Hawaii State Government

In another first, Gov. Neil Abercrombie today at Hilo Yacht Club enacted measures....

Abercrombie today signed House Bill 2590 (Act 166), a measure that will allow voter registration at absentee polling places beginning in 2016 and late voter registration, including on Election Day, beginning in 2018....

...This is just an example of the "same old, same old," where the Governor and his appointees get to wield power with a distinct lack of public scrutiny....

...he must either veto or sign by July 8, 2014, or allow them to become law without his signature....

“It took 4 years to add 2 lanes to the old 4-lane Kalanianaole Highway while at the same time paving 6 lanes...."

Gov. Neil Abercrombie today signed....

HTDC still relying on carbon paper and typewriters to draft communications with the state, which she says causes more work in the end for her staff....

Both are interim appointments subject to state Senate approval....

On June 13, 2014, the HAWSCT accepted cert in Oahu Publications, Inc., dba The Honolulu Advertiser v. Neil Abercrombie....

Gov. Neil Abercrombie today announced the appointment of George Okuda to the state House of Representatives seat for District 48....

Since Abercrombie’s tenure as governor, hundreds of millions of dollars that should have been used to repair deteriorating highways and bridges have set untapped....

...Abercrombie today announced the release of more than $46 million for various capital improvement projects....

Senator Slom addresses issues facing Hawaii and our State government....

...something remarkable happened in the last days of our legislative session....

Of the 54 bills harmful to business that were introduced this session that we tracked, 23 bills were stopped....

...Sen. Malama Solomon’s office has turned in the most for allowance reimbursements at more than $21,000....

Vaughn G. Sherwood sentenced to 57 months for stealing $200,000 in government benefits....

...the name of Okimoto's interim replacement, Ford Fuchigami, pops up on page 14 of the sex-harassment lawsuit ....

The Hawaii State Senate today adjourned the 2014 session passing more than 240 bills....

...Measures relate to state budget, minimum wage, TAT, Health Connector, seniors, invasive species, mandatory kindergarten, police misconduct, abuse of minors....

The budget, which provides $6.189 billion in general funds and $12.147 billion in all means of financing, was characterized by House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke as measured and prudent....

VIDEO: House Republicans speak out on Hawaii State Budget during final debate today....

...Design funds for plans to modernize the case management system for the Social Services Division. The current system is approximately 25-years-old....

...bills up for final reading in the Senate and House on Tuesday, April 29....

A quick glance at the table below, and you see how powerful the money committees are....

"It would be an opportunity for us to within the existing resources acquire the easement." --Ige

...the lack of meaningful competition between political parties can be stifling to new ideas, regardless of the underlying ideology....

...Abercrombie today announced the release of more than $335 million for various capital improvement projects....

Representative Aaron Ling Johanson, Minority leader and Representative Beth Fukumoto Chang, Minority Floor Leader address the House of Representatives Budget at Mid-session in 2014.

HB1866 HD2 SD2 is one of a number of bills that originated in the House, was amended by the Senate, and now goes to the Governor for his review....

...the governor and the mayors of Kauai; Maui; Hawaii; and the city and county of Honolulu, encompassing Oahu, are authorized to use all services, materials and facilities owned by partnerships, corporations and small businesses, including media outlets....

Bullies get pushier; dealers posture; trouble-makers know just when and where to light the match....

The government watchdog group called this a “huge improvement” for Hawaii, because in the past the state received an “F” grade....

The 2008 Legislature amended the Auditor’s governing statute to require follow-up reporting on recommendations made in various audit reports....

The majority of these bills, along with House bills passed by the Senate, will go into conference committees where House and Senate conferees will negotiate differences in the measures and determine which will be presented for final consideration....

Here is a complete list of the bills under consideration for Third Reading before Crossover....

...Grassroot President Keli’i Akina and Policy Director Malia Hill consider the relationship between think tanks and the development of free market solutions....

...the Kobayashi Group is an investor in a hui that plans to build one or more luxury developments in Kaka’ako....

...sometimes the Legislature feels like a Whack-a-Mole game, where you knock down a bad bill, only to find the contents pop up again in another bill....

...The new (to the State) application is expected to save money, improve security, and enhance sustainability (everybody else has been doing this for years, but hey) ....

$38,213,000 – Honolulu Community College Advanced Technology Training Center, Oahu....

...highlighting those bills that champion taxpayers and residents; and bills that affect our rights and freedoms....

...highlighting education proposals, spending, and reforms....

Constitutionally, the state can only engage in annual deficit spending as long as there are enough cash reserves to absorb these deficits....

Video traces a bill through Hawaii's legislative process....

Two dozen civil lawsuits have been filed during the past two years in what state lawmakers initially intended as a one-time opportunity....