Knee-Jerk Reaction Leads to Just More Money
The Brighter Side: Honoring Human Achievement
Sequestration: Pacific Fleet Cancels Deployments
VIDEO Panos 2050: Earthquakes, Energy Supply, Tsunamis, Taxes and ... Politicians Local and International Threats to Hawaii's Sustainability
Running for Congress: Chang, Kenoi, Espero, Tsutsui, Kim?
Borreca: Last year, Hawaii's politicians were mostly shocked by Gabbard's come-from-behind smashing of the former two-term Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. The common thought was, "if she can, so can I," followed quickly by "Next time, I'm not waiting."
Well, 2014 is the next time…. While nobody is saying anything on the record, there is already some active speculation.
City Councilman Stanley Chang is one likely candidate for Hanabusa's 1st Congressional District, if she goes for another office. The Harvard-educated young Democratic attorney has been a quiet presence during his first Council term and will have to elevate his name recognition if he is to run for Congress.
Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi is known by many and has a natural base of support among neighbor islanders, but he would also have to work to get known on the 2nd Congressional District's Leeward and Windward sides of Oahu.
And Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui has said he is running for his current post, but there is still time to reconsider a Washington, D.C., relocation….
Senate President Donna Mercado Kim has considered campaigns for both the U.S. Senate and House. As a successful Democrat veteran, she could make a strong showing in a 1st Congressional District race.
Sen. Will Espero is another potentially upwardly mobile Democrat. He has a lot of name recognition in his Ewa base but needs to work to gain recognition in other portions of the urban district.
For Kenoi, Chang, Kim and Espero, there is little risk in running because Hawaii's "resign-to-run" law does not include federal office, so they would not have to quit to run for a new seat. And if they lose, their present office remains.
Tsutsui would have to decide between running for a state or federal seat.
Related: Stanley Chang Running for CD1?, Political Future? Djou Speaks, Lingle on Tap
Getting to know Billy Kenoi: Billy Kenoi helped Pali Shooter
read … Political hope springs eternal for higher office
Tsutsui to Open Offices in all Four Counties?
HNN: Plans to open a Maui office for the state of Hawaii's no. 2 executive will cost nearly $200,000.
Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui says the new office will provide greater access for neighbor island residents -- many who feel left out of the legislative process.
But critics say the move will waste taxpayer money. "Expanding in this economy as they are with taxpayers having their taxes increase as much as they are," said Tim Lussier, executive director of the Grassroots Institute of Hawaii. "I think we need to focus on living within our means and not expanding."
Funding for the office was contained in an emergency appropriations bill that calls for $105,000 in office renovations on Maui and $85,000 for additional security for the Lieutenant Governor.
Tsutsui's family lives on Maui and Tsutsui will split his time living on Oahu and Maui.
The Lieutenant Governor said that the state is considering offices on other neighbor islands as well. (Campaign 2018 HQ)
read … Tsutsui for Governor 2018 Campaign HQ
Anti-GMO Activists Should Go Back to Home Planet
Shapiro: » The state salary commission said big pay raises are needed for legislators, the governor and judges to attract better people for high office. If that's the goal, shouldn't we first cut the pay to encourage the people we have to leave?
» Gov. Neil Abercrombie's department heads are pressing senators to reverse a House decision to cut more than 900 vacant positions from the state budget. The governor needs the vacant positions to fulfill his empty promises.
» A conspiratorially minded activist against genetically modified foods told Sen. Clarence Nishihara to "go back to Japan." The senator was too much of a gentleman to suggest she go back to her home planet.
read … Go Back to Home Planet
Senate to debate Tax Credit Giveaways, School Land Development Schemes
AP: The Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee plans to hear a slew of proposals this week, including a much-debated one to raise state revenue by developing school lands….
The committee also plans to discuss increasing film industry tax credits….
Several committees this week will be occupied with dozens of resolutions on issues ranging from land to education to health care.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor is hearing a resolution that suggests creating a task force to study the potential economic and social effects of legalizing same-sex marriage in Hawaii….
Judiciary Committee Chairman Clayton Hee sponsored the resolution, which says "there is substantial evidence that enacting marriage equality would have a significant economic impact on Hawaii." (That’s Clayton. What will you sell for money?)
Another resolution requests a task force to investigate the feral cat infestation at the University of Hawaii. The House Committee on Health plans to hear the proposal on Wednesday.
read … Hawaii lawmakers to debate innovation, school land
Millions for Affordable Housing
SA: To address the state's affordable housing and homeless issues, Chun Oakland hopes that the Legislature this session will allocate:
- » $1.5 million toward a rental assistance program to help working homeless people or families obtain and maintain permanent housing;
- » $1 million for the Department of Human Services' homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing assistance program; and
- » $30 million for the rental housing trust fund.
