Budget Report & Worksheets from Conference Committee
ALERT – Upcoming Votes on Exemption Bills
Does Hawaii Constitution Prohibit Gut and Replace?
(No) Shield Law Passes Conference – Will Limit Our News Sources
Neighborhood Board Ballot Passcodes Sent to Voters
SB1093 Early Education Passes Conference Committee
Honolulu Neighborhood Voting April 26 - May 17
Six Animal-Related Bills Moving Forward
Progressive Frankenbills
PR: Some political insiders have noted wryly...that good-government groups rarely complain about procedural maneuvers when used* to potentially advance legislation supported** by fellow progressives.
Others compare it to the old adage about The Rule of Law:
If the facts are against you, argue the law.
If the law is against you, argue the facts.
If the facts and the law are against you, yell like hell.
*The GMO labeling bill was heard after the Senate suspended its 72-hour notice requirement.
**The civil-unions bill was revived on the last day of session in 2010 after the House suspended the rule that indefinitely postponed action on the bill.
read ... Scary monsters
Conferees Advance Captive Insurance Scheme for EUTF
AP: One proposal creates a timetable to allow the state to pay down the liabilities entirely by 2018.
Hawaii Finance Director Kalbert Young says if the proposal were to pass, it would be a national landmark bill.
Young opposes the second measure, which creates a captive insurance company to manage risk. He says it would be ineffective.
Background: Creative Insolvency: EUTF to Enter ‘Shadow Insurance Industry’?
read ... Shadow Insurance Industry
Hee, AG Conspire to Invent Excuse for Not Counting Military
PR: A proposal to count military members and their dependents in the total population base used for reapportionment and redistricting is likely dead at the Legislature.
The measure, Senate Bill 286, was deferred indefinitely on Thursday.
Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua), the Senate judiciary and labor chairman, said the conference committee received a letter from the deputy attorney general stating that the bill would not have the desired effect. (This is not a new position from the AG.)
SB286 would require reapportionment to be based in part on population data of the total number of permanent residents in the state and it defines "permanent resident" as any individual counted as a "usual resident" in the last preceding U.S. Census.
The state constitution requires reapportionment to be based on the total number of "permanent residents" in the state, but it does not define the term. Because the requirement is set in the constitution, Hee said, the letter from the deputy AG states that a constitutional amendment is required to change the definition to include usual residents.
Based on that, lawmakers shelved the bill.
Related:
read ... No Surprise Here
Hanabusa vs Schatz = Burns vs Gill
PR: Hanabusa campaign source says she has decided to challenge Schatz in 2014 to fill the remaining two years in the term formerly held by U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye.
When asked if he was afraid of a rift developing in the party, Abercrombie -- the titular head of the state Democratic Party -- dismissed the concern.
In a brief interview Thursday in his office, Abercrombie said:
"This is the Democratic Party. I’ve been involved in it for more than half a century. The Democratic Party, by definition, has contests and rivalries and plenty of opportunity for people to put themselves forward as candidates.
"This is nothing new. It goes all the way back to Jack Burns’ days. We’ve always had very, very vigorous contests and opportunities for people to choose who they think best represents the Democratic Party. It’s a history of the Democratic Party, and I think we’re the stronger for it."
read ... Progressives vs Old Boys
Minimum Wage: Unions Refuse 'Tip Credit' Get Nothing
AP: Both Democrat-controlled chambers passed measures earlier this session to increase the wage. Many said the increase would help Hawaii families manage the high cost of living in the islands.
But lawmakers disagreed about several aspects of the measure, including the tip credit employers should receive, how fast the wage should rise and to what level.
Related: How Hawaii Minimum Wage Workers Earn $24.24 per hour
read ... Minimum wage bill dies in Hawaii Legislature
Department of Labor to Regulate Your Home
SA: Hawaii is poised to become the second state, after New York, to grant basic employee rights to in-home domestic workers by ensuring they be eligible for minimum wage, maximum hours and other protections.
House and Senate conference committee members agreed to a bill Thursday that would add domestic workers ... to the state definition of employment.
The statutory change would officially protect domestics from discriminatory practices and cover them under the state's wage and hour law.
"It's really to first and foremost treat people who work in these types of jobs with a minimum level of dignity and respect that they deserve," said Rep. Roy Takumi, a major supporter of the measure.
