Study: 'Clean Elections' Often Favor Corrupt Incumbents Against Upstart Challengers
500 Petition Against School Lands Bills
HB252: Video Mocks Sen Galuteria's Frankenstein Bill
'Sensible Slate' for Neighborhood Board
Tourism: First Quarter 2013 Sets New Record
HMSA sued over alleged anti-competition pacts
SA: A Honolulu resident and law firm have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Hawaii Medical Service Association of using anti-competitive practices to maintain a monopoly that has led to skyrocketing health insurance premiums for more than a decade.
The class-action suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by Sylvia Hakkert-Detaille and Haleiwa firm Saccocio & Lopez is one of at least 27 similar complaints nationwide, according to Reuters, that also name Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association for anti-competitive agreements among its health plans. HMSA, the state's largest health insurer, is an independent licensee of Blue Cross....
"The dominant market share enjoyed by (Blue Cross and Blue Shield-Hawaii) is the direct result of an illegal conspiracy in which 37 of the nation's largest health insurance companies have agreed that they will not compete … in Hawaii," the suit said. "And that (Blue Cross and Blue Shield-Hawaii) will have the exclusive right to do business in Hawaii so long as it limits its competition with any of its 37 co-conspirators in each of their assigned geographic areas."
The complaint said that greater competition would result in lower premiums for consumers....
In December the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation determined certain cases concerning the licensing agreements between the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its 38 member companies would be consolidated in federal court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Related:
read ... Conspiracy for Monopoly
Hanabusa Senate Win Could Circumscribe Abercrombie Power
Borreca: When sources in the Hanabusa camp this week let it slip that she would run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Schatz, suddenly the 2014 political picture cleared.
The Schatz-Hanabusa decision means there will be no face-to-face confrontation between Hanabusa and Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Don't forget, however, that a Hanabusa win would circumscribe much of Abercrombie's political power as titular head of the Democratic Party....
If Schatz loses, it says not only was he rejected, but so was Abercrombie's leadership of the Democrats.
Although Hanabusa's Senate decision means she will forego challenging Abercrombie for governor next year, the Schatz-Abercrombie relationship gives Hanabusa an entry into making part of her campaign about Abercrombie unpopularity....
Abercrombie and Schatz will face not only Hanabusa and her campaign, but also the memories of Inouye — who is not only honored and remembered as a war hero and Democratic political mainstay, but as someone who had personally helped hundreds of now-influential members of the Hawaii Democratic Party. Members of the state Legislature, the business community and lobbying corps got their political ticket punched working in Washington, D.C., in Inouye's office.
Hanabusa's campaign has reportedly already been offered political support by the Inouye wing of the party.
A successful Schatz campaign will have to pick off some prominent members of the Inouye group for a public endorsement of the young appointee.
CB: The Amazing Race
www.TheRealHanabusa.com
read ... Continue to Have Two Parties Within One?
Council Threatens Lawsuit Over county-owned school land development
KITV: "If the state wants to redevelop public school land owned by the city, they first need to approach the city to see if we are willing to do that," said councilman Ikaika Anderson.
Nearly 50 years ago, counties transferred jurisdiction of public education to the state -- but not the land.
There are nearly 100 campuses completely or partially-owned by the county of Honolulu. There is concern that could change this legislative session. So what would happen if state lawmakers changed that status?
"I would urge the city to take the state to court. I hope it doesn't come to that, but to protect the taxpayers who own the property the city should go to court," said Anderson.
read ... City wants say in county-owned school land development
Lawmakers make hotel tax rate permanent
AP: Hawaii lawmakers have approved SB1194 making permanent an increase in the hotel room tax rate.
The 9.25 percent rate was set to expire in 2015.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser says proposals on Senate Bill 1194 included allowing the 9.25 percent rate to expire as scheduled or raising it 2 percentage points.
The House favored resetting the rate immediately to the 2011 level of 7.25 percent.
The agreement came after conference committee negotiations Wednesday. It includes $82 million in room tax revenue allocated to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. That is an increase of $11 million. It also maintains a cap of $93 million on revenue set aside to be divided among counties.
read ... Lawmakers make hotel tax rate permanent
SB573: Lawmakers flunk teachers' tax credit
SA: Citing a lack of funds, lawmakers Thursday killed a proposed tax credit that would have helped teachers offset their out-of-pocket classroom expenses.
Teachers and the Hawaii State Teachers Association had lobbied for the legislation, helping it survive despite concerns from the state Department of Taxation.
Supporting testimony from teachers fell off after the announcement last month of a contract deal that included annual raises of at least 3 percent....
