Friday, March 13, 2009

'Honolulu' author to sign books on Oahu

She had the great misfortune to have been born a girl in the waning days of the Yi Dynasty in Korea, and so her parents named her Regret.

Forbidden from learning to read alongside her brothers, she grew ever more determined to pursue an education. When she discovered women in America were allowed to attend school, she enlisted as a picture bride and moved to Hawaii.

The reality of 1914 Hawaii wasn’t the paradise she expected, but Regret, now known as Jin, perseveres. Honolulu, the new mini-Michner style book by Moloka’i author Alan Brennert, follows Jin’s journey through the sugar plantations and into the seedier side of Honolulu, touching on historical footnotes as diverse as the trial of Hawaiians accused of raping a white woman, and the creation of the aloha shirt.

The sweeping saga is already attracting the attention Brennert’s first book, Moloka’I, which was hailed as “a dazzling historical saga” by The Washington Post. Iit told the rich, compelling story of the island’s early leper colony and the human drama that was played out there.

Brennert will be signing copies of his books today and tomorrow on Oahu:

Bookends
Friday, March 13 @ 6 PM
600 Kailua Road, #126
Kailua, HI

Barnes & Noble
Saturday, March 14 @ 1 PM
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI

Interview with author Alan Brennert


Q: Did the idea for Honolulu come out of your research for your previous book, Moloka’i ?

A: In a way. One of the most colorful periods of modern Hawaiian history was the so-called “glamour days” of the 1920s and 30s. Though I read about it in my research for Moloka’i, it was a time period I couldn’t really explore in depth in that book, since my main characters were held in isolation at Kalaupapa. These were the years when Hawai’i made its deepest impression on the American consciousness: the years of Matson liners, the China Clipper, Hollywood celebrities vacationing in Honolulu, and the Hawai’i Calls radio show that broadcasted popular hapa-haole music to the mainland. I found myself wanting to tell a story against that romantic backdrop.

Q: But Honolulu also presents a very different picture of Hawai’i in those “glamour” days.

A: Yes, there were almost two Honolulus existing alongside one another—or more accurately, interwoven, like the Korean patchwork quilts I write about in the book. Because at the same time this romantic, glamorous image of paradise was being exported to the American public, many Native Hawaiians and immigrants to Hawai’i labored on plantations for low wages or lived in poverty in Honolulu tenements. So Honolulu, the novel, is partly about this collision of image and reality...and how, in fact, the reality was actually far richer and more captivating.

Q: Is this why you’ve used so many actual historical figures in the book?

A: They’re not “historical” figures in the conventional sense; my whole point in using them is that many of these people have been largely lost to history. Chang Apana, for instance, was one of the great characters in modern Hawaiian history: a small, two-fisted Chinese-Hawaiian police detective who became one of the most celebrated police officers of his day. But most people today—if they know of him at all—know him primarily as the real-life inspiration for Earl Der Biggers’ “Charlie Chan.” The fantasy has eclipsed the reality. Yet Apana was really a much more colorful and fascinating character than his fictional counterpart, and that’s who I wanted to bring to light—along with other real-life people like “Panama Dave” Baptiste, May Thompson, and Joseph Kahahawai.

Q: Your protagonist, Jin, is a young Korean woman who comes to Hawai’i as a “picture bride.” Was she based on any specific person?

A: Like Rachel Kalama in Moloka’i, Jin is a fictional creation, but is inspired by any number of actual women who emigrated to Hawai’i between 1903 and 1924—Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. I chose to make her Korean because there had already been several fictional representations of Japanese picture brides, but once I started researching Korean culture of that era I saw the rich potential it held as a dramatic motivation for Jin’s journey. It’s been said that Korea in those days tried to be “more Confucian than the Chinese,” and for women it was an especially oppressive environment—which is what motivated many of them to seek a better life elsewhere, through matchmakers who promised a life of adventure and affluence in Hawai’i.

Q: How many picture brides actually made this journey?

A: Estimates range from between six hundred and a thousand. But these women were just a small part of a larger influx of immigrants—Asian, Portuguese, Spanish, Filipino—brought to Hawai’i by the sugar barons who needed laborers to work on the plantations. Those immigrants formed the basis of a polyglot population that today mirrors the kind of multi-ethnic society America is becoming. It’s a subject that’s more pertinent than ever since our new President is himself a product of Hawai’i’s uniquely multicultural society. Honolulu tells of how that culture came to be—and how its story is really the story of America itself.