The 50,000 figure came from a 2011 Hawaii Housing Planning Study prepared for the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation.
Chun Oakland said the study found the state needs 13,000 new rental units by 2016 and at least 6,000 for-sale units for people earning under 80 percent of the area median income, which is $83,000….
The Legislature is also working on passing a bill that would raise the percentage of the real estate conveyance tax going into the fund to 30 percent, which would bring in an additional estimated $20 million per year…. (Tax housing to provide housing.)
Most of Chun Oakland's initiatives aimed at tackling homelessness are included in the "omnibus" Senate Bill 515. She also included in that bill undetermined funding for housing-first programs; the Homeless Programs Office of the Department of Human Services; substance abuse treatment and mental health support services for the homeless or people at risk of becoming homeless; and clean and sober housing support services offered by the Department of Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division.
Chun Oakland said most of her appropriations are also included in the governor's budget proposal being worked on at the Legislature. She said the House introduced similar measures to hers that are contained in separate bills, and all of the big issues she's tracking remain alive in both chambers….
Both chambers are also working on bills that would eliminate the asset limit criteria for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
"Taking it off will allow (people) to save enough so they can actually have enough resources to move into something more permanent," Chun Oakland said.
read … Homelessness Industry
Star-Adv Tries to Salvage Early Education Giveaway to KSBE
SA Editorial: After 12 paragraphs praising the House leadership for being less profligate than the Senate or the Governor, the Editors tell them to give more to KSBE:
The House leadership also seems hesitant about the move toward universal preschool favored by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, with Souki stating that the K-12 system needs to be fixed first.
While it's rational to worry that the state won't have the funding for broadly subsidizing preschool as quickly as the administration hopes, it's also wrong to see early education entirely as a separate add-on. The stronger argument is that enabling more students to be academically ready to learn upon entering kindergarten would be part of the solution to improving performance in the public schools.
But many would also acknowledge that a go-slow approach would be wise. Appropriating money for planning would be sensible at this stage, especially with some constitutional impediments — the existing prohibition on spending state money on private education — still to be resolved.
read … House rightly exercising fiscal restraint
Kam Schools Continues Push for Preschool Program Which Will Line its Pockets
SA: At its heart, the governor's proposal for a statewide early childhood education system is about strengthening Hawaii for the future.
Our lawmakers should look beyond short-term economies (reject the House budget, approve the Senate budget) and focus on the significant and lasting benefits this program can provide. Decades of research show that children who participate in high-quality preschool programs benefit academically, professionally and socially.
For Hawaii, the implementation of an early childhood education program that helps cultivate a thriving workforce would enhance our fiscal health by increasing revenues and reining in future spending obligations.
Hawaii already has a thriving preschool industry (KSBE) that provides jobs and generates tax revenues for the state. The governor's proposal aims to build this (KSBE) infrastructure so we can reach more children. By partnering with a variety of public and private preschools, we can meet the demand for facilities, ensure program accessibility and give Hawaii families more choices. Preschool tuition in Hawaii averages $750 a month (and now you’re gonna pay for it woo hoo!)
Great Comment: “It is feeding time at the public trough and each year we see the weekly bevy of OpEds in the Sunday news lobbying for public funds to support heir mission. In this case we have a near perfect example of what is wrong with this endless siege by non-profits on the taxpayers’ dollars. To begin with, “…A 2008 economic analysis conducted by Good Beginnings Alliance…” comes from a 100% publically funded, non-profit organization, whose fundamental activities revolve around getting more public monies to support their stated mission.”
Another Great Comment: “There is literally no proof that expensive government baby-sitting services expand the minds of 4 year olds.”
Related: Atheists Push to Exclude Church Preschools from Early Learning (Reduce competition for KSBE)
Reality: Abercrombie 'School Readiness' Plan Based on Proven Failure
read … Replacement for the Nuclear Family
Quality of health care is not on unions’ agenda
MN LTE: I see that the Hawaii Senate Health Committee has brought forward a very timid proposal to explore whether some of the government-run hospitals should become private (The Maui News, March 16).
The article describes the unions as being opposed to it because they are concerned that jobs would be lost. The unions' only concern with lost jobs is lost union dues, the lifeblood of their enormous political power. They would be just as ferociously opposed if the private company came in and increased jobs. The quality of health care here is not on their radar.
read … LTE
Hawaii Resolutions Call for Same Jones Act Exemption that Guam Now Has
PNC: Guam - 5 Hawaii State Representatives have introduced a pair of resolutions calling on the U.S. Congress to loosen the Jones Act's national build requirements for deep draft shipping to Hawaii, similar to the exemption Guam currently has.
The Jones Act requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents.
