May 10, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, May 10, 2026

May 10, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 10:38 AM :: 107 Views

'Has The Army Made Any Actual Offers?': Tokuda Asks General About Leases In Hawaii

Hawaii Legislature passes first-in-nation bill targeting Citizens United ruling

Tax Bills: Some Look Radically Different

Hawaii Legislature Adjourns Sine Die, Marking Defeat of Several Anti-Gun Bills

Historic 2024 tax cuts rescued for majority of Hawaii residents

Judicial Vacancies in Maui, Kauai Counties

Hawaii Family Forum Legislative Week in Review

Jones Act Waiver Makes Case for Permanent Reform

Legislative Session Ends with No Answer from AG on $35K Bribe

CB: … Bribery was as much front and center in 2026 as it was in 2023 and still the Legislature did little to improve the state’s ability to deal with bribery. In January, as the session was getting underway, lawmakers spoke openly of a “dark cloud” hanging over this year’s session as a criminal investigation into a mystery lawmaker who may have taken $35,000 in bribes was publicly widening. A citizen watchdog filed a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures asking the Legislature to undertake its own investigation.

In February the state Attorney General’s Office stepped into an FBI case to take on the latest allegations. Soon after that, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke acknowledged she’d failed to report $10,000 in campaign contributions until years later and that the FBI might have thought she was the mystery lawmaker. In April she ended her bid for reelection and took an unpaid leave of absence in the face of the AG’s investigation.

And still, by the time lawmakers gaveled out last week little had been done to crack down on legislative misconduct. Only one bill relating to bribery survived of the nine rolled out in January and that one simply extends the statute of limitations to nine years. More severe penalties for bribery failed, among other measures that would have required reporting of public servants who accept bribes.

Lawmakers also refused to take up the citizen petition’s request to undertake their own inquiry. And a bill that would have created a new office of legislative ethics never even got a hearing.

Two big initiatives that would change the campaign finance and election system in Hawaiʻi started with much fanfare then failed to get approval despite broad public support and robust testimony….

FLASHBACK: Sylvia Luke took a $10K bribe—the $35K bribe-taker is still out there

May 8, 2026: $35K Bribe: AG Issues More Subpoenas

Read … Sunshine Scorecard: One Big Bill, A Couple Small Things, The Rest Fizzled - Honolulu Civil Beat

Will PRP Order Josh Green to Veto Anti Citizens United Bill?

CB: … For 15 years, PRP, which we all know by now is a creation of the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union, has spent millions of dollars strategically putting in place governors and lieutenant governors, mayors and council members, and more than a few legislators too.

And what about all the other unions, public sector and private, that spend a lot of money on candidates and actively work on political campaigns?

The Blog scrolled through 290 pages of testimony submitted at the final hearing on the bill before the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee last month and found Hawaiʻi’s Building and Trades Council unions (Plumbers, Teamsters, IBEW, Ironworkers, Laborers, Operating Engineers and more) sounding the alarm, uncertain how it would affect them, but nary a peep from PRP or the carpenters….

Finally, on Friday during the House floor debate, Rep. Scot Matayoshi who led the House negotiations on the bill acknowledged that the bill applied to unions too.

Rep. Della Au Belatti, who also worked on it, noted that lawmakers had early on decided against a special carve out for unions.

But does it really mean that it also restricts union political spending and other activity?

Later, at a press conference, Matayoshi downplayed any impact. “Unions generally shouldn’t really be affected,” he said, adding that the bill doesn’t go into effect until 2027 giving lawmakers one more legislative session to refine it if needed, “to make sure that they’re not impacted too much.” (Right. No one wants an unhappy union especially this election season.)

And here’s the key in his mind: PRP is not a union, it’s a stabilization fund, and because its incorporated on the mainland (Matayoshi says) it wouldn’t be allowed to funnel money to a super PAC trying to influence Hawaiʻi elections.

“PRP is a different beast and a different matter,” Matayoshi said. “If the bill holds, then organizations like PRP and other organizations on the mainland, NRA, you name it, will not be able to come here to engage in election activity.”

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, the Senate lead negotiator on SB 2471, artfully dodged the PRP question. He said the bill is aimed at not allowing corporations to form PACs that shield the identities of contributors, so-called dark money operations.

“So you know PRP — everybody knows who’s behind PRP,” he said. “This is about the dark money that can be shielded from view by the creation of shell corporations. Individuals still maintain their individual right to spend on elections, to form super PACs, but you cannot hide behind a corporate form in Hawaiʻi and influence elections anymore.”

He suggested asking PRP if the bill would hinder its political operation.

PRP professed not to know much about the bill at all. Right.

“We haven’t submitted any testimony on that, and I really haven’t been briefed on that, as far as what the union feels about that,” Andrew Pereira, director of public affairs for PRP, told The Blog on Friday. “So I’d hate to do the pass along, but you’d really have to reach out to the union on that one.”

