-Year-Old Architect Sentenced In Honolulu Permitting Case

CB: … An elderly architect convicted of bribery for trying to slip a Honolulu permit reviewer some cash – what he said was $20 for oxtail soup – was sentenced on Thursday to two years of probation.

Hawaiʻi Circuit Court Judge Kevin Souza found Kiyoshi Toi, 92, guilty last year of trying to pass money to a city employee through a handshake in November 2022. The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting worker, Alexander Laurente, refused the money and reported the incident. …

read … Failed $20 Bribe: 92-Year-Old Architect Sentenced In Honolulu Permitting Case - Honolulu Civil Beat

SB2061: How Can Aloha Stadium Housing be Made Repulsive Enough but not too Repulsive?

SA: … In its first iteration, though, the project (at Ward and Kapiolani) has faltered. Private developers chosen to plan and build the condos say their costs will be too high to make all the condos affordable, while Hawaii Community Development Authority administrators doubt that leasehold units offered at higher “market” prices than comparable fee-simple condos will sell at all….

Further, the project is under close scrutiny as a potential model for multiple leasehold towers in the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District….

Hawaii Sen. Stanley Chang, who’s championed state-supported leasehold development in Honolulu for years, has offered one potential solution in Senate Bill 2061. It removes restrictions that could repel buyers even more than a 99-year lease — including life-of-lease restrictions on resales or owners renting out their units, and prohibitions against owners having other properties….

read … Editorial: Leasehold project needs more work | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Concerns raised over Hawaii Pacific Health-HMSA partnership’s impact on Native Hawaiian care

HNN: … The Queen’s Health Systems CEO Jason Chang said if the merged companies lure commercially insured patients away from other providers, it would reduce the safety net and rural providers’ ability to serve lower-income communities and respond to health emergencies.

He also said there is nothing stopping HMSA from dropping its preauthorization policies immediately.

“Those things can be fixed right now. They can be done today. If UHA can do it right now, then they can do it,” Chang said.

“This really is like a Trojan horse. It is presented to you as a gift and it gets in the walls and can’t be undone, but you don’t know what’s inside and what the real intentions are,” he said….

Independent Native Hawaiian physicians expressed the same fears about the partnership’s impact on care and the stability of health care providers.

“These commercial rates are what sustain the readiness,” said Dr. Gerard Akaka, a Native Hawaiian health leader.

Dr. Nicole Mahealani Lum, medical director at Ke Ola Mamo, said, “I worry about the access and quality of care that they should have from such a big movement and such a shift.”

Dr. Kaohimanu Akiona, who provides primary care on Molokai and Hawaii Island, said the uncertainty around the proposal is concerning….

OHA Board of Trustees briefed on HPH, HMSA proposed partnership

read … Concerns raised over Hawaii Pacific Health-HMSA partnership’s impact on Native Hawaiian care

Bill 17: City Shuts Door on agritourism

SA: … Resolution 17 proposes requiring a major conditional use permit, rather than a minor permit, for agritourism uses in agricultural zoning districts.

That change, according to Waters and Kia‘aina, would provide a more comprehensive review process and greater public input to assess impacts on agricultural operations, infrastructure and surrounding communities….

read … City moves to beef up oversight measure on agritourism | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HB2589: Lose Your Vehicle if Caught Driving Without a License

KITV: … House Bill 2589, known as "Sara's Law," which would create harsher penalties for repeat offenders who drive without a license, is moving forward in the Hawaii State Senate.

HB 2589 makes “Makes a second conviction for operating a motor vehicle without a license within a five-year period a Class A felony if the defendant's actions result in the death of another person. Adds forfeiture of a vehicle as a penalty on a second conviction for operating a motor vehicle without a license within a five-year period.”

If a defendant is found guilty in a fatal crash, they would be convicted of a Class A felony.

The bill was named after Sara Yara, who was allegedly killed by an unlicensed driver, Mitchel Miyashiro, outside of McKinley High School on Feb. 15, 2023. Miyashiro is also accused of being a repeat offender for driving without a license….

HNN: Family of man killed pushes for change to unlicensed driver penalties

read … Bill that creates harsher penalties for those driving without a license advances | Politics | kitv.com

SB3334: 100 Bureaucrats Distrupt Senate Committee Hearing

KHON: … Senate Bill 3334 would eliminate Complex Area Superintendents (CAS) and shift more authority over principal hiring to the superintendent. There are currently 15 CAS employed within the Department of Education, which has two staff members each.

Supporters of the bill say it streamlines bureaucracy. Critics argue it weakens oversight.

At a Feb. 13 Senate Education Committee hearing, video captured loud boos from outside the committee room during testimony with Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong.

On the Senate floor on Tuesday, Senator Donna Mercado Kim criticized the crowd’s conduct, calling it disrespectful.

“Nearly 100 DOE administrators, primarily school principals, lined the corridors to oppose that single bill. What was most troubling was not the disagreement; it was the behavior,” said Kim. “Are these the standards of respect and civility we expect in our classrooms? Do we allow students to boo their classmates when they disagree or use intimidation or mob-like tactics to silence opposing views?” ….

CB: The Sunshine Blog: Who's The School Bill Bully? - Honolulu Civil Beat

read … Union rebukes senator as school leadership bill introduced

SB3326: Measure aims to restructure HECO

HNN: … Senate Bill 3326 tasks the Public Utilities Commission with creating a framework for restructuring HECO, separating its power generation business from its transmission and distribution services by 2050 ….

Wakai questioned HECO about its ability to lower rates, in the wake of the Lahaina wildfires.

“Considering you’re in junk bond status, you have no idea how you’re going to pay your $2 billion liability. Where are you gonna get the resources to help create the generation capacity that the state needs?” he said.

In a statement to HNN, HECO VP Jim Kelly said:

“You don’t have to be a utility expert to see the bill doesn’t make sense. How does disassembling the utility operation, potentially displacing hundreds of workers and setting up two separate companies lead to lower rates? It’s been looked at before and rejected by the legislature, the PUC and the Consumer Advocate….

read … Measure aims to restructure HECO in effort to lower energy bills

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