Hawaii Senate Committee on Ways and Means Passes State Budget Bill
ICA Hears Case Challenging State Ownership of Mineral, Geothermal Rights
Application Deadline to Serve on State Ethics and Campaign Spending Commissions is March 31
Teens wanted for Hawaii Meth Project advisory council
‘Bare Bones’ Senate Budget Funds 1000 Vacant Positions, Phony ‘Hi-Tech’ Tax Credits
KITV: "We've cut all of the discretionary funds, travel money, utility money, we've basically cut every opportunity out of the budget except for personnel," said Ways and Means Committee Chair Sen. David Ige (lying thru his teeth)….
Ige said they are budgeting for nearly a 1,000 unfunded positions cut from the House bill -- many positions already or about to be filled.
And, the Senate bill chips away at unfunded liabilities with a total of $300 million for future health benefits for retirees.
Some $390 million is slated to fix Hawaii's roads and freeways….
"It's not just the state; it's the city and the county working on road projects. So, you have to ask yourself, with only three paving companies in the state, how many projects are they really able to do," said Kidani.
"It's not all the way back to what the governor proposed (to give to KSBE), but it significantly moves the needle," said State Budget Director Kalbert Young. Senators welcomed the governor's proposal, offering to pay for most of his early childhood learning programs, $8 million for Hawaii's entrepreneurs, and more than $100 million to bring Hawaii's antiquated tech infrastructure into the 21st century.
Young said he's more concerned about a handful of bills still before lawmakers that would cut revenue streams, such as reductions in the solar tax credit, the transit accommodations tax, and taxes on Hawaii’s wealthiest individuals.
"Whether or not the state can afford all these tax credits at this point in time, even in light of some looming expenses out there such as collective bargaining, remains to be seen," he said.
SA: The upper chamber drafts a budget that includes millions for so-called ‘entrepreneurs’
CB: Money for Preschool, IT, Employee Benefits in Senators' Spending Plan
Read … Bare Bones
Star-Adv Backs Jones Act Reform
SA Editorial: For nearly a century, foreign-built ships have been blocked from carrying cargo directly from the mainland to Hawaii, resulting in higher prices for consumers.
Two Republicans and three Democrats in the state Legislature are calling for Congress to create a narrow exemption from the Jones Act that would allow foreign-built ships to be used on the route — a change that likely would lower cargo costs for island consumers….
The law's effects are large. The U.S. International Trade Commission estimated in a 2002 study that the Jones Act costs the nation's economy between $119 million to $9.8 billion a year by denying access to lower-cost shipping. Ward maintained in 1997 that Hawaii residents pay $1 billion a year — $3,000 per household — in higher prices because of shipping costs. Those figures can only have increased since then.
In the past, Ed Case was the sole Democrat who shared that concern, proposing an exemption of Hawaii when he was U.S. representative from 2002 to 2007….
The proposed resolution spearheaded by Ward points out that Gov. Neil Abercrombie has urged the Legislature to "move forward" with allowing import of liquefied natural gas from the mainland.
It asserts that none of the "special tank ships" that transport LNG have been built in the United States since the 1970s, and that buying such US-built ships now "would be cost prohibitive."
It says that U.S.-built ships cost five times as much as foreign-built ships. Purchasing foreign-built ships for carrying LNG makes economic sense.
Abercrombie has been flexible on the issue in the past. As a U.S. House member in 2003, Abercrombie and the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye won a narrow exemption from the 1886 Passenger Vessel Services Act, similar for cruise lines to the Jones Act's rules for cargo shipments. That allowed Norwegian Cruise Line to use three foreign-built ships for interisland cruises.
Since building LNG tank ships in the U.S. is regarded as too expensive, the exemption of Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico from the Jones Act — as long as foreign-built ships be used — would "revitalize" shipping to those destinations.
The resolution calls for maintaining the Jones Act requirements that those ships be U.S.-flagged, -owned and -crewed, so the proposal is narrow compared with past exemption proposals.
Our Legislature should pass this resolution to push the limited-exemption issue in front of Congress, where Hawaii's delegation can then work toward its enactment.
read … Jones Act Reform
$22K raise proposed for Kenoi: 19.8% for Hawaii Co Execs
HTH: Mayor Billy Kenoi will get a $22,000 raise and other county officials will get up to 19.8 percent raises under a salary adjustment plan proposed Wednesday by the Hawaii County Salary Commission.