Domestics — categorized as irregular, casual or intermittent — who work 20 hours or less per week and employees who "provide fellowship, care and protection" for the sick or seniors would not be covered under Hawaii's proposed law.
The state currently excludes "services by an individual employed as a domestic in the home of any person" from its definition of employment —
but it's not alone....
New York passed its "Domestic Workers Bill of Rights" in 2010, and Poo said Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, California, Texas and soon Ohio are considering workforce protections for domestic workers along with Hawaii....
protecting domestic workers is important because they make up one of the fastest-growing workforces in the country. With the baby boomer generation continuing to age, she said it's estimated that 27 million Americans are going to need caregivers by the year 2050 just to meet their basic daily needs.
"This workforce is just going to continue to grow, the demand for it is going to continue to grow, and this measure will help stabilize and secure unionize the workforce," she said. (Coming soon: Hiring halls)
As Explained: SB535: Illegal to Fire Your Child’s Babysitter
read ... Bill would give domestic workers wage and employment protections
Preschool program gets shelved
SA: Uncomfortable with Gov. Neil Abercrombie's early-education initiative, state lawmakers Friday decided to expand an existing state child care program rather than embark on state-funded preschool.
Lawmakers would provide $6 million in fiscal year 2015 to expand Preschool Open Doors, a child care program overseen by the state Department of Human Services. The money would serve about 900 low-income 4-year-olds who would otherwise have been eligible for junior kindergarten, which is being eliminated at public schools in the 2014-15 school year.
"The state of Hawaii can now demonstrate its commitment to preparing our youth by ensuring that high-quality child care and early education will be available, accessible and affordable," the governor said in a statement. "The priority will be to serve the low-income and some middle-income families. We are pleased that the amount provided by the Legislature will allow us to serve the children with the highest need, those most at risk of not attending a preschool program."
The Abercrombie administration had wanted about $25 million for a school readiness program that would have served 3,500 4-year-olds who would miss out on junior kindergarten.
read ... Consolation Prize
'Reopener Clause' -- HSTA Contract Price to Rise in 2014
SA: Lawmakers on Thursday signed off on $116 million to pay for raises and health benefits built into the first two years of the contract that teachers overwhelmingly approved last week.
The full four-year agreement will cost about $330 million in general funds and could cost upward of $370 million from all funding sources, state Budget Director Kalbert Young has estimated.
The contract's price tag is likely to climb under a "reopener clause" included in the agreement that will allow the Hawaii State Teachers Association to negotiate in 2014 for increased compensation once a salary study called for in the contract is completed and presented to lawmakers.
The funding measure — House Bill 820 — was passed out of conference committee Thursday but still needs approval from the full Legislature.
read ... HB820
Hawaii committee OKs school land development bill
AP: The proposal allows the Board of Education to move forward with three projects.
Negotiations became increasingly tense Friday as the day wore on and lawmakers from the House and Senate debated different aspects of the bill. House and Senate lawmakers initially disagreed on the number of projects that should be allowed and the timeline for executing them.
House lawmakers had proposed five projects compared to the Senate's two.
SA: Development on school land OK'd
Read ... School Lands
Tax Credits: 5% Boost for Billionaire Movie Moguls
HNN: State lawmakers voted Friday to increase Hawaii's film tax credit by five percent and extend the sunset date from 2016 to 2019.
Three bills went before lawmakers this session that deal with the state's tax credit for the film industry.
"We have to very careful that we respect and protect the confidential nature of what they're doing at this point because they're looking at a lot of different places," she said.
read ... Its Secret
House Kills Geothermal 'FrankenBill' Favored By Hawaii Senate
CB: House Bill 252 was pushed by Sen. Malama Solomon, who argues that geothermal energy is the future of Hawaii in terms of bringing down energy costs.
The problem was that the bill was a so-called Frankenstein measure, containing the language of two separate measures. The bill originally dealt only with the Native Hawaiian roll commission.
Angry with the Senate's insertion of the geothermal language into HB 252, House conferees led by Rep. Chris Leedeferred the measure indefinitely, meaning the measure is almost certainly not coming back this session....
Senate conferees led by Sen. Brickwood Galuteria and Solomon tried to keep the bill alive all day....