The Tax Foundation of Hawaii cited concerns about the bill, saying the tax system shouldn't be used to compensate teachers and calling the credit a "backdoor pay increase for teachers."
read ... HSTA Got a Raise Already
Alert: Frankenbill HB252 lives on, becomes even more undemocratic
DN: Whatever democracy is left in Hawaii’s state legislative process ends at the conference room door. Anything can (and does happen).
Activists are raising an 11th hour alarm about Conference Draft #1 of HB252 one of this session’s “Frankenbills.” Check it out at the link—geothermal has been mixed in with a Native Hawaiian roll call.
But the legislature hasn’t rested after creating this monster. An amendment that was taken out of the bill on the floor has been stuck back in by the conference committee, according to a report posted on punapono.com.
read ... Alert: Frankenbill HB252 lives on, becomes even more undemocratic
Funding for HGEA, HSTA, UPW Union Contract Agreements Approved
CB: Hawaii lawmakers passed bills in conference committee this morning to fund the pay raises and better health benefits that unions recently negotiated with the state.
Teachers, nurses and correctional workers have the critical legislative support to receive the 3 to 4 percent salary increases and 60/40 split on medical premiums contained in the collective bargaining agreements that UPW, HSTA and HGEA members ratified.
Lawmakers are trying to figure out what initiatives or programs to cut in light of the contract agreements coming in higher than anticipated.
KITV: University of Hawaii HGEA employees ratify contract
read ... Got Theirs First
HGEA Recommends Rejection of Unit 13 Contract
AP: More than 8,000 professional and scientific Hawaii government employees can vote on a settlement offer from the state.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association says the offer doesn't meet the negotiating team's priorities but the union is giving Unit 13 members an opportunity to accept or reject it. Voting is scheduled for Friday through Tuesday.
Terms include 4% salary increases and 60% employer contribution to health insurance premiums.
On Thursday, 2,300 administrative, professional and technical employees of the University of Hawaii overwhelmingly ratified a new 2-year contract.
read ... 8K HI government workers voting on contract offer
$6 to Put 'Entrepreneurs' on Welfare
SA: The Hawaii Growth Initiative, which would encourage entrepreneurs crony capitalists who might help diversify the state's economy, received a $6 million vote of confidence Thursday.
State House and Senate negotiators agreed to provide financing next fiscal year for the Hawaii Strategic Development Corp. to start the initiative. The Abercrombie administration had originally asked for $10 million in fiscal year 2014 and $10 million in fiscal year 2015.
The state money would be used to help mentor entrepreneurs so they can take business ideas to scale while also attracting private-sector investment capital.
"We obviously had a different plan based on a different amount of money, and we'll have to take a look,"said Karl Fooks, president of the Hawaii Strategic Development Corp. "But we're very grateful for the support shown for technology and economic development here in the state, and we'll work hard to justify the confidence."
read ... Entrepreneurs on Welfare
Solar Scammers Thrilled by On-Bill Financing
SA: Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Lanikai-Waimanalo), the lead House negotiator on Senate Bill 1087, called it "a big step forward for renewable energy in Hawaii."
Richard Lim, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, described the bill, which is up for final votes next week, as "the democratization of clean energy."
Utilities have used the bond-financing tool, known as securitization, for more than a decade to pay for environmental improvements to power plants, respond to transmission-line damage from storms and recover the so-called "stranded costs" at power plants when markets are opened to greater competition.
The bonds are secured by the ability of utilities to charge customers to satisfy the bond debt.
Hawaii could be among the first to use the bond-financing tool to help underwrite solar.
"It's a game-changer, that's the best way to put it," said Richard Wallsgrove, program director at the Blue Planet Foundation, a conservation group.
read ... How to Keep Your Electric Bill Just as High as it is Now
Massive Tax Credit Giveaway to Commercial-Scale solar systems
SA: The 35 percent state income tax credit for solar, paired with a 30 percent federal credit, has provided a tempting incentive for many consumers to convert to photovoltaic power systems. The law also capped the tax credit at $5,000 per system, but conflicting tax guidance and opportunistic sales pitches by the solar industry have resulted in consumers installing several systems and claiming multiple tax credits on single properties.
For consumers who install systems of up to 1 megawatt of capacity:
- » 30 percent for systems placed in service before January 2014
- » 25 percent for systems placed in service before January 2016
- » 20 percent for systems placed in service before January 2018
- » 15 percent for systems placed in service after January 2018
For businesses and others that install systems of between 1 and 5 megawatts of capacity for energy production:
- » 8 cents multiplied by the number of kilowatt-hours of energy produced for 10 years for systems installed through 2016
- » 6 cents multiplied by kilowatt-hours produced for 10 years for systems installed through 2020
- » 4 cents multiplied by kilowatt-hours produced for 10 years for systems installed after January 2021
The state Department of Taxation imposed temporary administrative rules in January to contain the tax credit after the cost to the state increased from about $35 million in 2010 to $174 million last year.
