April 5, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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April 5, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:02 PM :: 111 Views

Additional Car Tax Dead for Now

Following the golden rule … of budgeting

USDA Announces SNAP Food Replacement for victims of KONA Low 2 Storm

Hawaii Woman Sentenced for Lahaina Fire Fraud

COVID Fraud: Former USDA Official Pleads Guilty to Receiving an Illegal Gratuity

Hawaii Family Forum Legislative Week in Review

Hawaiʻi residents are simultaneously being priced out and left behind

CB: … We’ve seen it pay off before. In 2002, Linda Lingle became the first Republican governor in 40 years after a campaign finance scandal and the Bishop Estate corruption case eroded public confidence in Hawaiʻi’s Democratic establishment. Voters were also tired of a stagnant economy. Some of those conditions are starting to rhyme with today’s.

A 2025 Holomua Collective survey found that only 20% of residents trust government to do right by working families, less than businesses, unions or nonprofits.

A Housing Hawai’i’s Future survey found 87% of residents want housing to be the legislature’s top priority. Only 8% strongly approve of how the Legislature has handled it.

Perhaps the most damning context comes from the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization’s March 2026 report, which concludes that Hawaiʻi residents are simultaneously being priced out and left behind. High local prices push them out while low, slow-growing incomes pull them toward better opportunities elsewhere. Hawaii’s economic profile resembles distressed regions like West Virginia more than high-cost, high-wage cities like San Francisco.

It’s no surprise that 75% of middle-income households say they will or may leave because of financial pressure.

These aren’t people on the margins. They’re teachers, nurses, tradespeople, small business owners. …

read … Beth Fukumoto: Democrats Need A Clear Vision. And To Stick To It - Honolulu Civil Beat

HB1518: Help Criminals Get EBT Cards Fast and Easy

SA: … House Bill 1518 allows individuals to apply for SNAP prior to release from incarceration and removes outdated restrictions tied to prior drug-related convictions…

read … Column: Small SNAP expansion, big Hawaii benefit | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Aloha Stadium Project Run by Same Geniuses who kept the Capitol Reflecting Pool Leaking for all those years

Shapiro: … the Hawai‘i Convention Center, closed for two years to fix a leaky roof, might reopen in 2028 with some $100 million spent and leaks still unresolved….

Leaks began showing up at the convention center shortly after it opened in 1998 …

Before that, the newspaper reported that a $50 million project to replace leaking state Capitol reflecting pools, which have long drenched the legislative chambers below, has been delayed again by higher costs and procurement issues.

Questions scream out about the competence of public officials endlessly unable to plug filthy water falling on their own heads….

(CLUE: They are very competent at purposefully creating make-work for contractors.)

If you’re looking for a not-so-silver lining, some key state players on this cursed project have taken major roles with the Aloha Stadium redevelopment….

read … Column: Holes in the roof and pools expose holes in our heads | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii’s 2026 election includes few high-profile challenges

SA: … Hawaii’s most interesting 2026 election races so far include Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami’s Democratic primary challenge of incumbent Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and opponents for the state’s two members in the U.S. House of Representatives….

There is no high-profile Republican running yet for either lieutenant governor or governor in the Aug. 8 primary, but all candidates have until June 2 to officially declare their candidacies for any Hawaii primary….

Separate challenges against Hawaii’s Democratic U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda also will be closely watched for different reasons.

Tokuda, so far, faces no Democratic primary challenger to represent rural Oahu and all of the neighbor islands. But the state Senate’s Republican leader, Brenton Awa (R, Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia), offers an interesting showdown in the Nov. 3 general election….

At the same time, two longtime legislative Democrats — state Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Makiki-Punchbowl) and state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kaneohe-Kailua) — are challenging fellow Democrat and incumbent Case for his more-moderate positions representing urban Honolulu.

Like Awa, Keohokalole’s Senate seat also is not up for reelection. And Belatti said she will not run for her current House seat again after serving for 12 years. …

(CLUE: Legislators get lifetime pension after 10 yrs.)

read … Hawaii’s 2026 election includes a few high-profile challenges | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Is Tulsi next to be Fired?

CB: … Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, is running the odds on who will be next to be axed from the Trump administration following the recent firings of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. On Friday it was giving the Director of National Intelligence a 67% chance of being dumped.

But some political wags say Gabbard, a former Democratic U.S. representative from Hawaiʻi, is still in Trump’s good graces. Politico, for example, reports that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer are the likely next Cabinet members to get a pink slip. He has reportedly soured on both. FBI Director Kash Patel is also a possibility.

Gabbard is not out of the woods, though. News18, The Times of India and Times Now say bad feelings linger over Gabbard’s handling of a dispute involving Joe Kent, a former deputy who resigned after stating Iran did not pose an immediate threat.

“Tulsi Gabbard on thin ice as Donald Trump poised for third firing within days — insider,” The Mirror said in a headline Friday.

“Who’s the Next Lady on Trump’s Chopping Block,” said a headline Friday from Talking Points Memo.

Still others say that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is next to be excised. He’s been busy with his own office cleaning, having fired the Army chief of staff just this week.

With Trump, it’s anybody’s guess….

read … The Sunshine Blog: Driving While MAGA - Honolulu Civil Beat

SB2471: Just another stupid, unconstitutional ‘End Corporate Personhood’ Scam

CB: … Whether it passes legal muster remains to be seen. The Attorney General’s Office opposes SB 2471.

Deputy Attorney General Christopher Han told lawmakers that, while the department “greatly sympathizes with the frustration with federal caselaw on this subject,” the bill raises “serious constitutional concerns and substantial adverse litigation risk” should it become law.

“While many Americans strongly disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Citizens United, under our federal system of government, it is our duty to state that this opinion remains the law of the land, irrespective of its merits (or lack thereof),” he said in written testimony last month.

Han reaffirmed that argument when he spoke to the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee on March 18. He said SB 2471 relied in “an untested legal theory, the viability of which we find questionable.”

The freedom to engage in political discourse,” he said, is “a fundamental bedrock of democracy” that is closely guarded by the courts. “This bill purports to take away that freedom.” …

SB2471: Text, Status

REALITY: Federal-Court-Ruling-Sen-Karl-Rhoads-participated-in-Honolulu-County-Council-Kickback-scheme

MORE REALITY: HCR29-Legislators-Vote-to-Abolish-ERS-End-Free-Speech-for-Star-Advertiser

read … Can Hawaiʻi Deliver All Of America From Citizens United? - Honolulu Civil Beat

The Department Of Justice is Suing Hawaii and other States For Sensitive Voter Data

CB: … So far, the DOJ has sent requests to at least 48 states and the District of Columbia demanding their complete voter registration lists – information on every individual registered to vote in the given state.

In doing so, the DOJ has asked the states to sign onto an agreement under which they agree to remove within 45 days any voters that the DOJ flags as ineligible. But by signing this agreement, a state is effectively handing over the administration of its voter rolls to the federal government….

SA: Editorial: Preserve mail-in voting, voter data | Honolulu Star-Advertiser -- On Tuesday, President Donald Trump ordered Hawaii and other states offering mail-in voting to hand their voter rolls and all data collected in maintaining them over to his administration, with a plan to screen state lists, remove suspect registrants and create a federal master list of approved registered voters. After this, the order specifies that states may provide mail-in ballots only to registered voters on the federally purged list. That’s an unconstitutional command….

BACKGROUND: Trump DOJ Sues Hawaii in Latest Attempt to Seize Voter Data

read … The Department Of Justice Is Suing States For Sensitive Voter Data - Honolulu Civil Beat

SB2580: More than $50M annual film industry incentives

SA: … Under the program, qualified film productions, including movies, episodic shows, TV specials and commercials, can receive spending rebates of 22% on Oahu and 27% on the neighbor islands, provided that qualified spending totals at least $100,000.

Senate Bill 2580 proposes to increase the spending rebates to 27% and 32%, respectively. The current rates were increased in 2022 from 20% and 25%, respectively. The minimum spending threshold also was reduced to $100,000 in 2022 from $200,000.

SB 2580 also proposes to increase the annual rebate cap from $50 million to an unspecified amount and exempt any production that spends over $60 million from a current rebate cap of $17 million per production….

Who we Subsidize: Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0

read … Lawmakers consider calling ‘action’ on enhanced film industry incentives | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

HB2033: Traffic cams to cite expired safety check, registration

SA: … A bill pending in the state Legislature would expand automated traffic surveillance and enforcement in Hawaii, including by authorizing the use of cameras to ticket vehicle owners for expired registration and safety inspections. The measure has yet to be approved, though, so there is no start date at this point.

Written testimony about the bill has been mainly supportive, although a few people have raised concerns about government overreach and privacy violations. You can read the bill (the latest version is HB2033 HD2 SD1), written testimony and associated committee reports at 808ne.ws/3QiFSvK….

read … Kokua Line: Will traffic cams cite expired safety check, registration? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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