The fate of HB 252 began to hold up other measures, and as the 6 p.m. deadline approached, discussions intensified. Several sources said Solomon would kill about a half-dozen measures that she had control over if the House did not agree to HB 252.
Finally, around 5:40 p.m. or so, the conferees gathered one last time in a packed conference committee room, but the dejected look on the faces of Galuteria and Solomon strongly gave away the news: HB 252 would not make it out of conference committee.
Lee told the Senate members that the House "appreciated" the work of the other chamber on HB 252 but that his chamber had reached "an impasse" on the measure. He asked Galuteria and Solomon to try again next year.
Galuteria defended HB 252, saying senators had taken "great pains" to make sure the bill comported with legislative rules. He rejected the notion that the bill was a gut and replace job and said it was in fact merely an addition to another bill that dealt with the same topic: "related to government — the widest title we could ever possibly find," he explained.
Galuteria, the Senate majority leader, also said HB 252 has been approved by Senate legal counsel and had broad support. He described the bill's deferral as a "lost opportunity" to move the state forward on geothermal development.
"We end up throwing the baby out with the bathwater, which is very unfortunate," he said. "Geothermal is here to stay, and the sooner we get there, the better."
Related: HB252: Video Mocks Sen Galuteria's Frankenstein Bill
read ... Frankenstein Lives ... Not!
PPPA Killed in Conference
AP: Hawaii lawmakers have killed a measure that would have created a new agency called the Public-Private Partnership Authority.
A committee of negotiators met Friday and decided to defer the bill. Lawmakers could still take up the bill next year because Hawaii has a biennial session.
The proposal would have allowed the agency to coordinate with private companies to start three pilot projects, including building a new film studio and starting main street project in Wahiawa in rural Oahu.
read ... Bye-bye PPPA
HB1481 Public Funds for Candidates Killed in Conference
From Voter Owned Hawaii: We regret to report that HB 1481 was killed in conference committee....
When we know more about how and why the bill was killed, we will email and let you know. Technically, the bill is still alive and will be carried over to next year, but that means little at this point.
Related: Study: 'Clean Elections' Often Favor Corrupt Incumbents Against Upstart Challengers
Lawmakers reduce UH budget by $7 million, eliminate 100 positions
AP: State House and Senate budget conferees this week decided to reduce the amount of tax money going to UH Manoa from $197 million a year to $190 million a year, a $7 million dollar reduction equal to a three-and-a-half percent cut.
Senate Ways and Means Chair David Ige said the reduction has nothing to do with increased scrutiny after the failed Stevie Wonder concert. He said UH can use money from tuition hikes to cover the $7 million loss.
"As you know, the tuition is highest at the Manoa campus, and their 5-percent increase in tuition generates about $10 million in additional income," Ige said. Tuition has gone up each of the last five years.
UH Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple reacted to the cuts this way: "While I believe higher education is a great investment, I do understand that there's a need to balance various priorities, so we'll try to do the best we can and keep providing a really high-quality educational opportunity."
UH Manoa has already seen annual support from the state's general fund decline by $46 million since 2008, and Apple hopes this latest cut won't affect classroom instruction.
He said the campus will have to "Try to improve efficiencies, as you probably know, we've been working a lot this year on trying to figure out how to best use our resources, our position counts and things like that."
State lawmakers are also eliminating 100 vacant, unfunded jobs at UH campuses statewide, some of which have been unfilled for ten, 15 and even twenty years....
UH has 500 vacant jobs in total, more than half the number of vacant positions at all state departments, even though the university has just 20 percent of the employees, Ige said.
read ... 20% Accountability
HB634 Dies in Conference, Would Have Required New Owner to Keep All Employees
HR: House Bill 634 — the “successive owner” legislation — would have forced people purchasing a business to retain all employees. The legislation designated the restriction on businesses with 100 or more employees, but could have easily be lowered this year or in future years to affect companies with considerably fewer employees....
The bill was killed in conference committee on Friday evening.
Organizations such as the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Maui Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, Retail Merchants of Hawaii and Smart Business Hawaii, opposed the measure....
The AFL-CIO and ILWU Local 142 - and legislators they helped elect - supported the legislation, saying it would create “job security” and remove stress and uncertainty from the lives of employees facing transition.