Under the compromise, the credit would be reduced to 30 percent this year and gradually lowered to 15 percent by 2018. Consumers could claim the credit on a per-property, rather than a per-system, basis for systems that produce up to 1 megawatt of electricity.
For businesses and others that install larger systems of between 1 and 5 megawatts of capacity, a production tax credit would be available tied to the kilowatt-hours of energy produced for sale or to offset on-site energy demands.
The compromise bill, which is awaiting approval from House and Senate budget negotiators and would be up for final votes next week, would offer an exemption for solar projects in progress at 14 public schools on Kauai. The bill would also exempt projects by the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative from the 5-megawatt cap on the production credit.
read ... Lawmakers near agreement on solar systems tax credit
Lawmakers move weakened news media shield law
SA: State lawmakers Thursday agreed to make permanent a law that offers journalists limited protection from having to disclose confidential sources in court, but bloggers and other nontraditional journalists would be excluded.
The bill would also expand the exceptions to the law beyond felony cases and civil lawsuits that involve defamation. Journalists would be expected to reveal their sources and other information in cases that involve potential felonies and serious crimes against people or animals and in all civil cases.
But House and Senate negotiators agreed to preserve the protection for unpublished information, such as notes, which can discourage so-called "fishing expeditions" by law enforcement into a journalist's work product....
Gerald Kato, a University of Hawaii at Manoa journalism professor, called the bill "a retrograde description of journalism," adding, "It is a 20th-century description of journalism and doesn't deal with the future of journalism."
CB: Media To Lawmakers: Kill The Hawaii Shield Law
ILind: Legislature poised to pass Corporate News Shield Law
read .. Shield Law
Some Good Government Bills Still Alive
CB: Good government measures that remain alive at the 2013 Legislature include House Bill 1132, which requires legislators to file a disclosure of financial interests with the Ethics Commission between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 each year rather than in late May, when the legislative session is over.
The idea is to let the public see whether their lawmakers have any obvious conflict of interest with legislation that they are voting on.
Also alive is Senate Bill 827, which prohibits employers, unions and candidates from assisting voters with completing absentee ballots. SB 827 is intended to ensure voters are not intimidated into selecting candidates they don't want to vote for.
Another measure intended to protect ballot integrity, House Bill 1027, didn't make it; it wanted absentee ballot voters to sign a statement saying no one attempted to influence their vote.
Here's yet another good measure moving along: Senate Bill 31, which would require PACs to disclose top contributors.
These four measures await Friday votes:
- • House Bill 1481, which sets up partial public funding of state House races.
- • Senate Bill 381, which changes the public funding formula for Big Isle county elections.
- • House Bill 632, which makes electronic government data available to the public.
- • House Bill 321, which allows for voter registration on election day.
But Senate Bill 848, which requires a state employee or legislator to disclose all annual income that totals more than their annual salary if that source is a registered lobbyist or lobbying organization, died.
read ... Some Good Government Bills Still Alive
'Federal Carrot' Drives Early Education Debate
CB: ...there’s a federal carrot. The White House is proposing federal/state partnerships to fund early learning programs for low and moderate-income children. However, states must have a program in place in order to be eligible for funds. Hawai‘i should appreciate the timeliness of President Obama and Governor Abercrombie both making early childhood education a priority of their administrations. Our state needs to be ready to join that federal/state partnership.
In terms of a statewide early childhood education program for Hawai‘i’s keiki, the Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL) has a plan and will be working with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to implement it. Since its creation, EOEL has been meeting with Department of Education, DHS and private providers to determine capacity, understand needs and address challenges to implementing a cohesive, statewide early learning system.
Information gathered from these meetings is being used to draft consistent standards and provider eligibility requirements for the first phase, the School Readiness Program (SRP), which will immediately serve the needs of the gap group. Built into the SRP are program measures that EOEL and DHS will use to assess the delivery of services, ensure consistency and hold providers accountable.
EOEL and DHS are developing an application process that is convenient and simplified as much as possible. Once the process is established, public and private partners will be equipped to reach out to families and assist them. Applications will be available to the public starting January 2014.
The School Readiness Program is meant to strengthen a child’s capacity to learn, encourage creativity and curiosity, and lay a foundation for socio-emotional skills. The SRP also lays the groundwork for the full-scale Early Childhood Education Program where program standards will be higher.
