Those highlighted in yellow have voted to increase the most regressive of all Hawaii taxes.  The hike in the GE Tax will hit low and middle income consumers hard.  Save this list for November 6, 2012.

With the prospect of a government shutdown looming, some in Congress have rightly devoted special attention to ensuring our military remains fully funded....  

 Later this afternoon, the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony from leaders in the armed forces on the impact of last year's repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

After two years of marketing the alleged horrors of the non-existent “Pacific Garbage Patch”, environmentalists, big business, and big government are ready to cash in.

Details of the two-year contract from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013 include:

• An equal contribution (50/50) for public workers’ health benefits between public employees and the State and county governments 
• A 5 percent reduction in base pay for public employees without furlough days or layoffs

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald appointed Lanson K. Kupau, Melanie Mito May and Dean E. Ochiai to the District Court and Catherine H. Remigio to the District Family Court of the First Circuit (Oahu).

At 4 p.m., the House Finance Committee will be hearing testimony on Senate Bill 1363....

It's time for action and leadership, not press conferences and finger pointing.

The HTA forecasts moderate growth in total scheduled nonstop air seats to Hawaii in the second quarter .....

There will be no formal hearing before the committee. In the past such testimony has given clues about divisions among the thieves attempting to steal the Hawaiian patrimony for themselves.

Rep. Gene Ward (R-Hawaii Kai – Kalama Valley) today issued a warning to the public not to believe the latest threats by the Senate as well as the Hawaii’s public labor unions that an increase in the general excise tax (GET) is the only option on the table.

Lingle froze most state hiring, put a stop to state travel and told her department heads to refrain from non-essential equipment purchases and supplies.

Urging Abercrombie to do the same, House GOP also recommended Abercrombie delay his proposed budget increases, which would bring the state’s two year operating budget to $23 billion.

Despite the efforts of the American Association of Retired Persons, Rep. Barbara Marumoto and dozens of individuals, bills to tax pension income continue to progress through the Hawaii State Legislature.

Election Day is November 6, 2012.  It’s a redistricting year: All 76 will be up for reelection.

We’ll be making a list. 

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has appointed Edmund D. Acoba as District Court Judge in the Fifth Circuit (Kauai).  Acoba fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Calvin Murashige.

Hawaii Republican Party Chairman Jonah Kaauwai said, “Now that President Obama has announced that he will be seeking a second term, voters in Hawaii and across the Nation need to ask themselves if they are better off now than they were two and a half years ago."

No budget in decades has had the potential for so fundamentally improving the nation's prosperity and restoring its vast promise.

$6.2 Trillion in cuts from Obama's budget over the next decade....

According to sources at Honolulu Hale, Mayor Carlisle is pushing for Todd Apo, former Honolulu County Council Chair, to be one of his nominees to serve on the newly-created Transit Authority.  Apo is making the rounds speaking to his former colleagues.  But before Carlisle acts, he may want to ask himself why Apo so suddenly resigned from the Council last year.....

As we have known all along, the Democrats in the State Legislature have been looking for a reason to raise the general excise tax, even though our House Republicans have proven that the budget can be balanced without this and other tax increases.  Now the Senate is taking some serious steps toward raising the GET and we need to show our opposition. 

The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report detailing state firearm registration statistics for Calendar Year 2010.

 Hawaii led the nation in the number of businesses owned by Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders in 2007, according to new findings from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Business Owners.

Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced the appointment of Kaua'i Councilman Derek S.K. Kawakami to represent House District 14 in the State House.

• House: The HAMP Termination Act of 2011
• House: Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act
• House: FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011
• House: Government Shutdown Prevention Act

 “Hawaii is already the second most expensive travel destination in the country and the recent disaster in Japan has made it even more difficult for Hawaii to compete in the tourism market,” said Thomas Jones, president of Gyotaku Restaurants ....

The public will be able to testify on HB793 SD 1 (Proposed) in a scheduled hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wed. April 6, 2011, 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room 211 at the State Capitol.

Ralph Nader had filed this case in 2004, challenging Hawaii law that requires an independent presidential candidate to submit approximately six times as many signatures as are needed for a ballot-qualified political party with its own primary.