Kenoi, in 2009, instituted unpaid furloughs, first twice-monthly and then monthly… equivalent to 9.2 percent and 4.6 percent salary reductions, respectively. He plans to end the furloughs starting July 1, restoring salaries to their 2009 level….
The commission plans to hold a public hearing next month before modifying or accepting the plan that was prepared by a three-member working group of the seven-member commission. The raises would go into effect July 1….
Kenoi currently makes $109,152 annually, less than the county prosecutor, police chief, deputy police chief and fire chief. His salary would rise to $131,154 under the proposal.
County Prosecutor Mitch Roth, who makes $113,580, would not get a raise, nor would Fire Chief Darren Rosario, who makes $114,768. Police Chief Harry Kubojiri, who also makes $114,768, would get an increase to $127,335.
Kenoi’s Managing Director Wally Lau would get a 19.8 percent raise to $124,596, and Deputy Managing Director Randy Kurohara would get a 10.9 percent increase to $118,149. Kenoi’s four executive assistants, who make between $76,004 and $85,500, aren’t addressed in the recommendations.
Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, who makes $99,000, which is less than several of his deputies, would get a 6.3 percent raise to $105,288.
County Council members, who received a 22 percent raise in 2009, will not get a raise this time
Some department heads currently making $99,000, such as Finance Director Nancy Crawford and Acting Environmental Management Director Dora Beck, would get 11.4 percent raises to $110,244. Public Works Director Warren Lee, who makes $99,000, would get an 11.1 percent raise to $110,001.
Parks and Recreation Director Clayton Honma, who makes $94,284, would get an 8.1 percent raise to $101,970. The department head salaries will be based on number of employees …. (Incentive to grow government)
read … Hypocrites
Pentagon cuts number of furlough days
AP: Defense officials say the Pentagon will sharply cut the number of unpaid furlough days civilians will have to take in the next several months from 22 to 14, reducing the financial impact of the budget cuts on as many as 700,000 workers.
Officials say Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the decision Wednesday. Military and defense leaders continue to work through the details, trying to decide how to allocate the more than $10 billion Congress shifted to operations accounts.
read … Furloughs
Calvin Say Hires Scott Saiki's GOP Opponent
CB: … Democrat Calvin Say has hired a Republican candidate who tried to defeat one of Say's own political opponents just last year.
Tiffany Au, Hawaii's 2012 Narcissus Queen, is working in the Capitol office of Speaker Emeritus Say as a legislative aide….
Had Tiffany Au defeated Scott Saiki for the District 26 seat (McCully, Kaheka, Kakaako, Downtown), the dissident faction would have lost a leader and a critical vote — a pretty big deal, given that neither Say nor Souki could muster the 26 votes needed (out of the 51-member chamber) to be elected outright with only the support of Democrats.
In his email to Civil Beat, Say explained how he came to hire a Republican.
"I met her at a Chinese event and she was looking for a part-time position to carry her over and I thought it was a good opportunity for bi-partisanship and learning," he said.
For her part, Au said via email, "I was emceeing at a banquet and Speaker Emeritus Say and I were having a discussion about the future of my generation. It is refreshing to meet a leader who can look beyond political labels and strive to nurture young minds. It is my opinion that to limit the opportunities of someone who is willing to learn based on political views only contributes to the polarization of America."
read … Say Hires Saiki’s Opponent
Senate WAM to Consider PLDC Repeal Today
CB: "REPEAL PLDC" has been fought for by countless citizens and public-interest groups.
Hawaii legislators have received thousands of communications from REPEAL PLDC advocates.
The public has also spoken at PLDC statewide hearings.
We support HB 1133 for a straight REPEAL of PLDC - Act 55 with no last-minute "gut and replace or other amendments that may undermine the straight repeal of PLDC, or create mischief in any way.
Enough has been said.
The Hawaii state House of Representatives under the leadership of House Speaker Joseph Souki and Rep. Cindy Evans approved a bill that would dissolve the Public Land Development Corporation on February 14, 2013.
