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During fiscal year 2009, total state agency electric consumption dropped 5.8 percent from 2008 and 2.5 percent from the baseline year of 2005, according to the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism’s (DBEDT) annual “Lead By Example” report to the state Legislature.

The decline in the state’s energy consumption represents the largest single-year decrease since the “Lead By Example” initiative began in 2006, and the first time that overall consumption has been lower than the 2005 baseline levels.

The report outlines the progress made by state executive agencies in fiscal year 2008-2009 in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, transportation, green buildings and environmentally preferable purchasing.

“Improved energy efficiency and conservation at state facilities moves us closer to achieving Hawaii’s goal of 70 percent clean energy by 2030,” Gov. Linda Lingle said. “All of our state departments and their employees, especially building design and maintenance staff, deserve credit for their efforts to reduce energy consumption and implement clean energy technologies.”

Despite the decrease in consumption, overall cost has steadily risen each year due to the escalating price of oil. Between 2008 and 2009, while electricity consumption decreased 5.8 percent, costs increased 1.2 percent.

The report also noted renewable energy development progressed in 2009.

The University of Hawaii – Hilo is in the process of installing more than 230 kW of photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity, including a 23 kW PV system over the Campus Center that will soon be built; a 30 kW PV system being planned for Portable Building 11; and an 88 kW PV system over the North Hawaii Education and Research Center currently in the bidding process.

The Department of Transportation–Airports installed photovoltaic systems with a combined capacity of 875 kW at the Lihue, Kona, Hilo and Kahului Airports as part of the department’s Photovoltaic Energy Systems Project. In addition, DOT installed a 16 kW small-wind system at Honolulu International Airport and photovoltaic systems at the Highways Division Baseyard in Lihue and the DOT Nawiliwili Harbor.

The state DOT announced March 9 that it is accepting bids for renewable energy generation systems at DOT, DBEDT and University of Hawaii facilities statewide. The proposals for renewable energy systems can include photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power and wind power.

The new renewable energy generation systems will reduce operating costs by obtaining a stable rate for electrical power that is independent of price fluctuations caused by changes in oil prices. This significant and long-term investment establishes Hawaii as a leader in the development of renewable energy sources and reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

Last October, the state entered into a contract with Noresco, LLC, an energy services company to implement energy efficiency improvements to 10 state office buildings within the State Capitol District, including the State Capitol, that comprise more than 1.3 million square feet of building space.

The project is expected to save more than 6.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, reducing utility bills by 30 percent, which equals approximately $3.2 million per year in operational savings.

Other “Lead By Example” projects are detailed in the full report that can be seen at: hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/energy/efficiency/state/lbe/stateemployees

The “Lead By Example” initiative began in 2006 in response to legislative and executive mandates to improve the way state executive branch agencies use energy in operations and facilities.

Hawaii County Police Chief Harry Kubojiri, Senator Mike Gabbard, Tammy Kubo, Judge Ed Kubo, Deputy Planning Director Margaret Masunaga, Deputy Prosecutors Mitch Roth and Carol Kitaoka. (Photo special to Hawaii 24/7 courtesy Margaret Masunaga)

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Gov. Linda Lingle attended a swearing-in ceremony for two of her judicial appointees, former U.S. Attorney Edward H. Kubo, Jr. and Lawrence M. Reifurth, to serve as a Circuit Court judge of the First Circuit (Oahu) and Associate Judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, respectively.

“Ed Kubo has dedicated his career to upholding the law and defending the public against crime,” Lingle said in her nomination last month. “He has a well-rounded legal background that includes extensive experience as the United States’ chief federal law enforcement officer and principal litigator in Hawaii, a prosecuting attorney for the city and a private practice trial attorney. Ed has been an exemplary public servant and an outstanding citizen who is committed to improving our community and I am confident he will continue to serve the public well as a Circuit Court judge.”

Tammy Kubo, Ed Kubo, Gov. Linda Lingle

Kubo served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii from 2001 to October 2009, and prior to that was Assistant U.S. Attorney for 11 years. During his tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kubo focused on major federal criminal investigations such as white collar crimes, mortgage fraud, civil rights violations, tax evasion, corruption, crimes on government installations and violent crimes.

He also covered federal civil areas including fraud against government, employment discrimination, medical malpractice defense and defense of military initiatives. Other key areas Kubo focused on involved federal criminal narcotics enforcement and organized crime, including international drug trafficking, court-approved wiretaps, complex conspiracies, financial investigations and forfeiture of property, and racketeering prosecutions.