The Act applies to 4 of the 7 non-contiguous U.S. jurisdictions, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and [to a limited degree] Guam. American Samoa, the CNMI and the Virgin Islands are fully exempt from the Jones Act….
The so-called “Guam Exemption” relieves the island from the U.S. build requirement. But it doesn't do Guam much good because the flow of goods from the U.S. west coast naturally passes through Hawaii, where the Jones Act is in full force. Island leaders have often blamed the Act for the high cost of goods on Guam.
Hawaii Rep. Ward also points out that an "exemption from the U.S. built requirement will become very important in Governor Abercrombie’s plans to switch from petroleum based fuels to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the purpose of electrical power generation."
The Guam Power Authority is planning a similar switch the LNG….
read … Hawaii Resolutions Call for Same Jones Act Exemption that Guam Now Has
WHT Keeping Up With the Jones Act
WHT: The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, the island’s representative in the U.S. House, is hoping to loosen the Jones Act requirements on his territory.
Hawaii shipping officials are hoping the federal report on which Pedro Pierluisi is basing his proposed legislation could also support relaxing Jones Act conditions in Hawaii.
The Government Accountability Office report didn’t advocate for eliminating the act, and cautioned that the full impact of any changes were difficult to quantify. …
But Pierluisi said, after the report’s release, he wanted to see foreign ships carrying liquefied natural gas and other fuels from the U.S. mainland be able to stop in Puerto Rico, and he wanted an exemption for bulk agricultural cargo. Puerto Rico, like Hawaii, relies mainly upon imported oil to fuel its energy production, Pierliuisi said.
Allowing foreign carriers to deliver U.S. natural gas “will benefit energy producers in the states, who will gain access to an important new U.S. market and make a positive contribution to their local economies,” Pierluisi said. “It will also provide a direct benefit to consumers in Puerto Rico, who will see their electricity bills decrease.”…
Hawaii Shipping Council President Michael Hansen said the businesses he represents — retailers and industrial clients who rely on cargo carriers to bring products to Hawaii — just want to see the requirement that the deep draft ships be built in the United States be lifted. The bulk of deep draft container ships — about 90 percent of such ships built around the world — are constructed in South Korea, Japan and China, Hansen said. Japan builds about 200 of the ocean-going vessels annually Hansen said, compared with about three a year built in the United States.
The high number of ships built in those countries allows those industries to achieve economies of scale, bringing the cost down from about $200 million per ship in the U.S. to about $40 to $50 million per ship from South Korea, Hansen said.
Related: GAO Releases Jones Act Puerto Rico report
read … Keeping Up With the Jones Act
Hawaii Suit on Hold Awaiting Supreme Court Gay ‘Marriage’ Case
SA: The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments this week on two cases that may determine the future of marriage in America. Though the nation will have to wait until early summer for the decisions, the arguments that will be made are important to Hawaii right now.
First, Jackson v. Abercrombie, the federal case challenging Hawaii’s marriage protection law filed in 2011, is currently on appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but on hold while the high court considers Hollingsworth v. Perry, the “Proposition 8 case.”
Second, there is a chance, though slim, that the Supreme Court could find a federal “right” to same-sex marriage, which would void every state marriage protection law and constitutional amendment, including Hawaii’s.
Reality: New Research on Children of Same-Sex Parents Suggests Differences Matter
SA: Gay Activists Deploy Navy Petty Officer to Make Case
read … End of the Nuclear Family?
Sen Ruderman Admits he is Unable to Understand Geothermal Bill
WHT: Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna, said the legislation, House Bill 106, was deferred when it became clear that it did not have the support of each of the committees — Energy and Environment, Water and Land, and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs.
Ruderman, the Energy and Environment vice chair, said Sen. Malama Solomon, the Water and Land chair, had opposed the bill and had proposed amending another piece of legislation to reinstate the county’s permitting process, which was eliminated last year by Act 97….
But Ruderman said he opposed that alternative, noting concerns with a long list of proposed amendments, and helped get it defeated.
“It had 20 pages of amendments last minute and no one … I couldn’t figure it out,” he said.
The latest version of that bill, HB 932, would have defined geothermal as a renewable energy source and make other small changes to laws governing mining and resource extraction.
Ruderman said he had consulted with others regarding that bill, including the Puna Pono Alliance and former Mayor Harry Kim.
SA: New Age Argument for Geothermal
read … Ruderman
Kenoi: Drunk Election Workers OK by Me
WHT: Mayor Billy Kenoi reiterated Friday the county did not have cause to fire several Elections Division workers in early 2012.
“The reinstatement was based on Human Resources’ review,” Kenoi said. “They found that according to collective bargaining and administrative rules, they were wrongfully terminated.”
Hawaii County’s alcohol-free policy does give county employees warning they could lose their jobs for drinking on county property, Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida said Friday….
