February 22, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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February 22, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:43 PM :: 103 Views

UH sitting on $429M Hoard

Time to tackle Hawaii’s healthcare crisis

States sue Trump administration for terminating 'Green New Deal' grants

BLS: Hawaii union membership 24.8% -- highest in USA

SB3024 Allows Boys in Girls Bathrooms

Stadium Financial Solution: Keep the Cost Secret

Shapiro: … Carr said the ultimate cost of the expanded stadium he envisioned could reach $650 million — nearly double what taxpayers were originally promised. Honolulu rail, anyone?

So with the shrinking stadium now back on growth hormones, the big question becomes: Who foots the bill?

Legislators have insisted they’ll put up no more than $350 million and that private partners, who will be responsible for operating and maintaining the stadium as well as building it, would have to fund additional costs with proceeds from the surrounding development.

But lawmakers have changed their tune on the matter before and there’s already been talk of raising additional stadium funds by dubious means.

One scheme is to include a casino on the site, which would turn Aloha Stadium into an entirely different kind of gaming center than envisioned.

The Stadium Authority has floated financial tricks such as tax increment financing or a community facilities district, which would use city-issued bonds repaid with future property taxes from the stadium development. This would essentially force the city, which has its own problems, to become a major financial donor to a state project.

We can only speculate because actual contracts between the state and its development partners have been withheld as top secret and their terms never made public.

If surrounding development revenue won’t support a reasonably sized stadium without more taxpayer investment, either the state got a bum deal or legislators’ financial premise was false….

Feb 18, 2026: What’s the trick? Stadium District ‘Master Developer Agreement’ Reached

read … Volcanic Ash: Is bigger better for stadium or just far more expensive? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hot Legislative Races

CB: … Many of the most likely contested races are down ballot, and several show would-be candidates seeking rematches. They include Democrat Micah Aiu, who lost his House District 32 seat on Oʻahu to Republican Garner Shimizu two years ago by less than 100 votes in a race where more than 9,000 people cast votes. And Sheila Medeiros looks to take another swing at Kanani Souza in the Republican Party primary for the House District 32 seat on Oʻahu. Souza is on the outs with the House Minority Caucus.

Legislative seats where longtime incumbents are leaving office include Della Au Belatti’s House District 26 seat on Oʻahu. Three Democrats and one Republican are in the hunt for that rep job. Former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Lei Ahu Isa is eyeing Karl Rhoads’ Senate District 13 seat on Oʻahu. And two Dems are hoping to succeed Jackson Sayama in House District 21, as The Blog hears Sayama has indicated he’ll challenge longtime legislator Les Ihara in Senate District 10.

Speaking of challenges to legislative lions: The Blog hears Donovan Dela Cruz in Senate District 17 may have some competition in the Democratic Primary, while Donna Kim could draw an opponent in her Senate District 14. Both seats are on Oʻahu, and both incumbents are formidable presences at the Big Square Building.

The primary is Aug. 8 and the general election Nov. 3. Click here for more on Hawaiʻi elections….

read … The Sunshine Blog: Getting Serious About The Silly Season - Honolulu Civil Beat

State government is the hazard

ASD: … yesterday Rep. David Tarnas killed House Bill 1611, which, as we reported yesterday, “would have reduced Hawai‘i's general excise tax on groceries and nonprescription drugs each year until removing it entirely in 2034.”

Hawai‘i residents have been crying out for this regressive tax on daily life to be removed for years. So why did Tarnas, chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, kill it?

“[I] can’t in good conscience move forward with a bill that might have a quarter-billion dollars in fiscal impact,” he said.

Fiscal impact on state government, he means. The fact that these taxes have a quarter-billion dollars in fiscal impact on all of us matters not one bit to him and his likeminded legislators.

These people are thinking about themselves, not you.

Oh, it gets worse.

Yesterday, Gov. Josh Green asked lawmakers for another $100 million for Covid-era hazard pay for public workers, as Civil Beat reported. This is in addition to past hazard pay bonuses. “The Legislature already appropriated nearly $459 million in 2024 and almost $145 million more last year for hazard pay,” CB notes, “which was required during the pandemic under the state contracts with the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and the United Public Workers union."

And now the teachers also want hazard pay….

BIN: Bill to reduce taxes on groceries, nonprescription drugs in Hawaiʻi dies in committee : Big Island Now

read … Pipikaula Corner: State government is the hazard

Bill offering relief to primary care doctors fails to advance

SA: … SB 2690, as originally written, would have required all health insurers to allocate at least 6% of their total medical expenditures to PCPs by 2027, with an incremental increase to 12% by 2029. Additionally, it required insurers to pay PCPs directly rather than through third-party administrators, and to do so promptly.

The goal was to boost investment in primary care in Hawaii in the face of rising business costs and stagnant reimbursements.

But the Senate committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection deferred the bill Wednesday. Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D, Puna), chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, said the bill was overly complex and needed further analysis of potential premium increases.

Its companion, House Bill 1965, meanwhile, was amended to set up a working group of primary care providers to develop recommendations on the issue next year….

read … Bill offering relief to primary care doctors fails to advance | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Heed crisis of paying for long-term care

SA: … House Bill 1804 and Senate Bill 2554 were introduced, respectively, by Rep. Lisa Marten and Sen. Sharon Moriwaki on Jan. 23, supported by 19 of their colleagues in the House and seven in the Senate.

The companion bills would establish an independent Long-Term Care Financing Advisory Commission within the Legislature. The commission will have a 3-year agenda to objectively assess public and private LTSS financing options that are affordable, sustainable and intergenerationally equitable. The commission will submit objective evidence-based legislation to ensure Hawaii will have reliable mechanisms to pay for the silver tsunami that is already upon us and will only grow more unsustainable into the future….

read … Column: Heed crisis of paying for long-term care | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Another Scheme: $40M Hawaii SPRB for Fenix Space Launch

SA: … HB 1608, introduced by six House members led by Rep. Greggor Ilagan (D, Hawaiian Paradise Park-Hawaiian Beaches-Leilani Estates), would authorize Fenix to sell up to $40 million in special-purpose revenue bonds to finance an operating base at the Hilo airport.

Such tax-exempt financing is something that private entities can seek through the state for projects that have a public benefit and are within several industries that include industrial enterprises along with agriculture, health care, utilities and education. The state incurs no financial obligation for the bonds.

Fenix founder and CEO Jason Lee in written testimony said the company would use proceeds “to create the world’s first orbital launch-on-demand site and service.”

The operation, he said, would include three autonomous, fully reusable winged booster vehicles, one modified Gulfstream G‑IV tow aircraft and a number of payload-carrying rocket launch vehicles to offer regular and affordable service to orbit from Hawaii for a global customer base.….

Senate Bill 2693 was introduced to help facilitate a Fenix operation in Hilo and proposes that the state Department of Transportation invest $15 million to help develop an aerospace hangar at the airport if an equal investment is committed by the federal government, a private entity or both….

(TRANSLATION: The fact that they are seeking Hawaii SPRB money is proof that the funding should be rejected.)

read … Hawaii lawmakers look to space for economic diversification | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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