Entries for February 2014

Hurting workers doesn’t play well in an election year.....

...examining allegations of administrative abuses and an ongoing failure to provide a safe work environment at the Hawaii State Hospital....

...Abercrombie today announced the appointment and promotion (resignation) of Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia as Chief Advisor for Technology and Cyber-Security (CIO), effective Feb. 18, 2014....

It doesn’t take long to figure out that people haven’t learned a blessed thing from flushing $20 billion down the toilet....

Upcoming Congressional Bills

• Senate: Military Retirement Pay
• House: Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act of 2013

This happens multiple times a year now with Congress on the debt limit, which we just hit again on Saturday....

"I will be out of the office starting 02/07/2014 and will not return until 04/30/2014....."

On the 50th anniversary of the ‘War on Poverty’, poverty and income inequality are major policy issues ....

The Lincoln Day Dinner registration deadline is February 13th....

Shapiro has closely examined the relationship between law and freedom....

The Hawaii Election Commission has released its candidate report for the week ending February 7, 2014....

"He specifically targeted troubled and special-needs children...."

Iwasa said her top priorities for both her district and Honolulu County as a whole are budget, transparency and accountability, and land use and infrastructure....

Hawaii legislators set to hear a bill to combat fraudulent lien filings on February 11, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in room 229 at the Hawaii Capitol....

The Hawaii Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("Little RFRA") of 2014 would restrict government actions against people of faith by applying the "compelling interest" test....

...Hawaii has some of the most generous welfare benefits in the country, and one man took full advantage of them....

93 percent more liberal than the rest of the Senate on economic issues, 73 percent more liberal on social issues, and 71 percent more liberal on foreign policy issues....

Balli, 42, of Kapolei, was killed in an insurgent attack in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 20....

...replacements, renovations and upgrades to our aging infrastructure at several state hospital facilities....

Watch the Senate committee system falling apart....

The fundraising event was organized for the benefit of the Hawaii Republican Assembly's political superpac HIRA Action....

President Obama can’t be trusted to enforce U.S. laws—and that makes many lawmakers hesitant to pass new immigration laws....

Initiatives include studies for a space exploration R&D park, international flight training center and a laser optical communications ground station in Hawaii....

These bills have been set up on the front burner of this year’s legislative agenda after the pre-empted initiative to “Let the People Vote” during last year’s “not -so-special-session” on same-sex marriage....

...“tax exclusions,” “tax exemptions,” “tax deferrals,” “preferential tax rates,” and “tax credits”....

32 states have similar exemptions, and research has demonstrated that low and middle-income families spend a larger proportion of their income on food costs....

"Last month, the Republican National Committee filed public-records requests in Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon seeking information about compensation and vacation time for the exchange directors, four of whom have resigned."

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Jin-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine is set to begin patrols in 2014 — armed with the PLAN’s new Ju Lang 2 (JL2)....

Several House Democrats want the state to take over the Hawaii Health Connector, set up last year as a private, nonprofit....

With retread opposition and the wind at his back, don't be surprised at yet another landslide win for Abercrombie....

By the end of the week, we’ll be hitting the debt ceiling again.....

We found no small irony in Gabbard quickly taking the seat Faleomavaega waited years to earn....

Two important bills (SB2153 and SB2519) that promote greater fiscal transparency and protections for Hawaii's taxpayers passed the Ways And Means Committee today....

...the creator of the "Lifetime Stand," a prison rehabilitation program that stresses work ethic, perseverance, discipline and personal responsibility....

...nine months in Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom....

...The Hawaii Shippers’ Council made history on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, by becoming the first party to testify before a committee of the Puerto Rico Senate via Skype....

...the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a new estimate: Obamacare will cause the equivalent of 2.3 million people to stop working.....

There are about 375,000 pages of federal law and regulation in addition to the laws of each State and each city and county....

UHPA has taken a two-pronged approach to preserve faculty rights. In December 2013, the union filed a prohibited practice charge....

I am 28 years old and have been waiting years to get up enough courage to report a teacher for sexually abusing me for years....

The federal government will reimburse insurers for 50 percent of any losses through the "risk corridors" in the Affordable Care Act....

Today the United States Senate approved the Agriculture Act of 2014, also known as the “Farm Bill,” which includes legalization of industrial hemp for research purposes....

...Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear three different pieces of firearms legislation....

"Well, I’m always pleased to share credit when people realize they can’t avoid their responsibilities anymore...." - Abercrombie