The public should not have to repeat its objections against PLDC over and over and over again. Decision-making at the state Capitol should not become a jostle of "cloak and dagger" games and lobbying.
NOTE: The Senate committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on HB1133 03-28-13 9:05AM in conference room 211.
read … WAM
Statewide, Only Seven People Spent Time in Jail for Marijuana Last Year
HNN: A measure in the state legislature that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana drew dozens of opponents to the State Capitol Wednesday, including officers from the Honolulu Police Department, which is strongly opposed to the proposal…
State Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D-Wahiawa, Whitmore Village) said that's still a lot of pot. He brought out a 20 gram bag of a marijuana look alike, catnip. "This is what 20 grams of marijuana looks like when rolled up into marijuana cigarettes, or joints," he said, holding up a bag of catnip rolled in cigarette paper. "There are 47 joints in this 20 gram bag. That's a lot of marijuana to legalize."
Oshiro was also critical of the proposed fine. "It's less than a jaywalking ticket. Less than a cell phone violation (while driving). And less than most speeding tickets, for carrying something like this that's considered, under the federal government, illegal," he said.
But Fresh Approach Hawaii, a pro-decriminalization coalition, called the measure a sensible step in the right direction. It contends that more than a thousand people are busted for pot possession in Hawaii each year. "We're spending about $9 million a year for processing each of those individuals through the criminal justice system," said Vanessa Chong, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, which is part of the coalition.
HPD counters that the actual number of arrests is lower. "The study by the attorney general's office showed that out of 594 people arrested for marijuana, only seven spent more than ten days in jail," said Maj. Inouye.
read … Marijuana decriminalization measure draws opponents to Capitol
UH abandons controversial plan to build expensive bio lab
HNN: University of Hawaii Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple has decided to drop plans to build an expensive, controversial bio lab in Kalaeloa, a project officially known as the Pacific Health Research Laboratory.
For almost ten years, the UH has planned to build the $47.5 million lab on a parking lot in Kalaeloa that's owned by the U.S. Army.
"We have an operating deficit in our business plan that we now don't believe we can close," Apple told Hawaii News Now Wednesday morning.
Apple said the lab would have operated at a $2.2 million dollar annual deficit.
And then the Army increased the rent from next to nothing to about $220,000 a year, pushing the lab's yearly operating deficit to nearly $2.5 million.
"We had gone forward for years believing that we would have a lease for a dollar a year and it was really Washington has changed their policies, so this is from the Pentagon," Apple said.
"The only possible way would be either an infusion of state funds or, quite frankly, it would fall on the backs of our students at Manoa, and I'm not willing to do that," Apple said, adding that UH tuition funds would have been required to make up the lab's deficit.
Apple also said the Pentagon would only commit to a 5-year lease for the Kalaeloa parcel with the possibility of the Army ending the deal every five years.
"You could imagine us building a $45, $47 million building and then being booted out in five years. So it was simply an unacceptable term," Apple said.
read … BioLab
Lawmakers push forward school land bills
AP: Hawaii lawmakers are pushing forward an initiative to allow the state to develop school lands through public-private partnerships.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee voted to advance a proposal on Wednesday that would create a three-year pilot project under the lieutenant governor's office.
Three House committees also approved a different version bill on Wednesday.
Read … School Land Bills
State Senate: Audit The University of Hawaii
CB: Requesting the legislative auditor to address the issues and concerns raised by the Senate Special Committee on Accountability relating to the University of Hawaii….
Senate Concurrent Resolution 78, has the backing of all 25 senators and will be heard at the same time — which is Thursday afternoon (March 28 — today).
read … Audit UH
Teacher on contract: Devil is in the details
MN: "As usual, the devil is in the details," said Kalama Intermediate School special education teacher Karolyn Mossman, a former HSTA officer. "It looks pretty good on the surface."
She said she hopes the new contract will help lift low teacher morale.
"I'm hoping the teachers will see something positive coming forward for them," she said.
Preliminarily, it looks like salary increases are a "little bit" of an improvement, Mossman said.
"It's not where it needs to be, but it's definitely going in the right direction," she said.
Maui Waena Intermediate School counselor Ed Garcia said he was "very excited" about the tentative contract.