WHT: Shikuma also claimed former Hilo Councilman Donald Ikeda, former County Clerks Kenneth Goodenow and Casey Jarman and more than 10 other county employees attended the parties. (Translation: Every politico in Hilo was partying with the election workers at the campaign sign making shop in the election warehouse. Now that you’ve named Ikeda, Goodenow, and Jarman how about the other 10. BTW the fired Election Office workers campaigned for Goodenow in his failed 2012 council run.)
read … Kenoi: County’s no-alcohol policy doesn’t mean instant termination
Hemp Bill Passes Second Reading in Hawaii Senate
DC: A bill that would establish a two-year hemp pilot program in Hawaii passed a second reading with amendments on the floor of the Senate last week, and has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee. The bill passed unanimously on the floor of the House earlier this month, .
If given favorable approval by the Ways and Means Committee, the bill will be refereed back to the full Senate for a third, and final, reading and vote on the bill. Because the bill has been amended in both the Senate and House, the two chambers will need to agree on the final language of the bill before being sent to the Governor’s desk.
If passed in its most recent form, House Bill 154 HD2 SD1 would allow the director of the college of tropical agriculture and human resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to establish a two-year industrial hemp remediation and biofuel crop pilot program.
read … A good place to hide your Marijuana Crop
Hawaii County to Change all Streetlights to LED
HTH: Hawaii County is about ready to make the final step toward energy-efficient street lights.
Next month, the Department of Public Works’ Traffic Division will bring a proposal before the County Council’s Finance Committee to replace the fairly dim low-pressure sodium lights with brighter light-emitting diode versions.
The move, which would involve about 10,000 lights, could cost between $4 million and $5 million in materials alone and take over three years to complete, said Ron Thiel, Traffic Division chief.
But the payback could be significant, he said, since they consume half as much electricity and have a longer life.
“It will save an excess of a million dollar a year,” Thiel said. “The payback on materials alone is about three years.”
The county has already installed 1,000 LED lights around the Big Island as part of a test run. That was paid for with a $500,000 federal grant.
read … Real Energy Savings
Street analysis uncovers worst of the worst
SA: By 2008 the road-repair neglect left Honolulu with a dubious distinction: About 62 percent of its major streets had fallen into poor condition, and that was the third-highest share among U.S. cities with a population of at least 500,000.
Only San Jose, Calif., and Los Angeles ranked worse than Honolulu, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research firm TRIP found using data collected by the Federal Highway Administration. Honolulu's roads were in worse shape than cities such as San Francisco, New York and New Orleans.
The torn-up pavement also cost each Honolulu motorist on average $701 each year in repairs, new tires and added fuel, TRIP found.
The latest TRIP analysis, based on 2011 data, shows some improvement. But the bumpy roads still wear on drivers and their cars. TRIP reduced the number of major Honolulu roads in poor condition to 43 percent. The average cost to drivers was cut to $598 a year.
In recent years, upkeep of major thoroughfares statewide has also fallen behind in national studies. Hawaii in 2008 had the largest percentage of state-owned roads in disrepair in the nation, the D.C.-based advocacy group Smart Growth America found.
TRIP 2012: PROVIDING SAFE AND EFFICIENT MOBILITY IN HAWAII
Related: Honolulu Pavement Condition: Is Your Street Serious?
read … Honolulu Pavement Condition
Tesoro Closure Will not Squeeze Asphalt Supply
SA: After a 7,500-mile journey and a trek through the Panama Canal from New Brunswick, the liquid eventually arrives in Kalaeloa Harbor, at the Asphalt Hawaii plant.
Until recently Asphalt Hawaii controlled about 85 percent of the state's liquid asphalt market to Tesoro Corp.'s 15 percent. But with Tesoro phasing out production at its Kapolei refinery by the end of April, Asphalt Hawaii will become the islands' sole supplier of liquid asphalt, industry officials say.
Asphalt Hawaii President Dick Levin said his company can provide the share left behind by Tesoro and that Asphalt Hawaii doesn't plan to raise prices despite taking hold of the local market. "I'm not particularly demand driven; I'm cost-driven," Levin said this past week. "That's just how we worked from the very beginning. We've been bringing such large amounts that the price stays stable for a long period."
He would not say how much liquid asphalt the company ships to the islands each year. However, about 75,000 tons of the liquid were needed to produce the 1.2 million tons of asphalt pavement laid across the state in 2012….
Asphalt roads are composed of about 5 percent liquid asphalt, 4 percent air and the rest a mix of crushed rock, gravel and sand. Grace Pacific gets its rock from a Makakilo quarry, which it owns, as well as the Ameron Hawaii Kapaa quarry.
read … Asphalt
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