About the Author:
Alan Brennert is the author of Moloka’i, which was a 2006-2007 BookSense Reading Group Pick and won the 2006 Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the Book Club Book of the Year. It appeared on the BookSense, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Honolulu Advertiser, and (for 16 weeks) NCIBA bestseller lists. He lives in Sherman Oaks, California.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

House budget has deep cuts, layoffs

HONOLULU – State government is going to make do with a whole lot less, under steep budget cuts passed today by the House Finance Committee.

The committee unanimously passed a budget that goes two-thirds of the way toward making up a $1.8 billion shortfall over the biennium that starts July 1. Tax and fee increases are expected to make up the remaining one-third.

The budget situation could become even more dire tomorrow, if the Council on Revenues, as expected, forecasts a 6-percent revenue slump instead of the 3-percent that’s the basis of the current budget plan.

The budget, HB 200, cuts 374 positions, primarily employees in three programs lawmakers see as duplicative – the Disability and Communications Board, the Planning and Development Agency in the Department of Health, and the Career Kokua Program in the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Public affairs offices will also be hard hit.

“I will not sugar coat it or dumb down the reality of what we face,” said House Finance Chairman Marcus Oshiro, D-Wahiawa. “Drastic steps mirror a drastic situation.”

Democratic committee members, meanwhile, took advantage of the opportunity to blast Republican Gov. Linda Lingle for unilaterally saying there would not be tax increases or layoffs to deal with the sour economy.

The House budget cuts $235 million from Lingle’s $11.1 billion proposal for fiscal year 2010 and $170 million from her $11.3 billion proposal for 2011.

Lingle had promised communication, Oshiro said, yet he was blindsided by press releasees and public comments the governor made without discussing it with the Legislature first.

Committee members agreed that nothing should be taken off the table during these tough times.

“The fact of the matter, we’re chasing a $1.8 billion shortfall,” said Rep. Sharon Har, D-Royal Kunia, Makakilo, Kapolei.

Rep. Gene Ward, R-Kalama Valley, Queen’s Gate, Hawaii Kai, rushed to the governor’s defense. Communication has to be a two-way street, he said. And the Finance
Committee hasn’t been telling the governor what it’s been up to either.

Ward added that the budget situation looks grim, but it’s not as bad as it was in the 1990s, when the state had to dip deeply into its reserves to keep the state running.

“We’re going a little bit overboard too quickly,” Ward said, adding however, “everything we say today is moot until we see what the Council on Revenues does tomorrow.”

Monday, March 9, 2009

Partnership provides new incentive to retire farmland

HONOLULU -- Hawaii farmers and ranchers are getting a new incentive to protect environmentally sensitive lands, with the announcement today of a partnership between state and federal government.

The voluntary land retirement program, known as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, will provide up to $270 an acre annually for those who set aside cropland for conservation and lesser amounts for pastureland. The program also pays up to half of the cost of installing conservation practices.

The total cost of the Hawaii State CREP over the life of the project is estimated at $67 million for a total enrollment of 15,000 acres. The state of Hawaii will contribute approximately 20 percent, or $13.4 million, as support of the overall program cost.

"USDA is proud to collaborate with the State of Hawaii on this important agreement that will improve the state's water quality and wildlife habitat. It will protect the Hawaiian Islands' vital watersheds and riparian areas on marginal pastureland and cropland," Farm Service Agency acting Administrator Carolyn Cooksie said in a statement.

The agreement is for the six main islands: Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai and Oahu. The goal is to enroll up to 15,000 acres of marginal pasture and cropland, with 2,000 of these acres being targeted for enrollment as forest restoration practices and 13,000 acres targeted for wetland resources practices.

The agreement is aimed at improving water quality in stream systems, increasing groundwater recharge, restoring forests and native species' habitats, controlling the spread of invasive species and enhancing near shore coastal and coral reef health.

Hawaii departments of Land and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Health and the University of Hawaii system will join with local Watershed Partnerships and other organizations to support the goals of Hawaii CREP and will offer incentives to participants for installing riparian buffers, wetlands and forest restoration practices.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Same-day voter registration passes Hawaii Senate

HONOLULU – Hawaii may become the 10th state in the nation to allow same-day voter registration, thanks to a bill that passed the state Senate today.