"I believe the state recognizes we're professionals who deserve a fair and decent contract," he said, adding that he hopes a living wage would help recruit and retain teachers.
Fourth-grade teacher Alan Isbell, the head faculty representative at Wailuku Elementary School, said he believes that teachers will approve the proposed contract.
"Everybody's really tired of these protracted negotiations," he said. "Everybody just wants it to be over. I think it could be acceptable to most teachers. . . . I think they'll ratify it."
read … Teacher on contract: Devil is in the details
Hawaii Case Waits on Supreme Court
KHON: "Marriage is a state legal matter, but Congress has passed a lot of laws that tie certain duties and benefits to being married," attorney Jim Hochberg said….
In Hawaii, we don't have same-sex marriage, but we do have civil unions, which Wadsworth argued in federal court isn't good enough.
"A second class institution that has been created that denies, particularly same-sex couples the status and the social significance of marriage, which is very important in this country. In fact, the Supreme Court has called it a fundamental right in the past," Wadsworth said.
Judge Alan Kay upheld Hawaii's law preventing same-sex marriages, but that case has been appealed.
"It's currently stayed, meaning it is on hold, waiting for the Supreme Court's decision in these two cases because their rulings could have implications could have an impact for our case," Wadsworth said.
The Supreme Court's ruling is expected later this summer.
CB: No Surprise Here, Broken Trust Levinson Says SCOTUS is Just Like Him
Reality: Broken Trust Gang finally Imposes Gay Unions on Hawaii
CN: Slippery Slope Created by Hawaii Supreme Court
read … Supreme Court continues debate on same-sex marriage
Open Lewdness: Naked Homosexuals Steal Mokuleia Beach from North Shore Locals
TN: One man was captured for open lewdness recently….
Residents in the north-facing coastal area of Oahu are urging visitors to keep their swimsuits on because they have become increasingly upset by beach nudity.
“We like for our family to just relax, have fun," the portal quoted local William Kahapea as saying. "To see someone just turning over, bare-naked, is kind of disturbing."
Mokuleia, an isolated stretch on Oahu’s North Shore, is known as one of the most undeveloped shoreline locations with sandy beaches and blue pure water full of seashells to be collected.
It has also built a reputation as a gay-friendly nude spot where beachgoers can shed their clothes while sunbathing.
But local dwellers feel really vexed now that the nude crowds are getting more visible, blatant, and inappropriate.
The beach seems to be stolen away from locals who prefer enjoying their own community, Mike Dailey, a Mokuleia resident, complained.
read … Nude bathing could lead to arrest in Hawaii
Suicide Squad Targets Waimanalo in Push to Eliminate Excess Hawaiians
HR: Monday, April 15, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Waimanalo Health Center -- Compassion & Choices Hawaii trained volunteers will be onsite to talk to clients and their families, and pass out free “Good to Go” advance care planning toolkits and Hawaii state advance directive forms.
Reality: Meet the Insurance Executive Behind Assisted Suicide in Hawaii
read … Its “good to go”
Top cops join anti-pot rally
SA: Law enforcement officers joined community groups and individuals at a rally at the state Capitol on Wednesday to show their opposition to a bill that would decriminalize possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana.
Senate Bill 472 has won approval from the state Senate and is making its way through the House. April 8 is the deadline for a vote on final passage in the House.
Attending the rally were about 200 people, roughly three-fourths of whom wore the dark blue uniforms of Hawaii police officers. Among them were the police chiefs of the Honolulu, Hawaii and Maui counties.
Alan Shinn, executive director of the Coalition for a Drug Free Hawaii, coordinated the rally under the umbrella of the newly formed Hawaii SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) Project….
State Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa, Whitmore, Poamoho), who also opposes the bill, showed reporters a snack-size plastic bag holding catnip rolled into 47 cigarettes to display what 20 grams of pot would look like.
Under the latest version the House approved earlier this month, the bill calls for reducing the penalty for adults found guilty of possessing up to 20 grams to a civil fine of up to $100. It would keep possession by a juvenile a petty misdemeanor criminal offense while also raising the stakes by suspending their driver's licenses.
House Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads (D, Chinatown, Palama) said he believes the bill has the votes to pass the House but expects it to be close.
