March 5, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Thursday, March 5, 2026

March 5, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:13 PM :: 170 Views

Green: "If Derek Kawakami runs for LG, that's terrific"

Bribery: HSTA joins ILWU, UPW Backing Sylvia Luke

Shareholder Suit: $47M settlement with Hawaiian Electric approved

House Committee Passes 'Affordable Housing' Bills

Hawaii, others back birthright citizenship in amicus brief

Rep Todd Proposes His Own Tax Hike (Typical political two-step -- Will YOU be fooled?)

CB: … Todd is proposing a hybrid bill that would leave in place a series of increases in the standard deductions that all income tax filers claim.

(CLUE: Those standard deductions are the point where Todd offers lower taxes as compared to Green’s proposed tax hikes. Everything else Todd is proposing involves higher tax increases than Green’s.)

House Finance Chair Todd is not rejecting Green’s tax plan entirely.

(EDITOR’s NOTE: Todd is playing a very typical political game. He is proposing a massive tax hike and pretending to cut taxes because his tax hike is slightly smaller than Green’s tax hike. The only question that matters here is: Will YOU be fooled by this trick?)

He said his proposed amendments to House Bill 2306 would ~~suspend a series of adjustments in~~ (increase taxes on) income tax brackets that were part of the 2024 tax package, just as Green has proposed. Suspending those changes in the tax brackets would ~~reduce the taxpayer savings from~~ (wipe out) the 2024 tax cuts in the years ahead.

Rep Todd also offered his own proposal to increase the top marginal income tax rates for the wealthiest Hawaiʻi taxpayers in the top three income tax brackets.

(TRANSLATION: This is a bigger tax hike than Green’s.)

He offered the example of joint filers with a combined income of $450,000, saying they would see the tax on portions of their incomes increased from 9% to 10%. Tax filers in the next two highest tax brackets would also see comparable increases of 1%, he said….

(REALLY OBVIOUS QUESTION: What are the “next two highest brackets”?)

(ANSWER: For singles, the three highest brackets are $150K, $175K and $200K—double for couples. So Todd’s tax hike kicks in as soon as somebody can afford to live in Hawaii—ie single with income $150K.)

(IQ Test: Do you now know why Civil Beat and Todd didn’t spell out what the lower income brackets?)

Todd also proposed a restructuring of the child and dependent care tax credit to target that tax break more for the middle class. He said about two-thirds of the benefit from that tax break currently goes to high-income families.

(TRANSLATION: Eliminate this tax break for 2/3 of families. ‘High-income’ is just code for ‘able to afford living in Hawaii’.)

The Senate Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 3125 at noon on Thursday, which was drafted by the Green administration to suspend the tax cuts….

SA: Gov. Green’s tax-relief freeze bill revised | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HB2306: Text, Status (amendments not posted yet)

read … Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Push Back On Green's Plan To Defer Tax Cuts - Honolulu Civil Beat

Honolulu mayor approves Skyline rail system expansion plan

KHON: … HART said it is still hoping to complete the existing route to Mission Memorial by 2031, but admits it had some delays due to a legal dispute with a contractor….

SN: Blangiardi signs Bill 60 into law

read … Honolulu mayor approves Skyline rail system expansion plan

Bribery News: Panic Buttons in Schools--$7 Million Effort Is Delayed A Year

CB: … The state entered into a contract to provide panic buttons to Hawaiʻi schools two years ago, but DOE campuses still don’t have access to the technology….

The ambitious $7 million technology program was supposed to make Hawaiʻi schools safer by equipping teachers and principals with panic buttons and mobile apps to alert law enforcement about emergencies on campus.

Two years after launching the effort, only one school in the state has panic buttons on its campus — and it’s not using them. Meanwhile, SaferWatch, the company contracted to provide software and monitoring services for the program, is facing federal scrutiny after its former chief executive officer was charged with bribing a New York Police Department officer to pressure local officials to spend millions of dollars on panic buttons in schools.

Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement Director Mike Lambert said the state went through the proper procurement process to secure its three contracts with SaferWatch to provide services to the education department and several other agencies. A separate company holds the contracts for the panic buttons, and the state has spent at least $1.5 million so far to purchase buttons for schools. …

read … Panic Buttons In Schools: $7 Million Effort Is Delayed A Year - Honolulu Civil Beat

Kim vs Perriera: Making Victimology a joke

CB: … When the term is used too broadly, it can weaken attention to truly harmful behavior. The term loses its emotional force.

The broader the definition of bullying becomes, the less likely true victims will get the recognition and resources they need.

The term loses its sorting power. If everyone is a victim, then no one is a victim.

Kim and Perreira make the term “bullying victim” into buzz words, something to use to score political points — as kind of political “you’re a bully, no, you’re a bully nanny nanny boo boo.”

They are acting more like manipulators who play the victim role to gain sympathy as a way to get something.

The accurate way to see them is as powerful political rivals who have many methods and words at their disposal to fight their battles.

Perreira’s letter didn’t need to include the bullying accusation to make its point. Kim could have described what UHPA did to her without adding that overdone woe-is-me bullying flourish.

They have other more legitimate ways to gain support. They use them, rather than demeaning both true victims and themselves….

read … Neal Milner: This Battle Of The Bullies Is Laughably Absurd - Honolulu Civil Beat

Military members fight government’s claim that Red Hill toxic exposure was service-related

HNN: … At least 1,000 active-duty military members have filed claims against the federal government after getting sick following the fuel leak at the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

The government filed a motion arguing the incident was “incident to service,” essentially an occupational hazard.

This would invoke the Feres Doctrine, a legal principle that generally bars active-duty service members from suing the federal government for injuries….

read … Military members fight government’s claim that Red Hill toxic exposure was service-related

State, Maui County move to reduce historic review delays for rebuilding

MN: … recent initiatives from Maui County and a bill at the state Legislature could help speed up county- and state-level historic reviews.

It has been estimated that the Maui Cultural Resources Commission could need to sign off on more than 100 rebuilding plans for properties in the Lahaina National Historic Landmark District or one of the county’s historic zoning districts, yet it has approved only six since the fires — all of which were for residential homes. Even worse, not a single commercial rebuilding permit has been issued.

In fact, it wasn’t until this past August — two years after the fires — that the CRC approved residential design guidelines for rebuilding. The commission is still having hearings to set commercial design guidelines, though they are expected to be finalized soon.

Finally coming to the rescue, the Maui Office of Recovery issued a directive last month that authorizes the county Planning Department to process all like-for-like commercial rebuilding plans without waiting for review from the CRC ….

read … Jonathan Helton: State, Maui County move to reduce historic review delays for rebuilding | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News

FEMA Maui Fire Aid Was Delayed By Noem Review

CB: … A temporary housing program for Maui wildfire survivors was one of hundreds of federal disaster assistance programs left in limbo due to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s insistence on scrutinizing all expenses over $100,000, according to a new report released Wednesday by Senate Democrats.

The report found that Noem’s policy of personally reviewing large department grant and contract awards delayed the approval of disaster aid by an average of three weeks. Sometimes, the delays were much longer, according to the findings of a review of data leaked by government whistleblowers to U.S. Sens. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Gary Peters of Michigan….

NYT: Kristi Noem Review Delayed FEMA Aid by Weeks, Senate Finds - The New York Times

read … FEMA Maui Fire Aid Delayed By Top Trump Official, Senators Say - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaiʻi County Council passes new tier 3 tax rate for second homes worth $4 million plus

BIN: … Hawai‘i County Council on Wednesday passed a new Tier 3 tax rate for second homes valued at more than $4 million.

The nine-member body passed Bill 128 with five ayes during the general council meeting. Council Chairman Holeka Inaba was the sole dissenting vote, with council members Ashley Kierkiewicz, Matthew Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder and Rebecca Villegas absent….

read … Hawaiʻi County Council passes new tier 3 tax rate for second homes worth $4 million plus : Big Island Now

State Senate Wants the Public Doped up on Shrooms

MM: … Hawaii senators have taken another step to advance a bill that would create a psychedelics task force responsible for studying and making policy recommendations on providing access to breakthrough therapies such as psilocybin and MDMA.

About a week after the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved the legislation from Sen. Chris Lee (D), members of the Ways & Means Committee followed suit on Tuesday, voting 12-0 to send the measure to the floor.

The measure would create a Mental Health Emerging Therapies Task Force that’d be tasked with spending two years reviewing the current scientific literature, supporting additional clinical research and “developing policy recommendations for safe, ethical, and culturally-informed implementation” of a psychedelics therapy program….

read … Hawaii Senators Advance Bill To Create Psychedelics Task Force And Study Pathways To Access Psilocybin And MDMA - Marijuana Moment

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