Kubo previously worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney in the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of the Prosecuting Attorney from 1980 to 1983 and 1985 to 1990. He also was an associate trial attorney with the law firm Carlsmith and Dwyer and a law clerk with the law firm Kobayashi and Watanabe.

Also sworn-in during the ceremony was Larry Reifurth as Associate Judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Reifurth served as the director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) since March 2007, and was the department’s deputy director for the previous four years.

Larry Riefurth

As director, he oversaw state programs that focused on business regulations, enforcement and registrations of industries including insurance, securities, cable television, financial institutions, and 46 different professional licensing boards and programs. He also is responsible for consumer protection, including licensing enforcement and public utility consumer advocacy.

In 1994, Reifurth served as the state’s insurance commissioner. He also represented the Division of Consumer Advocacy as a deputy attorney general from 1989 to 1992. Both the insurance and consumer advocacy divisions are located within the DCCA.

“Larry has been an outstanding and dedicated public servant who has worked to support the interests of Hawaii businesses, while fighting to protect consumers from fraud and unfair business practices,” Lingle said in her nomination. “He has been a valuable member of my Administration for the past seven years and I have great confidence that he will serve on the bench with integrity and fairness.”

Since taking office in December 2002, Lingle has appointed six judges to the Intermediate Court of Appeals, 14 judges to the Circuit Court and two justices to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

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Big Island attorney and deputy planner Margaret Masunaga attended the swearing-in ceremony and sent in this report:

“The Hawaii Supreme Court was overflowing with supporters and standing room only both inside and outside the courtroom. Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon presided over the ceremony, and Gov. Lingle spoke, as well as Sen. Mike Gabbard, Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu, Shelton Jim On for the Judicial Selection Commission, Judge Steve Alm for the Hawaii State Trial Judges Association, and Hawaii State Bar Association President Hugh Jones.

Among the spectators were Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Prosecutors Peter Carlisle, Jay Kimura, Attorney General Mark Bennett, Harry Kubojiri, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Flo Nakakuni.

When it came to the speeches by Judge Reifurth and Judge Kubo, the audience cried after hearing Reifurth’s mother passed away two months ago, before Lingle made her selection from the list. His father traveled from the mainland.

I shed more tears after hearing Reifurth talk about my friend Corlis Chang’s mother, Irma Chang, who was Larry’s “Popo,” or adopted mom, who passed away last month.

Although I’ve never met Lawrence Reifurth, I felt I knew him after his speech. He jokingly told Ed, “thank you for taking all the bullets,” referring to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings and the vote before the full Senate, and thanked Lisa Ginoza, (who was nominated to the ICA subsequently) for applying later.

Kubo personally thanked Hannemann and Mayor Billy Kenoi and the Big Island supporters. I also got choked up when he thanked his parents and his wife Tammy.

We also shared many laughs about how much Ed likes food. Everyone laughed when he said he found a new place to hide his food in his judicial robe!

It was worth my trip from Kona to Honolulu (on my own dime) to attend this memorable swearing -in ceremony for Judge Kubo and Judge Reifurth.

Gov. Linda Lingle hosted a press conference Friday, March 12. Here is the full transcript:

Aloha everyone. Thank you for coming by. Today, we’re just about at the half-way point of the legislative session and we’ve done marijuana stores, gambling, foie gras and now is a great time to get re-focused on what this legislative session has to be about and that’s getting our economy back on track and creating new jobs all across the state.

The Legislature did take some action over the last few days to reduce the increase in the unemployment insurance tax. We continue to believe that it wasn’t a bold enough action, that they needed to reduce it by a larger amount over a longer period of time and we continue to urge them to go back and take another look at it and bring additional relief to businesses.

This could be the difference between a business staying in business or going out of business. It could be the difference between keeping an employee on the payroll or having to let them go. It could be the difference between hiring a new employee or foregoing hiring a new person.

Those are all important results of legislative action.

I think it’s important to draw that linkage between what goes on in the Legislature and what the impact is on the broader economy and on families and individuals all across the state. So I would ask the Legislature to take another look at this, to increase the amount of savings for businesses in the amount of unemployment insurance taxes.

What I believe the rest of the session needs to get focused on is job creation. We have several steps that we are taking that don’t require legislation, which I’ll mention in a minute; but we have some that do require legislation.