EOEL and DHS will work with providers on growing the quality of services and increasing capacity so more children can be served. Under each program, school/family partnerships will be encouraged, boosting a child’s learning and development because a child continues to learn even after he or she leaves a classroom.
Understand This: Abercrombie 'School Readiness' Plan Based on Proven Failure?
read ... Federal Carrot
Campbell High School: 'It's A Cinderblock Oven'
CB: When Campbell first opened in 1962, it served a modest population of plantation families. Little did the state know that Ewa Beach would burgeon as part of Oahu's "second city" — a region that saw its population grow by nearly 19 percent between 2000 and 2010.
Campbell went from being Hawaii's 11th largest school in 2003 to the state's largest in 2009. And enrollment, now at 2,820 students, is still on the rise. Campbell's incoming freshman class is expected to be 50 percent larger than this year's graduating class.
The overcrowding — along with the Leeward side's hot temperatures and Campbell's lack of air conditioning — takes a heavy toll on student learning, teachers say. Class sizes easily top 35 kids....
read ... Campbell
WHT eliminates editor position; Flickinger out
H247: Stephens Media has eliminated the editor position at West Hawaii Today, leaving Reed Flickinger without a job and David Bock serving as the company’s “roving” news director, WHT publisher Tracy Fosso confirmed Thursday afternoon.
After Flickinger left WHT, remaining staff Thursday in the Kona office, including his wife who works in the advertising department, were in tears, and the Big Island journalism community was abuzz, speculating about the meaning.
Tracy Fosso said the decision was “purely economical,” not about Flickinger as a person or his tenure with the company. Flickinger spent 29 years at WHT, and worked his way to management from a reporter position.
Fosso said Stephens Media made “management structure changes.”
She said Bock, as the news director, will oversee the editorial department at WHT “in addition to other Stephens Media publications.”
Asked if Bock will be based at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo as he historically has, Fosso emphasized Bock would be the “Stephens Media Hawaii roving news director.”
(Flickinger was a Democrat hack who openly endorsed candidates based solely on their membership in the Democratic Party. Nobody played more of a role in hyping Kona vs Hilo which was the mechanism by which the GOP in W Hawaii was destroyed. Now that the Dems have consolidated power the old hype is not longer useful and the hypester-in-chief has been dismissed.)
Flickinger in his prime: 'Lost Malihini Tribe' and PASH Aim to Take Over County Council
read ... B-Bye
EarthJustice Operative Joins Bio-Logical Capital
PBN: Bio-Logical Capital, a Colorado-based land investment, development and conservation company, has increased its Hawaii team by adding managers Maxx Phillips and Christin Reynolds.
Phillips is responsible for helping in the community engagement, development and implementation of all Hawaii-based projects. Her prior experience includes work at Earthjustice and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Background:
read ... Some Capitalists are more Equal than Others
Fake Bomb Threat Shuts Down Courthouse
SA: State Sheriff Shawn Tsuha said no explosive material was found in the package and that it never posed any danger.
But he said officials exercised an abundance of caution because a person calling in a bomb threat just after 6 a.m. described a package that was similar to the one later found.
The package was described as about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide and was encased in a plastic bag.
A source familiar with the investigation told the Star-Advertiser that the package, which was on the Ewa side of the Circuit Court building, contained plant fertilizer and a galvanized pipe but no triggering device.
Police declined to say what was found in the package, but said a first-degree terroristic threatening case had been opened. No one was arrested.
read ... Bomb Threat
Another Day, Another Escape
SA: Deputy sheriffs captured a 45-year-old woman Thursday after she allegedly attempted to escape from Honolulu District Court while her legs were shackled.
Elloise Ysaol was to have been arraigned before Judge Lono Lee on a charge of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. Honolulu police arrested her the night before.
Before the arraignment, at about 2:25 p.m., Ysaol — described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 130 pounds — and five other females were being moved by deputy sheriffs in the seventh-floor hallway of District Court when Ysaol allegedly bolted.
Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said Ysaol then fled through an emergency exit door in a secured area between the holding cells and the courtrooms. Deputy sheriffs secured the building while they conducted a search.
She was found in the stairwell of the 11th floor at about 3 p.m.
read ... Public Safety
Visitor numbers up but experts forecast coming slowdown
SA: A 7.6 percent increase in visitor arrivals and a 7.8 percent rise in visitor spending in March kept Hawaii's tourism industry ahead of last year's record numbers, but travel experts warned the growth rate could slow later this year.
