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Stress mounts over state budget bill

By ANDREW GOMES Honolulu Star-Advertiser The pressure appears higher-than-normal at the Legislature to settle on a final draft of the state budget bill, and there’s only several days left to reach a compromise. A majority in the Senate last week described to a group of House members what sounded like a line in the sand over a pending Hawaii income tax relief bill that could dramatically affect how much revenue the state hasto spend next fiscal year. At an initial meeting last Wednesday…Read more

State ‘Green Fee’ spending faces shakeup

By ANDREW GOMES Honolulu Star-Advertiser How the state spends nearly $130 million on initial projects to protect natural resources, mitigate disaster risk and improve visitor experiences under Hawaii’s new “Green Fee” program is facing reshuffling at the Legislature. Some powerful senators don’t want to fund about $65 millionof projects recommended by an advisory council in January and instead have proffered their own list of suggested replacements. Replacement recommendations…Read more

DUI bills die again in Hawaii Legislature

By JOHN BURNETT Hawaii Tribune-Herald For the sixth consecutive year, bills aimed at lowering the blood-alcohol content threshold for drunken driving in Hawaii from 0.08% to 0.05% have failed legislative muster. The last of four surviving measures seeking to lower the BAC limit, an amended version of Senate Bill 2463, crossed over to the House where it passed two floor votes but didn’t receive a hearing in the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee chaired by Rep. David Tarnas, a Kohala…Read more

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