Hanabusa Formally Enters 2014 Senate Primary Race
House GOP: 'Legislature closes fiscally conservative session'
NRA: Contact the Governor and Request his Veto of Senate Bill 69
Rep. Johanson, Minority Leader – Closing Remarks – May 2013
Reuters columnist disparages the Jones Act, but can’t see any way to repeal it
Removal of "Occupy," an Attack on "International Workers Day"
Widow: Inouye Began Grooming Hanabusa After She Teamed up with Mehau, Booted Bronster
POLITICO: “Shortly after she was elected President of the Hawaii State Senate, Dan recognized that Colleen was more than capable of succeeding him and he began to mentor her,” Irene Hirano Inouye said in a statement. “His last wish was that Colleen serve out his term because he was confident in her ability to step into the Senate and immediately help Hawaii. I am honoring one of his last requests, and look forward to supporting Colleen on the campaign trail.”
Borreca: Hanabusa is likely to argue that she is ... comfortable with tough politics
SA: Hanabusa said the difference is that she rose to leadership positions in the state Senate
How Hanabusa became Senate President >>> Cayetano: Hanabusa's Broken Trust connections lead to Ko Olina
read ... Daniel Inouye's widow endorses Colleen Hanabusa over Brian Schatz
Hawaii political establishment is about to find itself in a fight — with itself
Borreca: Hanabusa is likely to have the full support and active campaigning help of Inouye's widow, Irene, as well as the assistance of his former local chief of staff Jennifer Sabas and loyal Democrats such as philanthropist and businessman Walter Dods. That trio could put on some fairly powerful coffee hours for Hanabusa.
Over in the Schatz camp, Chuck Freedman, the longtime Democratic Party mainstay and former assistant to Gov. John Waihee, is already on staff. So is Andy Winer, the local attorney, Democratic Party leader and veteran of the Obama administration.
Winer has been the Democrats' secret weapon in more than a decade of state races and has kept current on the latest high-tech campaign techniques.
The problem with handicapping the race by team roster is that Winer, Dods, Freedman and Sabas in the past have all been on the same team. Inouye had operatives like Sabas and Dods doing the heavy lifting in the backroom and Winer running the ground game. They were all on the same side. Winer ran Sen. Mazie Hirono's campaign last year and Akaka's race against Case. Dods is the former campaign chairman for the campaigns of both Inouye and former Gov. George Ariyoshi. Now they are all choosing different sides.
Hawaii political establishment is about to find itself in a fight — with itself.
read ... U.S. Senate race splits veteran Dem operatives
Clayton Hee: I am Democracy Itself; Killing Shield Law Like Passing Civil Unions
PR: State Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate's judiciary and labor committee, on Thursday responded to critics who laid the death of Hawaii's news media "shield law" at his feet....
Jeff Portnoy, a media attorney with the Hawaii Shield Law Coalition, called the gutted version of the bill an "abomination," and blamed its demise on Hee's disdain and distrust of the media....
Hee, in a floor speech Thursday, said such criticism from Portnoy and others, “indicts Democracy, and it’s unfortunate.” He noted that the conference draft came after much give and take with House negotiators and was voted out each step of the way.
To some who questioned whether Democracy, itself, was at stake, Hee recited a famous quote about the "ship of Democracy."
"The ship of Democracy has weathered many storms. ...
(*Hee attributed the quote to Grover, the Sesame Street Muppet, although a cursory Google search appears to attribute it to Grover Cleveland. Hee's floor speech here.)
SA: Bad moves kill media shield law
VIDEO: Clayton Hee: Democracy Is So Overrated
read ... The ship of Democracy
Legislative Wrapup
Session Done, But Is Hawaii Speaker Consolidating Power?
CB: On the last day of the 2013 legislative session, Democrats in charge of the Hawaii House of Representatives took the rare step of adding four more members to leadership posts.
All four representatives have been supporters of Calvin Say, the speaker emeritus, and not Speaker Joe Souki.
Derek Kawakami and Ty Cullen were named assistant majority leaders, Henry Aquino was named policy leader and Ryan Yamane was named majority whip, the House's fourth.
Is Souki consolidating his power? And are Republicans, who formed a coalition with Souki supporters to get the necessary 26 votes to appoint him speaker, losing what little clout they have?....
In addition to Souki, the real power in the current House lies with Scott Saiki, the majority leader, and Sylvia Luke, the finance chairwoman. Saiki and Luke led the group of House dissidents who, after years of failed efforts, finally knocked Say from his perch in January.
Vice Speaker John Mizuno and Majority Floor Leader Karen Awana are former Say supporters who now back Souki. Same goes for Karl Rhoads, who was rewarded with the Judiciary Committee chair for switching sides.
Majority Whips Sharon Har and Ken Ito, however, remain Say loyalists. The other whip, Romy Cachola, cast his support with Souki when he was elected last year; having previously served in the House, he has long relations with both Say and Souki.
read ... Session Done, But Is Hawaii Speaker Consolidating Power?