Related: HB634 Obstructs Sale of Businesses With Over 100 Employees
read ... HB634
Extended Foster-care bill set for final vote
SA: Foster youth in Hawaii may soon have a chance to receive care until age 21 under a bill that cleared conference committee with unanimous support and is headed to the floor for final approval.
Senate Bill 1340 allows the state to extend support for foster children who would like it past age 18, the current cutoff. To receive help, they would need to be in school or a training program or working part time.
"There's a very high percentage of foster youth, once they become 18, who are placed in a very difficult situation, and many of them become homeless," said Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland
read ... Foster
Bill may ease mail-order prescriptions requirement
MN: House Bill 65, which would allow prescription drug beneficiaries to purchase medications from local pharmacists or alternative retailers like Walgreens, Costco or Walmart, cleared its last committee hearing Friday and will see a final floor vote by both houses of the Legislature on Tuesday.
Currently, all state and county workers and beneficiaries who are on "maintenance drugs," drugs that must be taken regularly to mediate ailments like high-blood pressure, asthma and diabetes, must get their drugs through the mail from the designated pharmacy - CVS?Pharmacy, or Longs Drugs. The mail-order prescriptions can also be picked up at a CVS or Longs store, but only during designated hours, said Svetin.
read ... Prescriptions
Refinery bid delays layoffs at Tesoro
SA: Tesoro Corp. has put on hold plans to lay off 210 workers at its Kapolei refinery while it pursues negotiations with a potential buyer that would continue refining operations at the facility, a company spokesman said Friday.
The decision represents a change of course from Tesoro's announcement in late February that it expected to begin laying off the workers next week as part of a closure of the refinery.
Tesoro processed its last barrel of crude oil earlier this week as it pressed ahead with plans to convert the refinery into a facility to import refined petroleum products for its Hawaii customers....
at least one buyer has emerged that wants to continue refining operations at the Kapolei plant. Tesoro is continuing to negotiate with that party as well as with at least one other that wants to buy the nonrefinery assets.
read ... Tesoro
Prisoners Used to Promote Prison Construction
WHT: In the past four years, some 25 inmates have performed scores of presentations, including one on Maui and, now, two on Hawaii Island, said WCCC Warden Mark Patterson. The group currently consists of four inmates who have to meet rigorous criteria, including an audition before current members.
The intent is to raise awareness about what is leading women and children into Hawaii’s correctional system, said Patterson. Of the 300 inmates at WCCC, 100 hail from the neighbor islands, he said. Across the street, at the Youth Correctional Center, 65 percent are from the neighbor islands.
“Why are there so many of our women, boys and girls being sent to Oahu from a population of only 200,000 or 300,000?” he asked rhetorically. “What do the neighbor islands not have that Oahu does that they have to send their women and children.”
“Prison Monologues” grew out of a creative writing class taught twice annually by Pat Clough, who travels from California, he said. About a decade ago, Clough interacted with several inmates cleaning a Kailua, Oahu, beach and subsequently volunteered to teach the class. She also publishes inmates’ work in a book called Hulihia, which means “to transform.”
read ... Sales Pitch
Police arrest man in connection with suspicious backpack in Waikiki
HNN: Police evacuated that part of the shopping center and closed Kalakaua Avenue between Lewers Street and Royal Hawaiian Avenue as a precaution during the investigation.
A remote-controlled robot was used to X-ray the backpack. Shortly afterward, a bomb squad technician wearing safety gear examined the backpack and determined that there were no explosives inside. Police then gave the all-clear and reopened the area at 5 p.m.
Borges said the suspect was arrested "because of the behavior and what he did. it was really suspicious. It wasn't a mistake. He actually intended to scare people, so we arrested him terroristic threatening in the second degree."
Arrest records identified the suspect as Trenton Christensen. He has no local address.
read ... Tried to Scare People
Hawaii Gears Up for First Satellite Launch
SP: The first space liftoff from the state of Hawaii is scheduled for October to launch a satellite designed by University of Hawaii faculty and students in Honolulu.
A Super Strypi missile will loft the HiakaSat, lifting off from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. According to officials, the 110-pound (50 kilograms) HiakaSat is a hoped-for prelude to the launch of small satellites on a routine basis.
For the state's first space launch, the University of Hawaii's Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) is the contractor for the launch facility, the satellite booster's three stages, and the spacecraft itself.
read ... Satellite
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