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UPW Makes Excuses for Wrecking HHSC Hospital Deal
SA Column by UPW Boss Dalton Nakanelua, edited to enhance accuracy:
Dr. Ali Bairos, chairman of the West Hawaii Regional Board of the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. (HHSC), made some very concerning truthful remarks in a recent commentary ("Unions are the main reason state hospitals are broke," April 10, Star-Advertiser, Island Voices) that require context.
He stated that the unions and a "gutless Legislature" have made House Bill 1483 impotent — it would have allowed for the privatization of HHSC by Banner Health — but failed to mention why this bill was so drastically amended and why some interested parties might have had concerns all of the excuses we have.
The movement toward a takeover of Hilo, Kona and Maui facilities by Banner Health was hurtling forth at a speed that left many unanswered questions in its wake. (HHSC has only been talking about privatization for three or four years now.) During subsequent hearings on the privatization bills, it was unclear what services could be cut, how many staff would be let go, (translation: UPW might lose jobs and that is intolerable) and whether this public-private partnership was financially feasible and in the best interest of the future of this state for more than the short term. (translation: UPW might lose jobs and that is intolerable)
As for the issue of HHSC staff taking 75-80 percent of revenue, here is some context: The outer island facilities are based in communities that rely disproportionately on Medicaid/Medicare and in which a larger health system is financially unviable. But there cannot be a void where there should be a hospital, so our state government built a safety-net health care system that would provide for the most vulnerable in our communities. (Translation: We at UPW know legislators will always bail out HHSC so we don't care.)
It is also relevant to note that union members' wages are indeed "relatively low" — compared to both private health care systems in Hawaii and health care systems on the mainland, where the cost of living is not as high. (Translation: Low pay allows UPW to pad the payroll thus generating ore dues money and controlling more voters.)
We ask that a complex situation be examined further than concluding that unions are big, bad and greedy. (We just blew the sister isles chance to have decent hospitals. Don't you dare accuse us.)
No one (except UPW and HGEA) believes that the HHSC is a "works program."
We don't have a PR machine, "legislative minions" or any and the intention of holding the future of health care hostage so just get used to it.
read ... Effort to privatize state hospitals begged many questions
Obamacare Just a 'Stepping Stone'
KGI: Tom Matsuda, Affordable Care Act implementation manager for Gov. Neil Abercrombie, told the Filipino Chamber of Commerce ....
Matsuda is tasked to help state government agencies interpret federal law regarding ACA as it stands to effect various department operations. He also explained how large and small businesses would adjust to scope of changes from something so “ambitious and huge.”
The plan is to continue developing a comprehensive health care plan that improves the health of the population.
“We view the Affordable Care Act as a stepping stone to make that happen,” he said....
Ninety people from the public and private sector around the state, are working in eight groups to prepare a draft plan to implement the ACA in Hawai‘i. After presenting it for public response in July, a final draft will go to the governor for approval to submit with the federal application in September, he said.
The task force makes notes of where improvement is needed, he said.
Some concerns are with physician availability, and the streamlining of a system that encompasses several insurance plans, and with adjusting large business standards from 50 employees as it stands now in Hawai‘i, to the federal level of 100.
Small businesses will not be required to provide insurance for their employees. The ACA will require individuals and the self-employed to use an online health exchange that works in the same way the travel sites present several airline options in one search.
read ... Preparing Kaua‘i for Obamacare
Tax Hike: Keep room tax at 9.25 percent
SA: Until very recently, nearly all news involving Hawaii's tourism industry was golden....Now come signs of market correction: A reduction of flights is expected in the second half of this year, worrying state tourism officials about a stunt in growth....
Lawmakers have advanced Senate Bill 1194, which would make permanent the current 9.25 percent transient accommodations tax, also called the hotel room tax; it cleared conference talks Wednesday and heads to full floor vote....
Earlier this session, the Abercrombie administration had floated the prospect of a 11.25 percent hotel room tax, but that was a virtual non-starter, fraught with economic unknowns. Now, with the imminent cooling of airlift to Hawaii, the 9.25 percent seems, in the words of Finance Committee chairwoman Rep. Sylvia Luke, "a good compromise. … The important portion was increasing the allocation to Hawaii Tourism Authority to allow them to do marketing, especially in the next few years as the market is going to be soft." (Tax Hike Two Step. Pretend to call for a higher tax in order to win support for extension of the existing hike. Who could be fooled?)
Indeed, targeted marketing will play a critical role in drumming up business to fill those empty airplane seats. Hawaiian, United, Alaska and Allegiant airlines all will be cutting capacity to Hawaii in the fall after rapid expansions resulted in a glut of empty seats. (Yup. Taxes are good for the tourism industry. Really.)
read ... TAT Was Slated to Decrease, Therefore This is a Tax Hike
Omidyar Backs Preschool Voucher Program
SA column by Pam Omidyar and Castle Foundation's Terry George: For decades, Hawaii's patchwork quilt of early learning programs has been built on the backs of hardworking parents, with a bit of help from the federal government and support from philanthropies — none more so than Kamehameha Schools.
Once Hawaii has created its state-funded system, parents will still pay what they can in this public-private partnership. The federal government has just announced a plan to give funds to those states that have an existing preschool program.
Philanthropy will still do its part as well, continuing to take risks on funding innovative advances that best serve our keiki and families.
No doubt several foundations and trusts will build the capacity of preschools to serve more kids, help train teachers and ensure that faith-based programs can continue.
We all want the best for each child so they can be healthy, happy and compete well in the new global economy. But prioritizing our keiki requires deepening the partnership among public, private and social sectors.
read ... Plan to provide early education is strong, fiscally responsible
Legislature Kills Same-Day Voter Registration
SA: After discussing a slew of election-related bills this session, lawmakers agreed on HB1147 that will require political action committees to disclose in all advertisements the names of the top three donors that contributed to the message.