Star-Adv Eager to Eliminate More Republicans
SA: He undoubtedly sees it as his best course toward reclaiming the North Shore seat he lost in last fall's primary to Republican Richard Fale. It's hard to get much of a turnout in a Republican primary, and Fale has a lot of the GOP vote locked up in some of the district's more conservative, largely Mormon communities.
In a state where the minority party struggles to stay afloat, there's not a lick of difference between Hawaii's fairly liberal Republicans and the more conservative Democrats.
If Riviere's switcheroo pays off at the ballot box, it will be interesting to see if any more dominoes fall: GOP legislators who choose moving into the big tent over staying out in the cold.
read ... Our Unbiased Media
Precisely as Predicted: DoTax Accelerates HART Payments now that Legislature Adjourned
SA: Honolulu rail officials reported a third-quarter turnaround Thursday on how much cash the massive project is collecting. They also offered a rosier forecast for how much its yearlong construction delay will cost.
The elevated rail transit project received $55.3 million in state general excise tax revenue from January to March — about $4.3 million more than the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation had anticipated, HART board Finance Chairman Don Horner announced during a joint meeting with the board's project oversight committee.
GET dollars are projected to cover more than two-thirds of the 20-mile rail line's $5.26 billion cost. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.
Even with that better-than-expected haul in the third quarter, HART received $33 million less in GET revenue than it had anticipated in the previous six months, so the project is still about $29 million behind on its revenue projections for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The discrepancy, state officials say, generally stems from the state Department of Taxation being short-staffed — leading to a delay between what the state reports collecting and the processing of the actual tax returns.
read ... Just like 2011
HART Ices Out Hawaiian-Owned Contractors
CB: There’s concern that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is skirting its promise to hire small, disadvantaged businesses to help design and build the city’s $5.26 billion rail project.
Federal law requires that HART implement a “disadvantaged business enterprise” program to help small businesses with large numbers of minority workers compete with large contractors.
This requirement is based on the fact that HART is receiving federal transportation funds ....
During today’s joint Finance and Project Oversight Committee meeting, the HART board was informed that it’s lagging behind its goal of hiring DBE’s, and at least one local businessman said contractors haven’t hired a single Hawaii-based DBE.
read ... OHA Cronies Iced
City sues owners of two properties lying in rail system’s path
PBN: The lawsuits seek to resolve negotiations that have gone on for up to two years.
The latest lawsuit, filed this week on behalf of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, is against Stuart Plaza Investments. A week earlier, HART sued landowners Richard and Karen Lee.
The city seeks to use its powers of eminent domain to condemn and take ownership of the properties.....
read ... City sues owners of two properties lying in rail system’s path
U.S. Court Dismisses Hawaii Jones Act Claims
GC: The court...determined that the plaintiff’s merely assert a generalized disagreement with the Jones Act and unsubstantiated claims of economic harm allegedly caused by it, and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.
read ... U.S. Court Dismisses Hawaii Jones Act Claims
How Protectionism Hurts Hawaii: Why It's Time to Repeal the Jones Act
Reason: "What would an enemy want to do to the people of Hawaii during war time?" asks Ken Schoolland, professor of economics at Hawaii Pacific University and scholar at the Grassroot Institute. "They would want to cut us off from international shipping. Well, this is what the law does to us all the time."
read ... Reason
Appeals court schedules August hearing on rail injunction
SA: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today granted a request by rail opponents to expedite their appeal seeking to stop the transit project.
The federal case is scheduled to be heard the week of August 12 in San Francisco, according to a message posted on the case docket today.
CB: Honolulu Rail Appeal Gets Expedited Hearing In 9th Circuit
read ... August 11, 2013
Convicted killer's life sentence changed to 20-year term
SA: A jury found Glenn Keohokapu, Jr. guilty of manslaughter in the June 2008 stabbing death of Steven Wilcox during a confrontation outside Club Komo Mai in Kaneohe.
The same jury found Keohokapu eligible for a life prison term with the possibility for parole and a state judge imposed the extended term sentence in June 2009.
The normal penalty for manslaughter is 20 years in prison.
The Hawaii Supreme Court overturned the life sentence last year because the trial court told the jurors that Keohokapu could get parole under the 20-year sentence and allowed improper testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial.... (any excuse)
read ... Soft on Crime
Honor, Courage And Commitment
CB: I spent four hours today with 25 wounded warriors and their families. A team of talented instructors and I introduced them to the game of golf. They suffer from a variety of physical and mental aches and pains; our intention was to introduce another form of therapy and provide them with an escape for a few hours.
It’s important and, usually, very satisfying work. But all day today, the sick feeling in my stomach grew and grew. I had heard the news: The governor and mayor announced that they want the Natatorium War Memorial demolished.
Although I too, am a veteran of 30 years service, with deployments to Southwest Asia and the Middle East, I could hardly bear to face these brave, wounded men and women as a citizen of a city and state that had just decided to tear down a war memorial.
Yeah, sure, the Natatorium commemorates World War I, and that was a long time ago. But these wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan signed up for duty with the same selfless patriotism that characterized those World War I volunteers of 1917. Will we abandon their war memorials a century from now?
read ... Honor, Courage And Commitment
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