...some see signs of a future slowdown. Earlier this week state tourism officials learned that airline schedule reductions in the second half of the year for the core domestic market could stunt industry growth as it moves into 2014.
PBN: When will hotel rates plateau?
read ... Visitor numbers up but experts forecast coming slowdown
CEO pay soars, HEI receives "F" for executive pay
HNN: Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., the parent of the Hawaiian Electric Company, or HECO, recently received an "F" grade for its CEO's salary, the highest in the state.
Glass, Lewis & Co., a proxy advisory firm that's closely followed by Wall Street and institutional investors, said the $5.8 million paid to CEO Constance Lau last year was more than what similar sized utilities paid their bosses.
"Overall, the company paid more than its peers, but performed worse than its peers," the report said. "The company has been deficient in linking executive pay to corporate performance."
Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that Lau's 2012 compensation was nearly $2 million more than what Bank of Hawaii Corp. paid CEO Peter Ho, the state's next highest paid chief executive.
It was more double the amount paid to Hawaiian Air's CEO Mark Dunkerley, the third highest paid CEO in Hawaii....
Local activists have long criticized HEI's executive pay policies, saying that salary increases come at the expense of consumers. They say the raises come at the expense of recent rate increases given to the company's utility subsidiaries.
"More and more there's grumbling about high compensation and the high electricity rates," said Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land.
"At a time when every one is hurting and the CEO is making piles and piles of money, it would be nice to say 'I'm going to hold my salary or I'm going to take a cut.'"
read ... High Electric Rates
Potential buyer would keep Tesoro facility a refinery, official says
SA: The company, which announced the closure of the refinery in January, processed its last shipment of crude oil earlier this week. The company said it will begin laying off 210 of the plant's 240 workers starting Wednesday in a process that is expected to take about two weeks.
"We were told that the company had a couple of interested buyers — one that wants to keep it as a refinery and another that wants to make it a terminal," said Pat Koge, a Tesoro employee and Hawaii unit chairwoman for the United Steel Workers Local 12-591, which represents many of the refinery's workers.
"There is no guarantee that it will stay a refinery, but that is preferable because workers could keep their jobs," Koge said. Some union members who had begun looking for refinery work on the mainland put their job searches on hold to see whether there was a chance refining operations would be restarted at the Kapolei plant, Koge said.
After next week, Tesoro plans to keep a small group of employees to help convert the refinery to an import terminal for refined products. The company also has begun shutting down and preserving the refining equipment in the event a buyer wants to restart refining operations....
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said his office has been monitoring Tesoro's efforts to sell the refinery.
"As talks between Tesoro and the potential buyers of their refinery in Hawaii continue, my office has been in regular contact with the parties, including the United Steel Workers Union, and I am hopeful about the prospects for the refinery's continued use," Schatz said in a prepared statement.
"I am encouraging the discussions to continue and for us to stay focused on sustaining jobs for our people and on avoiding any future economic disruptions."
PBN: "Highly Unlikely" a Buyer Will Emerge
read ... Tesoro
ML&P Pension Bailout Tied to Lipoa Point Purchase
MN: Though the $20M funds have been approved by the state legislative conference committee, a separate measure, House Bill 1424, which mandates that the money received by ML&P must go toward pension funds and absolves the state from any remaining liability, is still making its way through the Legislature. The bill passed through a conference committee Thursday and will be voted on by both chambers Tuesday.
Lawmakers are confident that the measure will pass.
read ... Lawmakers take ‘big step’ in safeguarding Lipoa
Star-Adv: Smoking Ban May Harm Tourism
SA: The first effort at a fix was signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell only a few weeks ago, an ordinance naming seven of Oahu's busiest park areas where people would be barred from lighting up.
But that couldn't be enforced because most of those areas are owned by the state, so a technical amendment was needed.
Bill 25, sponsored by Councilman Ikaika Anderson, was intended to fix that legal issue. However, this measure also expands the smoking ban to all city parks and recreation areas, including auditoriums. City officials would be able to make exceptions, designating smoking areas at some of them, such as the Waikiki Shell and golf courses.
This expansion may not produce the hoped-for success, and the Council should consider reverting to the original, limited trial that named only the ones with the most traffic.
Council Chairman Ernie Martin has introduced Bill 24 to accomplish just that....
smoking zones have continuously contracted for years, and the removal of another permitted area should be phased in, accompanied by public education....
It needs to involve the visitor industry as well: Many tourists, visiting from Japan and elsewhere, are accustomed to smoking publicly. Enlisting them in the effort is essential.
read ... Don't expand smoking ban — yet
QUICK HITS: