March 7, 2013 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

HTH: Among the biggest and most important questions that Green says remain to be answered to his satisfaction concerning the privatization of public facilities:

l How will the state’s health care workforce be handled and guaranteed employment?

l How will all patients on the Neighbor Islands be guaranteed to continue to receive service?

l What specific subsidy from the state would be necessary to keep the facilities operating?

“Those are the questions that I have to have answered before considering moving a bill out of the Legislature to the governor,” he said.

The legislation has taken center stage among a number of other important health care measures after it was learned in January that HHSC has been in talks with private nonprofit provider Banner Health, based in Phoenix, Ariz., to take over the state’s eastern region of facilities, including Hawaii Island and Maui.

HHSC says such a partnership is necessary to combat rising costs, dwindling state subsidies, and a drop in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Both HHSC and Banner representatives say they are far from arriving at a deal, but Legislative approval is an important step in that process.

“This legislation is not about Banner Health or the specifics of any transaction that may eventually be negotiated with Banner following passage of the bill. We cannot emphasize too strongly that this legislation would be needed for any privatization transaction to occur, whether with Banner Health or with another private health care organization,” said Banner Executive Vice President Ronald Bunnell in testimony presented to legislators.

The surviving measures consist of Senate Bill 1306 and its more conservative companion, House Bill 1483. Both succeeded in crossing over in the Legislature on Tuesday after passing their third readings.

HB 1483 takes a slower approach, calling for the establishment of a task force to kill the privatization move….

read … HGEA Still Has Time to Sabotage This

House Will Vote Friday on Budget

PR: The House, which gets the first cut of the budget after it is submitted by the governor, usually does not have the benefit of a fresh forecast from the state Council on Revenues. The council will meet to update its forecast on Wednesday, the deadline for the House to send its draft to the Senate.

But the House has another challenge this year: sequestration….Kalbert Young, the state budget director, has set aside $25 million in the next two fiscal years for sequestration as part of the state's financial plan, but the cost could be higher….

Young said that Abercrombie would likely send lawmakers a governor's message outlining how much the state needs to cover sequestration, since the $25 million a year was not part of the governor's budget request. House draft of the two-year state budget.

read … FIN

Legislative Crossover News

Star-Adv: 5-cent gas tax hike adds to heavy burden

SA: Oahu's streets undoubtedly need fixing. The mayor's proposal to spend $150 million from issuing bonds for the first of five years aimed at repaving about 1,520 lane-miles of city streets is ambitious. That would be "an enormous increase in the amount of work done," Caldwell said.

Last Friday, he proposed the 5-cent-per-gallon fuel tax increase as part of the city's $2.09 billion operating budget. That would be the largest operating budget in history — 6.5 percent higher than the budget that the Council approved last summer for the current 2013 fiscal year.

The fuel tax hike would raise $15 million a year — about $11 million for the road-repair bonds' debt service and $3.5 million to restore bus service that was reduced last year.

But there's real concern about the city's ability to handle the huge acceleration in road repairs: It was hard-pressed to do the current $77 million worth of work, so now, with an anticipated doubling of job contracts, more staffers are being hired into the city bureaucracy. Further, there's scant assurance that the millions reaped from the proposed fuel tax increase would go strictly toward road repairs.

The nickel per gallon would be added the city's current tax of 16.5 cents, which is part of the 68 cents a gallon in federal, state and county gasoline taxes, third-highest in the country behind only New York and California.

read … Editorial

Washington Monument Gambit: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park cut tours, programs under sequestration

HNN: Tickets to tour the USS Arizona Memorial are always in high demand. Now they're even harder to secure since the last program ends at 1 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.

"We've reduced the number of tours by two hours which means 8 tours, equaling 1,200 visitors. So we ran out of tickets early this morning," said Eileen Martinez, chief of interpretation at the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

"It kind of sucks because I know a lot of people already made reservations," said San Diego visitor Angela Flick.

People who made online reservations for tour times that no longer exist are being offered a chance to reschedule. Others hoping to pick up same-day tickets on Wednesday afternoon were turned away. Since several key positions aren't being filled, the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is also closing at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5:00 p.m. daily.

Reality: Email tells feds to make sequester as painful as promised

KITV: The Sequester Effect in Hawaii

SA: Top brass unsettled by slashes in funding

read … Making it Look Bad

Gabbard Breaks With Democrats On Republican Budget Bill

CB: New Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard broke ranks with Democratic leaders on Wednesday, voting for a House Republican budget proposal that authorizes funding for the rest of the fiscal year but leaves large sequestration cuts in place for now.

Gabbard's vote also put her at odds with Rep. Colleen Hanabusa — a rare split within Hawaii's all-Democratic congressional delegation.

The measure passed 267-151, with 53 Democrats voting in support and 137 voting against. A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Democratic leaders gave members leeway to vote as they chose on the bill and had no problem with Gabbard’s vote.

Gabbard, in a statement, called the bill "disappointing" and "far from perfect," but said it would preserve some defense jobs.

The bill would create a new makeshift federal budget, called a Continuing Resolution, to avoid a government shutdown when the previous resolution expires at the end of the month. Pelosi, however, said on the House floor that the Democratic Senate would not support it.

read … Gabbard Breaks With Democrats On Republican Budget Bill

Union protests plan by Kaiser to eliminate jobs

SA: More than 200 members of the union representing Kaiser Permanente Hawaii workers rallied Wednesday across the street from its Honolulu Clinic to protest the elimination of jobs.

Kaiser plans to lay off 13 clerical and emergency tech employees when it shutters the Urgent Care Center at 1010 Pensacola St. on March 16. The Honolulu Clinic will continue to see patients with appointments after that date, but will not take walk-in patients in need of urgent care, defined as illnesses that need prompt medical attention but are not emergencies.

Instead, the state's largest health-maintenance organization said it will begin next week transferring patients to primary care physicians upstairs at the Honolulu Clinic.

"Kaiser is trying to convince the public that more and better quality care is possible by reducing resources, staff and accessibility to medical treatment," said Glenn Yoshimoto, a Honolulu Clinic emergency department business service clerk who is being laid off after 23 years. "Doctors only have eight hours a day to treat patients. A lot of them are kind of overloaded as it is, so how are they going to cram those patients into those slots? The arithmetic doesn't add up. When you're doing a job and start rushing, that increases the probability of making mistakes. That in and of itself jeopardizes patient safety."

read … Kaiser

Released 911 tapes capture frantic moments after Munet escape

HNN: A second caller spotted Munet about one mile away near Kawaiahao Church, where he claims he hid out.

Caller: Just seen that guy on the news about the escapee from the Circuit Court today. He's on Kawaiahao Street. He's walking.

Dispatcher: What makes you think it's him?

Caller: He came up and asked us to use our phone and we kind of thought it was him for a moment and we looked up his picture again on the internet and that is him.

Distinctive neck tattoos were the giveaway that helped police finally get their man, 11 hours later. HPD racked up nearly 20-thousand in overtime for the manhunt. 29 year old Teddy Munet is awaiting trial on second degree murder charges. Now, he's also charged with 'escape' and 'attempted carjacking.'

SA: 911 calls map escapee's route

Listen to … Audio

Leeward Coast Has Longest Commute Times

CB: "For example, there are 3 consistent 'bottleneck' areas that Leeward Coast residents contend with consistently: the stretch from Nanakuli to Ko Olina, the stretch of H-1 prior to the H-2 merge and the Middle Street merge bottleneck. With these three bottleneck traffic conditions Leeward Coast residents can experience commute times up to 2-3 hours+."

read … Bottlenecks

HSTA To Bus In Members for March 14 Rally

HSTA: Take a stand for education. If you are on Oahu, join your colleagues at the State Capitol while neighbor island teachers support the rally with outreach activities.

View BUS SCHEDULE, sign up for BUS transportation or, commit your support for March 14 neighbor island activities at http://tinyurl.com/hstamarch14rally.

HSTA calls on all Oahu teachers to rally together at the State Capitol from 3:30 - 5:30 PM on March 14.

The 1000+ teachers who waved signs on January 31 gained visible support from legislators and the public, and we must build on that momentum.

On March 14, we will send a clear signal to the employer that you want a contract. You deserve a professional salary. That is what HSTA is fighting for at the table.

The employer has a responsibility to provide teachers with the tools and resources necessary to improve student learning and produce real results.

Please join your colleagues in a mass show of support for your bargaining team and tell the employer to settle a fair and equitable contract.

CB: Fo Teach Pidgin o Not Fo Teach Pidgin — Das Da Question

read … HSTA

Former lawmaker headed to court over felony charge

KITV: A former Kauai politician will head to court Thursday to answer charges of disturbing and damaging a historic Native Hawaiian site…. The rocks were on land owned by Kukui'ula Development Corporation…. "We believe the charge against Roland is based on misunderstanding of the facts. Once all the information is turned over, we will likely file for a dismissal for Sagum," said his attorney Craig De Costa….

"The Hawaiians tapped the water coming from the mountains and built a 100-mile irrigation system to irrigate the pockets of dirt within this rock outcropping," said Koloa resident Ted Blake.

Kauai's heiau and other ancient Hawaiian sites are a source of pride for Blake, "We have such an archeological treasure trove of sites here, and finally it's being re-discovered by people."

KHON: Video of Site

read … Between Rock and Hard Place

Prosecutors: Kawamoto Spearheaded Plot to Evade taxes

JT: More details emerged Thursday about Ginza property tycoon Genshiro Kawamoto, 81, who was arrested Tuesday for alleged tax evasion.

According to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office special investigation squad, Kawamoto spearheaded a plot to cover up earnings and avoid paying 862 million yen in taxes over the three financial years ending December 2011. Kawamoto, who lives in a 5-star hotel in Tokyo, owns the Marugen group whose logo can be seen on several buildings in Ginza and Kitakyushu.

TBS reported Thursday that prosecutors allege that Marugen reportedly had a variety of means of hiding earnings, such as failing to report real rent costs and claiming tenants had failed to pay their rent….

Recently, Kawamoto was reportedly dividing his time between his hotel residence in Tokyo and a resort home in Hawaii. He once boasted that “only fools” pay taxes.

read … Kawamoto

Filipino cardinal stirs papal talk with rapid rise

AP: Asia's most prominent Roman Catholic leader knows how to reach the masses: He sings on stage, preaches on TV, brings churchgoers to laughter and tears with his homilies. And he's on Facebook.

But Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle's best response against the tide of secularism, clergy sex abuse scandals and rival-faith competition could be his reputation for humility. His compassion for the poor and unassuming ways have impressed followers in his homeland, Asia's largest Catholic nation, and church leaders in the Vatican.

Tagle's rising star has opened a previously unimaginable possibility: An Asian pope.

read … Papabili?

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