Abercrombie's DoE is already trying to postpone the 180-day school year law, balance its budget on the backs of disabled children, end testing until after Abercrombie faces reelection, delay Race to the Top reforms, sell off schools to rake in bucks from the real estate market, and boost Matayoshi’s salary....

Waialua High School robotics team competed again today at the Las Vegas Regional among 39 teams from across the country.  Waialua finished as a Regional Finalist and was recognized with two awards....

 Street lights crowd roadside on installed section of project. 

Abercrombie today announced his appointments for the Board of Regents of the University of Hawai'i (UH) and the Board of Governors to East-West Center....

The Hawaii Republican Party filed an ethics complaint against Honolulu City Councilman Nestor Garcia for failure to comply with ethics rules.  HRP will also call upon Garcia to step aside as Council Chair pending the investigation.

Abercrombie today announced the appointment of Mary Alice Evans as Deputy Director to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism....

 If the moneys in the hurricane reserve fund are insufficient to pay claims and other obligations when an event occurs, the fund “shall levy a surcharge not to exceed seven and one-half percent a year on premiums charged for all property and casualty insurance policies issued for risks insured in this State.”

Ever since I visited the decrepit wind project at South Point on the Big Island I realized that wind farms are investment schemes, not reliable energy production plants. So did T. Boone Pickens with his multibillion dollar order of GE wind turbines for his “Pickens Plan,” a plan that has been abandoned because wind energy makes no business sense....

We strongly believe that no one should be able to tell the people of Hawaii that they have no choice but to raise taxes. There are choices and these worksheets provide real numbers taken from real budgets.

The Board’s duties include overseeing the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates allegations of attorney misconduct and incapacity, and recommending appropriate action to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

Ninety-six. That is the number of days one must work each year in Hawaii to pay Uncle Sam before taking home their hard-earned dollars. That means the first three months of the year you work not for yourself, but for the government. This number includes federal, state, and local taxes, for a grand total of 26.3% of your income.

"...because of an unresolved situation with my law firm, I have decided to withdraw my nomination to prevent any distraction for the Abercrombie Administration and disruption for my family.”

“The explicit sovereign immunity and exemption from regulation provisions in the present bill allow the Native Hawaiian governing entity, and its leaders, to conduct activities anywhere in Hawai‘i (and potentially any other state) in a way that is inconsistent with State criminal statutes.... It is not clear how the State could enforce its interests against unlawful or irresponsible actions by the governing entity or its elected leaders or employees."  - Gov. Linda Lingle, March 24, 2010

(L-R): Abercrombie, Broken Trust, Sandwich Isles/OHA (From Broken Trust, pg 202)

On one hand, Section 4(a)(4) of the Senate Akaka Bill states: "Native Hawaiians have an inherent right to autonomy in their internal affairs (and) and inherent right of self-determination and self-governance (and) the right to reorganize a Native Hawaiian governing entity...."

But Section 8(a) recognizes only: "The right of the qualified Native Hawaiian constituents to reorganize the single Native Hawaiian governing entity...."

Who are allowed to become "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents" will be determined by a "commission" of nine members.  There are exactly nine OHA Trustees.

Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced his appointments to the new Board of Education (BOE).  The board consists of nine members – three from O'ahu, three at-large, and one each from Hawai'i Island, Maui and Kaua'i. 

The bill language makes the false claim that HPV vaccination results in "few or no side effects" when, in fact, there have been documented serious adverse effects worldwide, including many deaths. HPV screening prior to vaccination is not routinely done.

Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos/SEIU (3/24-27, Hawaii voters, no trendlines)

Did they leave a bunch of checks in the box ‘til March 1?  Anyone want to lay bets on March coming in as “surprisingly high" when CoR meets next time?

• Rep. Fontaine Address SB 1269 Retirement System
• Reps. Fontaine and Thielen Addresses SB755 Gambling
• Rep. Cynthia Thieln Address SB1274 Health Insurance
• Rep. Pine address SB1088 Baked Goods