SB 654, sponsored by Sen. Les Ihara, D-Kapahulu, Kaimuki, Palolo, is aimed at improving Hawaii’s historically low voter turnout. It’s championed by the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Common Cause Hawaii and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

Even the 2008 presidential election featuring Hawaii-born Barrack Obama failed to excite Hawaii voters, with just under 70 percent going to the polls. That’s still higher than the estimated turnout nationwide, but still not enough to satisfy civic groups.

“The last month of campaigning is the period when individuals become most motivated and engaged in elections because of the heightened awareness of issues and mobilization of efforts in competitive races,” said Laurie Temple, lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union

“Voters that would be otherwise have been denied the opportunity to vote, including new voters or people who have recently moved, will be enfranchised by election-day registration and thus will increase voter turnout.”

In 2004, an average of 74 percent of eligible voters turned out to vote in states with election-day voter registration compared to 60 percent in states without election-day voter registration. In Minnesota, 77 percent of eligible voters voted in the 2004 presidential election. Wisconsin and Maine, which also have election-day voter registration programs, finished second and third, respectively, in voter turnout, according to Senate staff.

But Kevin Cronin, chief election officer for the state, worries about the likelihood of increased administrative costs and the possibility of fraud. Sen. Sam Slom, R-Kahala, Hawaii Kai, cited similar concerns when voting no.

“Increasing voter registration among eligible individuals might be more easily accomplished without risk of same-day voter registration by increasing voter education funding to further raise public awareness and encourage participation in voting and elections,” Cronin said.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

House committee advances ceded lands bill

HONOLULU – A compromise giving the Legislature final approval over the sale of ceded lands is moving forward, even as the highest court in the land mulls over Native Hawaiians' wishes to keep the land in trust until a new Hawaiian nation can be created.

The House Hawaiian Affairs Committee just approved SB 1677, which unanimously passed the Senate last month. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Clayton Hee, requires a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature before ceded lands can be sold.

Ceded lands are lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy but ceded to the state to be held in trust for Hawaiians. Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 90 percent of state-owned lands.

Attorneys for the state Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs argued their case Feb. 25 before the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s not known when the court will issue an opinion.

The bill has three more committee stops before reaching the House floor.

The Attorney General’s Office urged the committee to amend the bill so that ceded lands sales are treated like other commercial land sales. In those cases, the Legislature has the ability to disapprove a land sale or exchange after the state administration has negotiated to a final offer. The Senate bill, in contrast, requires legislative approval in advance.

“… There does not appear to be a pressing need for this bill,” at all, noted Attorney General Mark Bennett in testimony to the committee.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, on the other hand, believes the bill doesn’t go far enough, but is better than nothing. Numerous testifiers agreed with that philosophy.

“Hawaiian lands were never ceded, they were stole and taken illegally,” said Kelly Anne Beppu, a University of Hawaii graduate student in social work. “By allowing the state of Hawaii to sell these ceded lands, we are teaching our children that it is acceptable to lie, deceive and steal. I know I don’t want my children to grow up in a government that values those things."

Monday, March 2, 2009

Hawaii considers homeless express

HONOLULU -- No money? Just go home, already.

That’s the message Hawaii will be sending to some of the state’s thousands of homeless -- at least the ones who want to leave.

In what is hoped to be a more loving version of the old “bum express” of the Mainland, the state is considering giving plane tickets to those who’ve found themselves on the street because of the high cost of living and low prospect for jobs in the Aloha State.

HB 1187, the “return-to-home” program, would give out-of-state homeless people a one-way flight back to friends, relatives or other support groups. It’s estimated that each homeless person cost Hawaii taxpayers $30,000 to $35,000, while a plane ticket can be had for $400 or less.

“This isn’t meant to solve the entire homeless problem in the state of Hawaii, only the specific population that came to Hawaii with dreams of hula girls serving mai tais on the beach and has then encountered the harsh reality of homelessness in Hawaii,” said homeless advocate Netra Halperin in testimony to the House Finance Committee today.

Others urge caution.

“While we acknowledge the good intent of this bill, we caution that it may have the unintended effect of increasing the number o homeless persons entering Hawaii, once it is known that a person who gets here on their own will be able to get transportation back home provided by the state,” said Chad Taniguchi of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority. “We are concerned that some may misuse this program to take a free vacation to Hawaii.”

The bill is making steady progress through the Legislature, with only members of the greatly outnumbered Minority Caucus voting no.

The University of Hawaii late last year released its “Homeless Service Utilization Report,” a study that attempts to get a handle on the breadth of the homelessness problem on the islands and how best to address it.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Tobacco taxes face 40% hike

HONOLULU -- It’s not a good time to be a smoker.

