Entries for March 2022

... The purpose of the Commission is to dissipate reform energy in order to preserve the status quo. ... 

... Hawaii’s contributions have fallen below minimum actuarial standards since 2011, which has caused the state’s funding level to decline from 94% in 2000 to 55% as of 2019 ....

... Vitaly Tretyakov, quipped amid the crosstalk "Is she some sort of Russian agent?" prompting Solovyov to joke "yes." ....

... February 2022 visitor spending was lower than the $1.46 billion (-10.4%) spent in February 2020 ....

... Senator Kim pushed the elimination of a tenured faculty member’s position and introduced SB 3269 SD1, a bill that attempted to alter tenure and transfer managerial authority over the university from the Board of Regents to the legislature ....

 ... The appointments are subject to approval by the Senate .... 

... The fixed monthly bill credit will be applied at an amount equivalent to the respective retail rate for exporting energy during a two-hour period of the evening peak ....

... the Hawaii VEX Robotics State Championships held in February and March qualified 32 out of 77 Hawaii VEX robotics teams to advance to the 2022 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, May 3-12 ....

... SB3089 SD2 HD1 would amend the state’s emergency-management statute to clarify that the powers granted for emergency purposes should not be inconsistent with the Hawaii Constitution, require justification for the suspension of laws and place limits on such suspensions, and allow the Legislature or county councils to terminate an emergency, in part or in whole, by a two-thirds vote. ...

... evidence on the effect of minimum wages on employment, skills, wage and income distributions, and longer-term labor market outcomes ....

... three tax types of state tax burdens — property taxes, individual income taxes and sales and excise taxes — as a share of total personal income in the state ....

... when it comes to vacant homes, Hawaii is just average.  This demonstrates that home vacancy rates do not correspond with housing costs ....

... it is not possible to turn an economy on and off like a light switch ....

... the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s contract with the Pacific Maritime Association, a maritime employer representative, ends in July 2022 ....

... Harleman faces up to 20 years imprisonment on each of the wire fraud counts and up to 10 years imprisonment on each of the money laundering counts, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 on each count, plus a term of supervised release up to three years ....

... David Akui-Cabanilla, III, 36, pleaded guilty today in federal court to two counts of assaulting a federal officer ....

... public universities were hit the hardest with a 13.2 drop in new freshmen enrollment over the two-year pandemic period ....

... Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, interim assistant vice provost for faculty excellence and Department of Political Science professor, is the newest addition to the five-member Kamehameha Schools Board of Trustees ....

... Case’s Appropriations Committee will review the request as part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget request ....

... Tomorrow, the Senate Committee on Judiciary will hear House Bill 2075HD1, to make changes to Hawaii’s pistol permitting and registration system in an effort to comply with the recent Yukutake v. Connors court case decision ....