Uh huh.

Next call: the Carpenters Union political director, Mark Anthony Clemente. The Blog left a voicemail.

Clemente emailed back right away. “I am not authorized to speak on behalf of PRP, and you may want to reach out to them on their thoughts. The Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters supports transparency, accountability, and public trust in our democratic process. We understand and respect the public concern surrounding the influence of money in politics, and we are continuing to review the legislation.”

Next stop for the bill: the desk of Gov. Josh Green, whose chief of staff, Brooke Wilson spent years with the Carpenters Union and PRP before she went to work for Green. And of course the governor himself has enjoyed millions of dollars in campaign support from PRP and the Carpenters Union and other organized labor groups.…

Read … The Sunshine Blog: How Will The Anti-Citizens United Bill Affect Unions? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Lawmakers 2026 tax hikes–will they come back for the rest next year?

Shapiro: … we’ll see if legislators revisit a repeal of the 2024 cuts next year, when lost federal funding still stings and they have no looming election….

Read … Column: Lawmakers get mixed marks on their 2026 tax pledges | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Maui Council shakeup: Chair Lee won’t seek re-election to Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū seat

MN: … Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee will not seek re-election this year. Instead, the veteran council member will support the candidacy of Marvin Moniz, a longtime state Department of Transportation airports manager, to succeed her in the Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū residency seat….

Moniz, 66, a 1977 St. Anthony High School graduate who has served as the state DOT’s Maui airports district manager for nearly 20 years, filed nomination papers May 1 as a candidate for the Wailuku Council seat….

Regarding the controversial Bill 9, which was passed and signed into law in December 2025 to begin a phase-out of transient vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts, Moniz said he followed the measure’s passage into law and expressed a willingness to “revisit it if it needs tweaking.”

He said he understands a lot of the bill was “kind of rushed” and “maybe going back and revisiting some of it.”

Bill 9 is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2029, for West Maui; and Jan. 1, 2031, for the rest of Maui County. …

Read … Maui Council shakeup: Chair Lee won’t seek re-election to Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū seat : Maui Now

Number of Oahu youth suicides in 2026 now match statewide number for entire 2023

HNN: … Rowsey says there’s been a drastic spike in youth suicides in Hawaii, with 10 reported on Oahu alone between January and May. For perspective, according to the Hawaii Child Mortality review, there were 10 youth suicides recorded state-wide for the entire year of 2023.

“This may be the worst spike in youth suicides in Hawaii’s history,” Rowsey explained. “The study showed suicide is far from just a medical problem, but instead a social and community problem. Where individual-based and tailored clinical approaches may be highly ineffective at preventing suicide, multilevel approaches that engage and change whole communities are shown to be effective.” …

UU: Landmark study reveals century-long cycles in U.S. suicide rates and a long-term crisis among youth | University of Utah Health

Read … Number of Oahu youth suicides in 2026 now match statewide number for entire 2023

Hawaii shelters inadequate against hurricanes

SA: … With a potential El Nino cycle increasing hurricane threats to the Hawaiian Islands, state and county officials warn that most existing shelters are insufficient to protect residents beyond a Category 1 storm.

None of the county and state emergency management agencies contacted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser confirmed whether available shelters could withstand beyond a Category 1 storm, which can generate sustained winds of 74 to 94 miles per hour and is the weakest of the five storm categories on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale used by the National Weather Service.

All the agencies contacted said shelters should be a last resort and urged residents to retrofit their homes or seek refuge at another resident’s retrofitted home….

Read … Hawaii shelters inadequate against hurricanes | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The Politics of Monk Seal Justice: Why a Hawaiian Senator Is Backing a Beach Vigilante

BG: … Brenton didn’t take real well to the monk seal attack and, in the fine wood paneled surrounds of the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu, announced that the Hawaiian, anonymous thus far, who beat hell out of Seattle’s Igor Lytvynchuk, would received an official “letter of recommendation.”

“You’ve all seen the video of the monk seal that almost got hit by the rock from the tourist that threw it. And some of us have seen environmental activists, I like to call ’em, who took matters into his own hands to educate what might happen if you mess with our land or the animals.

Awa called for all airlines flying into Hawaii to play footage of the beat down so “people don’t do this kind of stuff.”

One mill and a half likes with a who’s who of Hawaiian surfing diving into the comments, even the surf broadcaster, master storyteller and son of the South African jazz king and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Masekela, Selema Masakela is in there.

He described it as “An Ancestral Ass Whoopin.”

(REALITY: In the old days, no Monk Seals survived on the main Hawaiian islands because any that came here were quickly clubbed over the head, skinned, cooked, and eaten. Monk seals are only here now because of repopulation from the uninhabited NW Hawaiian islands.)

Read … The Politics of Monk Seal Justice: Why a Hawaiian Senator Is Backing a Beach Vigilante - BeachGrit

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

QUICK HITS: