Hawaii State Government

... According to the U.S. Travel Association, fourteen state tourism offices are funded either partly or entirely by a statewide lodging tax ....

... Grassroot Institute of Hawaii CEO Keli'i Akina says the list reflects a commendable effort to avoid increasing Hawaii's taxpayer burden ....

... Gov. David Ige has notified legislative leaders and key lawmakers of his intent to veto 28 out of 268 bills passed during the 2021 Hawai‘i legislative session .... 

... Admittance into the DCIL enables the companies to conduct business in Hawaii without first obtaining a state money transmitter license ....

... The Legislature’s decision to strip the county’s share of TAT revenues is certainly a stark change from just a few years ago ....

... eviction moratorium extended, procurement law restored ....

... Hawaii pension funds rank 42nd in USA ....

...  HGEA requires voter ID to cast ballot.  UPW has some fun Q&A about ballot handling issues ....

... currently, the designated Maui and O‘ahu land district seats are open ....

... data about Hawaii’s open records law collected by 284 state, county, and independent agencies on their UIPA Record Request Logs for FY 2020 ....

... Ciber was hired in 2008 to design and implement a financial accounting system, on an Oracle software platform ....

... The State Capitol has been closed since March of 2020 when the pandemic began, and unlike other State and government buildings across our State, the Capitol has remained closed to the public ....

"... The STIP is a four-year programming implementation document that identifies State and County transportation projects to be funded in part with federal funds ...."

... In a special Stadium Authority Board Meeting this morning (Thursday, May 6), the Board confirmed and voted for an early demolition of the existing stadium location ....

... appointment of Senator Dru Kanuha (District 3 – Kona and Kaʻū) as the new Senate Majority Leader ....

... The Governor has until June 21, 2021, to provide the Legislature with notification of his intent to veto ....

... This bill was so close to the finish line that the only question seemed to be whether Gov. Ige would agree to limit his power ....

... The payments aim for “workforce stabilization to retain teachers” and will be made to full- and half-time teachers. (Translation: Incumbent stabilization to retain HSTA endorsement for 2022.) ....

... HB526 and SB1329 ....

... Oahu residents now have an additional 19 months to get the REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state identification cards before they will need it to board domestic flights and enter some federal buildings ....

... Chow believes there is “a good chance that the feasibility study will be funded in Federal fiscal year 2022 by the application of Congress’ Community Project Funding (CPF)” and asks for support from the harbors’ group “convincing Congress to fund the Honolulu Harbor feasibility study.”….

... a “potential catastrophe” enabling “abuse of discretion… (which) …will promote and enable favoritism and/or corruption in public procurement.” ....

... In accordance with State law, Democratic Party officers from the fifteen precincts in Senate District 7 will convene to identify three names that will be transmitted to Governor Ige for consideration. The Governor has sixty days to fill the vacancy ....

... and he pulls no punches ....

... HGEA BU13 and UPW BU10 rejected contract proposals ....

... the spotlight is moving toward Gov. David Ige .... 

... $31.17 billion through all methods of funding (MOF) for the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2021, and ending June 30, 2023 ....

... the state released more than $278 million for Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) in the month of March ....

... the report spends lots of time reviewing the Auditor’s recent actions involving the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ....

... the private Government Accounting Standards Board is considering rule changes that would make it easier for governments to ignore long-term liabilities when crafting short-term budgets .... 

... Many of the reductions are hopefully made up with federal stimulus funding ....

... The House voted for a suspension running through December 31, 2022 ....

... Scathing ‘audit’ of Hawaii state auditor Les Kondo is met with scathing rebuttal ....

.... Speaker Saiki and Senate President Kochi have until April 28 (Adjournment Day) to rectify the situation if they so desire ....

... we warned you about SB56 ....

... for the most part, Hawaii lawmakers are just guessing about how their proposed bills will affect Hawaii’s economy ....

"...Hawaii increased the cap on its film incentives and decoupled from federal restrictions on research and development tax credits...."

... options to buy crypto are very limited at the moment. That’s because of a little-known rule from a little-known government organization ....

"... The Aa2 rating on the State of Hawaii's general obligation bonds recognizes the significant fiscal challenges posed by the current health and economic crisis...."

... Keli’i Akina says House members should have aimed to pay off more debt instead of go on a record-breaking spending spree ....

... Hawai‘i’s statute contains a single major check on the executive’s delegated authority: the “automatic termination” provision ....

... do people in high-tax states receive superior government services ....

... We are less than 30-days to "Sine Die," if we are lucky, the good will outweigh the bad when it's over! ....

... Hawaii's Legislature is about halfway through its 2021 session, and if we're lucky, the good will outweigh the bad when it's over ....

... The $1.6 billion in federal funds allocated to the State in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides a temporary reprieve for the State's financial crisis. ....

... Title IX of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 extends key unemployment insurance and assistance provisions of both the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) as well as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ....

... Establishes the ALOHA homes program to develop low-cost homes on state-owned and county-owned land in urban redevelopment sites to be sold in leasehold by the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation ....

...Translation: Wage hikes coming on June 30 ....

... We reviewed 75 House and Senate bills proposing 51 special and revolving funds during the 2021 legislative session. None satisfied the criteria set forth in Section 23-11, HRS, for proposed special and revolving funds ....

... SP18 requires an agency that relies on the suspended deadlines to acknowledge receipt of “UIPA Requests”  ....