"We already knew that bag taxes are an annoying levy that provide no environmental benefit; now we also know that they are an economically destructive job killer thanks to this new report. Unfortunately it is also D.C.'s poorest communities that are hit hardest by the bag tax," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Hundreds of community activists and aspiring political leaders across Oahu are preparing for Neighborhood Board Elections in April and May to fill 439 seats on 33 Neighborhood Boards.  February 18 is the last day to register to vote in the election and the last day for candidates to file nomination papers.  But NCO Executive Assistant Bryan Mick and the Neighborhood Commission (NCO) have a surprise in store.  On February 17, 2011 the Commission will be holding a “Special Meeting” to vote on a motion to cancel the election ....

  Legislators say this is illegal!

Multiple renewable energy projects are in rapid development on every island, and plans include $multi-billion inter-island undersea transmission cables.

But if this is all supposed to feel so good, how come our electricity costs are going up up up and it feels so bad?

The committee(s) on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs has rescheduled its public hearing to Saturday, 2-12-2011 at 10 a.m. in conference room 229.

• WHAT: Legislative Townhall Meeting 
• WHERE: Haha‘ione Elementary School Cafeteria
• WHEN: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  

Today, SB 232 HD1, Relating to Civil Unions, passed the House by a vote of 31-19 (with one excused - Rep. Cabanilla).   That means that the bill will now go back to the Senate for reconsideration.  It is expected that the Senate may accept the changes made by the House Judiciary.  If that happens, the bill could end up on Governor Abercrombie’s desk for signature as early as next week.  The Governor has publicly stated he would sign the bill.

AAP’s Freedom to Read director Judy Platt said: “The approach taken by this legislation would have a profound and unacceptable chilling effect not only on AAP members who publish travel guides, but on the robust free marketplace of ideas that the First Amendment is intended to protect. The courts have simply not allowed this to happen, and the Hawaii legislature needs to be reminded of that.”

The future role of the Muslim Brotherhood remains uncertain. The Brotherhood, a fundamentalist Sunni movement, seeks to spread Islamic law throughout the world. Its members have indicated a desire to revoke Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and increase support for Hamas and other terrorist groups.

The Senate Committee on Health heard testimony this week on a beverage tax and Senators heard loud and clear that beverage taxes are not popular.  This Monday, the Committee will vote on one beverage tax proposal. Then on Wednesday, they will hold a hearing on another proposal that would tax beverages.

the commission drew new maps that eliminated most of the canoe districts. The end result was that Hawaii had the largest population deviations in the country. The deviations hit 38.9 percent for the Senate....

If SB 232 SD1 HD1 (civil unions) passes the House, it will then go over to the Senate and they will have to agree to the changes. If they do not agree, the bill will go to a conference committee with members from both chambers so they can work out their differences. What you may not know, is only members who VOTED IN SUPPORT SB 232 can be appointed to the conference committee. In conference committee, no input from the public is accepted.

If the Senate agrees to the amendments, the bill could go straight to the Governor who has publicly stated he would sign the bill.

HONOLULU – The Regents Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) has presented a list of candidates to Gov. Neil Abercrombie to fill four seats on the University of Hawai’i Board of Regents, including two City and County of Honolulu seats, a Hawai’i County seat and a Maui County seat.

According to Senate Bill 1425, relating to banning the acceptance of solid waste in landfills, no landfill in a county with a population greater than or less than 500,000 residents, will be allowed to accept deliveries of municipal solid waste - beginning  July 1, 2012, for Honolulu, and for the smaller counties, a date to be determined by their councils.

HB12, a bill introduced by State Representative Cynthia Thielen (R, 50^th District) which establishes monetary restitution to property owners who have been victimized by plant thefts, will be heard by the House Committee on Agriculture this Friday, Feb. 11, at 9 a.m. in Conference Room 312 at the State Capitol. 

The House Republican caucus has led the effort to keep invocations a part of the daily legislative sessions in the Hawai`i State House following the ending of the practice in the State Senate.