Senate and House conferees also agreed on a bill that requires the state Elections Commission to conduct a performance evaluation of the chief election officer after each election, and killed bills that would have ramped up the state's public financing program for elections and allowed voter registration at absentee polling places....
The bill now goes before the full House and Senate chambers for a final vote before being sent to the governor for signing.
A separate measure aimed at increasing election transparency got the boot from legislators last week. House Bill 1481 would have substantially increased the amount of public funding available to qualifying candidates running for the state House of Representatives. Supporters lauded it as a way to free candidates from the pressure to please big-money donors....
Legislators also killed a bill that would have permitted voter registration at absentee polling places....
The original draft of House Bill 321 proposed allowing voter registration at polling places on Election Day. The Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee, led by Hee, amended it to apply only to absentee polling places that close days before the election occurs.
Hee expressed concern during the bill's final conference committee hearing Friday that its language didn't necessarily prohibit registration on Election Day.
"The idea is a very good idea," Hee said. "However, the translation of a good idea into success requires taking care of each aspect of each element of the elections. Quite frankly, I don't think the Senate or the public in general has the confidence of the Office of Elections, given their track record, so there's time to work on a good bill."
Legislators did agree last week on (the Romy Cachola) bill that aims to prevent ballot-tampering by banning employers, unions, candidates and their agents from helping voters fill out absentee ballots.
House Bill 827 also will require absentee voters to affirm by signature that they completed their ballot without help or influence from someone associated with their employer, labor union or any candidate listed on the ballot....
Senate Bill 853 requiring performance evaluations of Chief Election Officer now heads to the House and Senate for final approval....
read ... Top Three Donors
PUC 'Black Box', 'Rubber Stamp for HECO'
CB: I just finished reading the transcript of the “open session” the Public Utilities Commission hosted last month: the format included a lively conversation between moderator Maurice Kaya (project director for Hawaii Renewable Energy Development Venture) and lawyer/consultant/“guest presenter,” Scott Hempling....
I learned a lot from this transcript. I learned from the results of a PUC-conducted survey that those respondents who practice before the PUC (such as the HECO companies) think the PUC is doing the best it can with limited resources. The rest of us though, the general public, ratepayers and taxpayers, described the PUC process as “incompetent,” a “rubber stamp for HECO,” not one that “listens to the public,” is “opaque” and operates “in a black box.”
read ... Friends of Lanai
Kailua airman one of four killed in Afghanistan plane crash
SA: The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash.
Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka of Kailua was killed when an MC-12 aircraft went down. He was assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, California. He was 30 years old.
The other three airmen killed in the crash were Capt. Brandon L. Cyr of Woodbridge, Virginia, Staff Sgt. Richard A. Dickson of Rancho Cordova, California, and Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin of Morehead Kentucky
read ... Crash
Annual Veterans Parade won’t be held this year
HTH: The popular, annual November parade won’t be held this year due to the construction along Kamehameha Avenue, a key part of the six-year-old parade route, said the parade’s chairman and founder, Dan Kama.
The county Department of Public Works will begin work on the project in September, said DPW spokeswoman Noelani Whittington.
Kama said he looked at alternative routes but couldn’t find one suitable for the parade.
read ... Annual Veterans Parade won’t be held this year
Secret Law Hides Public Records?
CB: State officials say they've recently discovered a conflict in state law that requires them to leave the public in the dark about government employees who are guilty of certain types of misconduct.
They've decided to withhold information that they admit should be made available under Hawaii's public records law, the Uniform Information Practices Act, at least until they work through the issue.
And even though they say there's a law that requires confidentiality in certain cases, they won't say what it is. That would effectively be the same as releasing the information they’re trying to keep secret, they say.
Sound convoluted? It is.
read ... One Hawaii Law Requires Misconduct Disclosure, One Hides It
Has Hawaii Given Up On Lobbying Congress?
CB: According to federal lobbyist disclosure forms, Hawaii's local governments, corporations and organizations spent only $960,000 on federal lobbying last year, less than half of the $2.6 million they spent in 2009. And according to the disclosure reports filed with the U.S. House and Senate before the April 20 filing deadline, the reduction in lobbying has continued this year. Local organizations reported spending $230,000 on lobbying during the first quarter of this year as compared to $285,000 during the same period last year.
A number of factors appear to be at play, including the decline in federal earmarks to political roadblocks facing the long-sought federal recognition for Native Hawaiians. As a result, some in the state have changed strategy, moving away from traditional lobbying toward what they consider more productive forms of advocacy.
Though no one is explicitly backing off from the push for Native Hawaiian federal recognition, lobby disclosure forms show much less money being spent to try to push that bill through Congress. During the height of spending in 2009, Hawaii's Democratic delegation were part of a Democratic majority in both the U.S. House and Senate. Republicans now control the House. While Hawaii lost significant political power with the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye and the retirement of Sen. Daniel Akaka, the reduction in lobbyist spending began before their departures.
Federal lobby disclosure records show lobbyist-spending by Hawaii-based interests have declined sharply in recent years. Take Kamehameha Schools. The organization spent $640,000 on federal lobbying in 2009, the largest amount of any Hawaii entity that year. Last year, records show, the group only spent $20,000 on federal lobbying. Federal disclosure forms show Kamehameha has spent no money on lobbying this year.
read ... No Inouye, No Lobby
City Council measure would prohibit smoking at bus stops
SA: A new proposal before the City Council would add bus stops to the growing number of places a person can't smoke on Oahu.
Councilman Ron Menor said he introduced Bill 28 (2013) ... It already is illegal to smoke at bus stops that have a roof and three walls.
read ... Smoking
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