State lawmakers are scrounging about in a tough budget year, looking for spare cash that will raise the fewest hackles possible.

They’ve lighted upon tobacco as the fattest bad boy in town and are contemplating up to 40 percent tax increases.

The anti-smoking attitude was exemplified in a proclamation declaring Feb. 27 as “Kick Butts Day” read by Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona earlier today in front of a hundred or so screaming young people. The red-T-shirt-clad audience was a coalition from Hawaii Real, and they were sending their message loud and clear.

"We see the new smokeless alternatives as an attempt to create a new generation of tobacco users," Aiona said in a statement. "But I am very proud that more adults and teens are making the right decision not to smoke."

This is one cause that state lawmakers seem to agree with the administration on, at least in a year when tax pickings are slim. Both the House and the Senate have bills hiking taxes on tobacco products.

The House bill, HB 1175, would increase the per-cigarette tax from 10 cents to 14 cents.

The Senate bill, SB 38, raises the tax on other tobacco products from 40 percent of the wholesale price to 60 percent. SB 38 unanimously cleared the Senate Health Committee and is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday.

Advocates note that increasing tobacco taxes and using the money to educate youth on the dangers of smoking has dramatically cut teens’ smoking.

Fewer than 10 percent of the high school students say they have smoked at least once in the past 30 days, compared to almost 25 percent in 2000. But smokeless tobacco use has increased during the same period, said Trisha Nakamura, policy and advocacy director for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii.

“A tax increase will not only bring revenue into our State but it will reduce youth tobacco use,” Nakamura said.

Not everyone thinks tobacco users should be targeted for tax increases, however.

“I'm opposed to this hate and this madness. Would you please leave our people that smoke alone?” said Michael Zehner.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Hawaiians in da House (and the Senate)

















HONOLULU -- More than 300 people chanted, danced, blew conch shells and beat drums in the Capitol Rotunda starting at 4 a.m. and continuing well into the afternoon today, protesting the ceded lands case being heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Details of the oral arguments by attorneys for the Gov. Linda Lingle administration and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, as well as a transcript, are well-documented here by Honolulu land-use attorney Robert Thomas.

The Hawaii Legislature has also leapt into the fray.

The House and the Senate have passed SCR 40, urging the administration to drop the appeal.

A more substantive bill, SB 1677, requires a two-thirds vote by the Legislature before ceded lands can be sold. It unanimously passed the Senate on Feb. 20 and will be taken up by the

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bipartisan aloha hits Washington, D.C.

There were shakas all around when Gov. Linda Lingle and President Obama got together for a photo op Sunday night, one of two meetings the governor had with Obama while in Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association meeting.

(Photo provided by the Office of Governor Felix Camacho of Guam.)

An uncivil discourse on civil unions

HONOLULU -- Supporters and opponents of civil unions were being subjected to cutting questions during a packed Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning.

The Senate took up HB 444, after the House passed it Feb. 12 by a 33-17 vote. It looked like the overwhelming amount of testimony was going to keep the hearing going for hours. The committee broke for session and was expected back at 1:30 p.m.

Proponents such as Alan Spector, of the Family Equality Coalition, say it’s difficult being called diseased and a threat to the state and compared to molesters and rapists just because they’re gay.

Many of the opponents, such as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, said they do indeed believe homosexuality is wrong or against God’s wishes, and the state shouldn’t condone it.

Almost 70 percent of Hawaii voters in 1998 passed a constitutional amendment allowing the state Legislature to define marriage as between a man and a woman. A 1997 law allowed same-sex couples to register as “reciprocal beneficiaries,” including hospital visitation rights, authority to sue in wrongful death cases and inheritance and property rights.

Kathleen Sands, an American Studies professor at the University of Hawaii, said the framers of the U.S. Constitution contemplated a “live and let live” philosophy that Hawaii lawmakers should follow.

“This in no way requires that opponents ‘condone’ or ‘celebrate’ my relationship. In the United States, we don't expect Mormons to ‘condone’ Scientologists, or evangelical Christians to ‘celebrate’ Islam. But neither are these groups allowed to deny each other health care, parental rights, bereavement leave or life insurance,” Sands said.

“Marriage equality requires no more than does equity among the many religious groups that already co-exist in our state. And it deserves no less.”

The bill would allow same-sex couples to have all the benefits, protections and responsibilities of marriage after having their civil union performed by a judge or member of the clergy. The state would also recognize such unions performed in other states. The committee made it clear that it is not redefining marriage, but merely allowing civil unions.

But Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona doesn’t see it that way. He points to overwhelming public opposition to same-sex marriage that culminated with the 1998 referendum.

“(The bill) now attempts to circumvent the will of the people by authorizing the equivalent to same sex marriage, albeit under a different name,” Aiona said in written testimony.

“That is, despite not referring to a civil union as ‘marriage,’ this bill would confer all of the rights, duties, and obligations of marriage to participants in a civil union In view of the above, this bill clearly seeks to modify all Hawai'i law so that the terms "marriage" and "civil union" are synonymous.”

“If the public is on record as being overwhelmingly opposed to the concept of same sex marriage, how could one conclude that they would support its 'identical twin' just because it goes by a different name?”

Currently, only Massachusetts and Connecticut allow gay marriages, and Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire provide some, but not all, of the benefits of marriage by recognizing civil unions.

Friday, February 20, 2009

This land is my land, this land is my land


HONOLULU -- Hawaiian activists plan to set fire to Gov. Linda Lingle’s U.S. Supreme Court petition and light their torches with it as they rally at the state Capitol against the administration’s plans to sell some of the land it holds in trust.

Like a government version of Kramer vs. Kramer, two state agencies will duke it out in a courtroom Wednesday when the Lingle administration and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs each tells the highest court in the land that the other has no right to property ceded to the state following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

“This state appeal has the potential to undermine all Native Hawaiian programs and assets as well as undermine the legal basis for Native Hawaiian federal recognition,” OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona said during a news conference today on the grounds of Iolani Palace, an important symbol to the Native Hawaiian community.

While the lawyers fight, Native Hawaiians, alongside those “Hawaiian at heart,” will hold a vigil at the Capitol from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. There will be prayers, pahu drums, chanting every hour, on the hour as part of a series of events planned that day in Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New Haven, Conn., and Washington, D.C.

Activists are also calling for Hawaiians and sympathizers to take a day off work Wednesday to join the rally and send a message about the strength of the movement.

“A far-reaching decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could affect OHA’s ability to carry out its mission of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians,” Apoliona said.

Underscoring how divided the state is over the issue, the Democrat-controlled Hawaii Senate today passed a bill requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before ceded lands can be sold and a resolution urging the Republican governor and her attorney general to withdraw their appeal. The Democrat-controlled House, meanwhile, didn’t move similar bills by the deadline for consideration.

OHA’s response to the state petition bases its argument on the Apology Resolution, enacted by Congress in 1993, on the 100th anniversary of the Hawaiian monarchy. OHA maintains it places a cloud on the title to ceded lands, forcing the state government to hold them intact until questions of Native Hawaiian self-governance can be answered. Last year, the Hawaii Supreme Court upheld that view.

The state disagrees.

“These public trust lands were transferred by the Congress to the people of the state of Hawaii in 1959 for the benefit of all the people of the state of Hawaii to be used for the public purposes set out in the Admission Act like for the establishment of public schools and public improvements for betterment of homes and farms,” says Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett. “The Admission Act explicitly gave the state the right to sell or transfer ceded lands for the purposes set out in the Admission Act.”

Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 95 percent of the public lands held by the state.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Another day older and deeper in debt

It’s common, but usually not advisable, to want to max out your credit cards when times get tough.

The Hawaii Legislature is no exception, but the House Finance Committee is taking a cautious approach to bond debt at its hearing this afternoon.

A full slate of debt-related bills are being considered following last week’s grim financial news during a briefing by William Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Legislature has no choice but to be cautious. The state constitution limits the amount of debt the state can undertake so that annual payments of principle and interest can’t exceed 18.5 percent of the average net General Fund revenues for the preceding three fiscal years.

The House, in HB 34, plans to set the stage to borrow $1.8 billion in general obligation bonds over the next three years – coincidentally the same amount economists have predicted the state will fall short in its General Fund budget over that period.

That amount will raise the state’s annual principle and interest payment just 10 percent, from $589.3 million to $648.7 million, between now and 2012, if the state borrows no more money in the meantime. Hawaii generally borrows using 20-year serial bonds, with payments on principle not kicking in until the fifth year.

Hawaii was ranked 11th in the nation in per capita debt in 2007 – with each man, woman and child in the state shouldering $4,665 in debt on the state’s behalf. That compares to $10,504 in Massachusetts, the highest state, and $674 in Tennessee, the lowest.

Hawaii ranks 13th in state debt as a percent of personal income, with debt representing 11.89 percent in 2007. Alaska, the highest state, has debt at 24.01 percent of personal income and Tennessee, the lowest state, has 2.02 percent.

Lawmakers hope borrowing more money for infrastructure will mean more federal stimulus money will come to Hawaii for needed projects.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Gov. Lingle goes to Washington

Gov. Linda Lingle heads to Washing-
ton D.C., Thursday to join coll-
eagues from other states, three common-
wealths and two territories for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.

Jobs, the economy, infrastructure and health care top the list of concerns the NGA will tackle during the three-day meeting. Lingle doesn’t plan to return to Hawaii until Friday, Feb. 27. Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona will join Lingle for some of the sessions.

The itinerary includes a black-tie evening with President Obama and the First Lady on Sunday at the White House. Governors return to the White House on Monday, Feb. 23. They’ll hold meetings with Obama and members of his Cabinet on issues important to their states.

States currently are jostling for their share of the $787 billion stimulus plan that Obama is expected to sign into law this week. Hawaii may get almost $1 billion of that.

Under the plan, the states will divide $27 billion – far less than the $64 billion they said they needed – for “shovel ready” infrastructure projects. The law requires the projects to pass federal government’s scrutiny and be judged ready to go within 120 days in order to infuse jobs into the economy quickly.

Founded in 1908, the NGA is the collective voice of the nation's governors and represents governors on Capitol Hill and before the Administration.

Lingle also is scheduled to meet with Sen. Daniel Inouye and Sen. Daniel Akaka, both Democrats from Hawaii.

Lingle’s enthusiasm for energy self-sufficiency will be shared with her colleagues Sunday during a panel discussion with experts on energy infrastructure policy, including siting, regulation, financing and deployment and development of "smart grid" technologies and new pipeline systems. Panelists include Pat Wood III, principal, Wood3 Resources and Jesse Berst, managing director, GlobalSmartEnergy.com.

"Our nation's competitiveness and national security are inextricably linked to energy," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, chairwoman of the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. "Establishing an effective, sustainable energy infrastructure system will ensure that we can meet America's future energy needs."

The focus on infrastructure will be highlighted Saturday with the Miller Center Discussion and Debate about Infrastructure. Modeled on Oxford-style debates, the Miller Center National Debate series looks at issues surrounding America's role in the world, its responsibility to its citizens and the way its policies fulfill its founding principles.

The debate will focus on balancing a federal infrastructure policy with energy, environmental and economic priorities. Robert MacNeil, former co-anchor of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, will moderate. Panelists include NGA Chairman Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Douglas Foy, president of DIF Enterprises; and JayEtta Hecker, senior fellow of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The last half hour of debate will be question and answer session among all governors. The debate will be webcast live.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Hawaii considers marijuana stamps

HONOLULU -- Talk about your green stamps.

The Hawaii House today advanced a bill that would issue cannabis distribution stamps to participants in the state’s medical marijuana program.

Hawaii has had a medical marijuana program since 2000, allowing doctors to write a pot prescription for everything from glaucoma to AIDS to cancer. The law allows patients with prescriptions to grow what is known in state law as an “adequate supply.”

That’s further defined as “an amount of marijuana jointly possessed between the qualifying patient and the primary caregiver that is not more than is reasonably necessary to assure the uninterrupted availability of marijuana for the purpose of alleviating the symptoms or effects of a qualifying patient's debilitating medical condition; provided that an "adequate supply" shall not exceed three mature marijuana plants, four immature marijuana plants, and one ounce of usable marijuana per each mature plant.”

The problem, unless the patient has the land and the ability to grow his or her own, has been that would-be users must break the law to get their legal supply.

“If a patient is unable to produce enough medicine, they must resort to transacting on the black market, with a variety of inherent risks,” said Big Island proponent Matthew Rifkin in testimony to a House committee.

The Legislative Reference Bureau, in its 2004 publication “In Search Of A Viable Distribution System For Hawaii's Medical Marijuana Program,” recommended the distribution-stamp program.

Under the program, a farmer puts up some land for secure growing facilities and a certified facilitator serves as the go-between from farmer to user. Users are issued stamps at a cost of no more than 50 cents per gram of marijuana.

The bill now moves to two other committees before coming back to the full House for another vote, then on to the Senate. Its chances of passing are pretty good, with only two of the 6 Republicans in the 51-member House voting no.