Rhoads said he doesn't think the bill is a major change from the current law because he does not believe those hit with a criminal charge for a first offense get a significantly higher penalty, if at all, under existing law. "Symbolically it's important," he said.
Totally Unrelated: US Patent Pending for Genetically Modified Marijuana
read … Marijuana
Hearings Thursday On GMO, Atrazine Resolutions
CB: Two Hawaii state Senate committees will meet Thursday afternoon (March 28) to consider a resolution calling for a study on the “issues arising from the potential implementation of a genetically modified organisms labeling or right-to-know regimen.”
…Here is the language of the proposed SD1 for the resolution.
Also on Thursday (in the morning), two House committees will hear a resolution asking the Department of Health to form a task force to study the effects of the herbicide atrazine on human health….
Reality for those who can handle it: Kauai County Smacks Down Hype: "No Atrazine in Water Supply"
read … GMO, Atrazine Resolutions
Eradication: Big Island Senators Ignore Hunters
WHT: Kona hunter Isaac Williams said he was disappointed to learn the Department of Land and Natural Resources had brought suit to fight the aerial eradication ban.
“We voted against that,” Williams said. “That’s wrong, inhumane. They kill whatever they can, leave them in the bushes. I could eat that, feed it to my kids.”
Williams offered an alternative.
“I don’t know how much they spend per flight, they could build a parking lot,” he said. “I’ve got no problem, I can walk, hunt the animals.”
The committee took the testimony prior to a presentation by Hawaii County Game Advisory Commission members Tony Sylvester and Mark Bartel. Both board members said they hoped the council would continue to be supportive of the aerial hunting eradication ban. Sylvester also provided an update on some state legislation that could impact hunters.
Sylvester said he has had some success in getting support from Hawaii Island state representatives, but had to approach an Oahu senator for help on the state Senate side.
“We just can’t get any senator from this island to give us the time of day, basically,” he said….
read … Aerial hunting ‘wrong, inhumane’
State to develop Kunia Ag Park as live-work units
PBN: Its first project will be the Kunia Ag Park in West Oahu, which is located on about 150 acres of state lands known to be highly suited to a variety of crops and currently under cultivation.
The project will involve 24 lessees with the ability to both farm the land and live in affiliated cluster homes that will be developed and owned by the state.
The Ag Department, which will be responsible for developing and maintaining the ag infrastructure and for securing irrigation water for the project, has filed a draft environmental assessment for it.
read … Peasants
LOL! Kuokoa backs away from Hawaiian Electric takeover for ‘restructuring’
PBN: Kuokoa Inc., a Honolulu-based startup that has been fairly quiet since it announced plans two years ago to take over Hawaiian Electric Industries, is now backing away from that plan and is planning instead on “restructuring,” although an executive with the company declined to elaborate.
Published media reports in January said that the plan to buy the state’s largest utility had been scrapped.
But in a recent email to PBN, Aaron Landry, chief operating officer of Kuokoa, says that its vision still remains, although that vision isn’t quite clear.
“Our vision was never about buying a utility,” he said.
read … Kuokoa backs away from Hawaiian Electric takeover for ‘restructuring’
Community, individual acts can best government's work
Oi: When pedestrians want to cross a busy road like Kaahele Street in the Newtown area, they grab a flag from a canister attached to a utility pole and wave it to catch the attention of drivers. After crossing, they deposit the flag in the canister on the other side of the street and go about their business.
Another flag-canister kit has been set up on the Pali Highway for a couple of years now, my colleague June Watanabe writes in Kokua Line. That one was started by Virginia Kawauchi, who was moved to act after an elderly woman was killed while crossing the highway.
Kawauchi did not know the woman, but took it upon herself to do something in hopes of preventing another death.
A few years back, the state Legislature considered a pedestrian-flag proposal but concerns about expense, liability and the specter of creating another bureaucracy scuttled the idea.
Those are genuine concerns. When the Newtown program started, thoughtless people began stealing the flags. (I mean, really.) The problem was mostly solved by printing the street name "Kaahele" on the flags to discourage thefts.
Kawauchi, who pays for the Pali flags herself, says the program costs are just about $5 a month.
read … Community Acts
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