Law enforcement hopes it can stop the bill before it gets too far.

“The message could be interpreted as the state of Hawaii Legislature legalizing drug trafficking within the state,” said Paul K. Ferreira, acting police chief for the Big Island. “To expand the medical marijuana laws and amend our current statutes from their current restrictions would only assist those individuals now growing marijuana illegally and generating huge profits by allowing them to use the medical marijuana law to aid in avoiding detection.”

Monday, February 9, 2009

National group to bring bad budget news

HONOLULU -- If misery loves company, Hawaii’s got plenty of both.

A new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures says the budget gap – the difference between what states have and what they need – has moved nationally from “sobering” to “distressing.”

NCSL Executive Director William Pound will bear the bad news personally to Hawaii on Thursday, when he’ll address the House Finance Committee.

Pound is expected to update the committee on current fiscal conditions, strategies being employed to meet budget shortfalls and whether states should expect much relief from the federal bailout, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is currently being negotiated in Congress.

Hawaii’s three-year budget shortfall is estimated at $1.8 billion, but even that intimidating figure could become more frightening. NCSL, in its interactive budget map, shows Hawaii’s FY 2009 budget gap at $353.3 million, or 5.8 percent of the state general fund.

Even though some states have taken corrective actions, the current FY 2009 gap still stands at $47.4 billion, on top of the $40.3 billion shortfall for the 2008 FY, according to NCSL, whose budget analysts are predicting it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

"These figures are absolutely alarming, both in their magnitude and in the painful decisions they present to state lawmakers," Corina Eckl, fiscal program director for NCSL, said in a statement. "The easy budget fixes are long gone, only hard and unpopular options remain.”

Thursday, February 5, 2009

House committee advances gay marriage bill

HONOLULU -- The House Judiciary Committee just gave the nod to gay marriage, moving HB 444 forward after hearing four hours of testimony.

The bill would allow same-sex couples to have all the benefits, protections and responsibilities of marriage after having their civil union performed by a judge or member of the clergy. The state would also recognize such unions performed in other states.

The committee made it clear that it is not redefining marriage, but merely allowing civil unions.

Currently, only Massachusetts and Connecticut allow gay marriages, and Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire provide some, but not all, of the benefits of marriage by recognizing civil unions.

The bill is on a fast track to the full House, during a legislative session that is so short of money that lawmakers have time to focus on cost-free but controversial bills such as this.

With 32 of the 51-member House signed on as cosponsors, the bill seems to have an easy trip to the alter of the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

About 69 percent of Hawaii voters in 1998 passed a constitutional amendment allowing, but not requiring, the state Legislature to define marriage as between a man and a woman. A 1997 law allowed same-sex couples to register as “reciprocal beneficiaries,” including hospital visitation rights, authority to sue in wrongful death cases and inheritance and property rights.

Watched Obama's inauguration live on your PC? Your computer may have been hijacked.


Many people who watched live streaming video of the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama on Jan. 20 may not realize that their PC was used to send the video to other PCs, too.

That's according to Brian Livingston of the Web site Windows Secrets, which claims CNN used Web viewers' PCs to bounce the inauguration around the globe.

This bothers a lot of folks out in the blogosphere. What are your thoughts on this?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ceded lands bills moving forward


With oral arguments in a U.S. Supreme Court case just weeks away, committees in both houses of the Legislature advanced bills today reining in the state administration’s ability to sell ceded lands.

The alii (chiefs) of the Royal Order of King Kamehameha I, wearing their trademark red and yellow capes, dominated the front row of committee rooms and were among the dozens who testified in support of a moratorium on the sale of Ceded lands.

Ceded lands are lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy but ceded to the state to be held in trust for Hawaiians. Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 90 percent of state-owned lands.

Eight bills were being heard in their first committees today, ranging from an outright ban of the sale of the lands (HB 1667, HB 1805, HB 1841, HB 902, SB 1085, SB 475) to the requirement that the Legislature approve each deal by a two-thirds majority (SB 1677, SB 476).

All of the House bills moved forward unanimously, with HB 1805 further modified to include the two-thirds requirement favored by the Senate.

At most immediate issue is the Lingle administration’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of a Hawaii Supreme Court opinion that placed a moratorium on the state selling ceded lands until an agreement could be worked out between the state and the Native Hawaiian people. That case is scheduled to be heard in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, one of the few opponents testifying about the bills, said passing legislation now is wrong from both a legal and a political perspective.

“The bill raises the potential for additional federal court lawsuits against the state by persons oppose3d to government programs that provide benefits to Native Hawaiians,” Bennett said. “We also believe that it makes sense as a policy matter for the state to retain flexibility as to the use and management of its land.”

Clyde Namuo, administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which is battling the state administration in the lawsuit, said he and Bennett have worked side-by-side preserving Native Hawaiian rights in the past. But now, he said, he’s reaching a new understanding.

“Eight years ago when I joined OHA, I wondered why Native Hawaiians seemed so angry,” Namuo said. “Listening today to this discussion, I finally get it.”

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Lawmakers face PR nightmare on raises

HONOLULU – Of all the years to get a 36-percent raise.

Hawaii legislators face a PR nightmare this year: trying to justify their $12,808 salary increase while constituents right and left are losing their jobs. The increase, which went into effect Jan. 1, brings lawmakers’ base salaries to $48,708.

A second raise of 3.5 percent is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2010, unless the Legislature passes a bill to suspend it.

The raises were put into place by an independent Commission on Salaries that voters approved on the 2006 ballot. The commission also prescribed pay hikes for the governor and Cabinet, and state judges.

Being a legislator in Hawaii is not considered a full-time job – the legislative session lasts from mid-January to early May and was designed so that “citizen lawmakers,” rather than professional legislators, could bring their particular areas of interest and expertise to the Capitol.

Hawaii lawmakers are by no means the poorest or the best paid, according to a study by the Lexington, Ky-based, Council of State Governments. The council provides policy analysis and tracks national conditions and trends in state governments.

The study, “State Legislator Compensation: A Trend Analysis,” found that the average legislative salary in 2005 was $25,908, and hasn’t kept up with inflation.

Keon Chi, editor-in-chief of CSG’s annual Book of the States, wrote the 38 page report.

“Compensation levels have an impact on recruitment, retention and the work of the legislature,” said Chi in a statement. “If legislators are not paid adequately, then candidates are drawn from a smaller pool. High pay broadens that pool. You can’t expect to attract good candidates with pay that is lower when compared to other jobs and professions.”

But these are tough times, and Gov. Linda Lingle has asked the Legislature to freeze raises for her and her staff, as well as themselves. She says that could save more than $4 million.

But legislative leaders, including House Speaker Calvin Say, D-St. Louis Heights, Wilhelmina Rise, and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-Nanakuli, Maili, Waianae, say the raises are long overdue and well deserved. They note that the executive branch and judges have received raises, but the Legislature has received only three raises in 15 years.

“Given those increases and the rates of pay provided to the Executive and Judicial branches, asking legislators to forgo their pay raise places an undue and inequitable burden on the Legislative branch,” Hanabusa said in a statement. “As we address these issues, all concerned have a duty to understand the true facts behind our deliberations, to work within the spirit and letter of our laws, and to avoid creating distracting political conflicts where none exist.”

Lingle’s proposed salary freeze would affect 208 employees, including the governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet heads and deputies and justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court and all state court judges.

The administration employees are scheduled for salary hikes of 5 percent on July 1, 2009 and 3.5 percent on July 1, 2010. The justices and judges are scheduled for salary increases of 10 percent in 2009 and 3.5 percent in 2010.

Lingle’s bill, HB 1109, asks state leaders to “lead by example during fiscally challenging times” by deferring for two years the salary increases recommended by the Commission on Salaries for legislators, judges, and senior officials of the executive branch for the next two fiscal years.

Other related bills:

SB 479, filed by Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, by request, requires an across-the-board decrease of the salaries recommended by the commission on salaries for executive branch heads and their deputies, judges and justices, and legislators.

SB 363, by Sen. Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai, Kahala, abolishes the Salary Commission, while SB 368, also by Slom, proposes constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to suspend the increase in legislative salaries as recommended by the Salary Commission.

HB 1816, by Rep. Della Belatti, D-Tantalus, Makiki, McCully, reduces by 5 percent the current salaries of executive, legislative, and judicial branch employees and freezes salaries of such employees for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. HB 1670, also by Belatti, requires the Commission on Salaries to hold public hearings and provide public notice of each hearing.

SB 221, by Sen. Will Espero, D-Ewa, Lower Waipahu, requires the Commission on Salaries to conduct a public hearing on Oahu prior to submitting its recommendations to the Legislature. Democratic Sens. Robert Bunda, Mike Gabbard, and Dwight Takamine, as well as the Republican Sen. Slom, have cosigned on the bill.