The first one is the hotel renovation and construction tax credit. We feel that’s an important way to get many of our construction workers back to work in the immediate term.

We also have a proposal for a job creation tax credit that would apply to all kinds of businesses in the state. It would apply to businesses of 50 or fewer employees. It would be for three years and it would relieve businesses of having to pay their withholdings.

So they would be able to get a tax credit in the amount of what the withholding would be. This would be a substantial savings to them. So if you’re a business contemplating hiring someone, this would give you an advantage if you do it now, rather than wait until later.

The third legislative proposal we would like them to take some quick action on are the HCEI (Hawaii Clean Energy Investment) bonds to encourage homeowners and businesses to put renewable energy and energy efficiency devices and adjustments to their buildings. The HCEI bonds would require the cooperation of the county governments. They would need to pass ordinances to allow this money to be collected via the real property taxes.

Our DBEDT Director Ted Liu and Lt. Governor Aiona traveled to all four of the counties and met with the mayors, met with the council chairs on each of the islands and walked them through the project. I think the support is very enthusiastic on the neighbor islands, somewhat less so here on Oahu; but certain people on Oahu would benefit greatly if the ordinances could get passed.

The two programs I want to mention that don’t require legislation but that are very important for job creation – one is called Premium Plus. This is a program from our Human Services Director Lillian Koller that would have the state paying 50 percent of the cost of a health insurance premium for each new employee that you hire. We’re trying to get the federal government to pay half of our half.

Even if the state ended up paying the entire amount of the 50 percent, we would benefit because having a person back to work, we’re not paying unemployment, they are paying taxes and it’s a win-win for the community.

We’re scheduled to begin Premium Plus on May 1 and we’re awaiting the decision from Medicaid on the mainland right now. This is the program I spoke with President Obama about, as well as the (Secretary) of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

The second program that doesn’t require any legislative approval and is moving forward is known as the Volunteer Internship Program, or VIP. This is being brought forward by our Labor Director Darwin Ching. Darwin is setting up a process so that a person who is collecting unemployment is able to actually get into a training relationship with an employer and continue to collect unemployment.

The employer gets the labor of that person for up to eight weeks. They can use that as a time to judge whether that person has the kind of work habits they would want in a permanent employee but there is no obligation on the part of the business or on the part of the person in the VIP program to take a job that is offered or to offer a job.

It’s a great opportunity for anybody who wants to get a foot in the door and convince a potential employer that they would be a great person to hire.

Those are the kinds of job creation ideas we want the Legislature to get focused on – both those that require legislation and support our programs that don’t require legislation.

Instead what we see are job-killing pieces of legislation, including a (oil) barrel tax that would raise the price of doing business and raise the price of living. We see an increase on timeshares by 30 percent – their taxes going up. And one of the most damaging, we feel, is the fee increases on businesses, and there are many of them.

The one I would mention today is an increase on the taxes on the health insurance premiums paid by organizations such as HMSA and Kaiser. The increase of that one tax alone will be $472 million over five years and that would be a direct pass through to the people of Hawaii. Another way of saying that is the Legislature is raising the cost of living by nearly half a billion dollars on people all across the state.

Yesterday, the Council on Revenues met and, as you know by now, they did have some change in their forecast. They kept the rest of this fiscal year at the negative 2.5 percent that they had predicted earlier. That’s through June 30th of this year. But for the fiscal year 2011, which begins on July 1st of this year, they reduced their projection from 7.6 (percent) down to 6 percent.

That change is going to be $65 million dollars in fewer dollars than we had anticipated. I’ve seen several numbers tossed around as to what that means. Our Tax Department prices it at $65 million through the end of FY11, which would be June 30, 2011.

Now, there are some actions that the Legislature has been taking in its budgeting and, in order to get a budget from the House to the Senate – a draft proposal – and we generally classify them as “shibai” actions. What we mean by shibai is they report to be one thing; but they’re in fact not. They’re something else. I want to be specific about that.

One of the shibai actions that the Legislature has taken has been adding back in positions but not adding the money and being able to go tell someone, “Well I added back a position.” But the fact is, if there’s no funding, then that means nothing. It’s a really vacant gesture – an empty gesture.

Second thing they did was to eliminate vacation payouts in the Offices of the Governor and the Lt. Governor. What this means is that the accrued vacation of all the people who work in these two offices – because their time in government ends at the end of my term – by law, they must be paid. Yet, the Legislature – the House side – the budget that went over, simply eliminated that amount. That would be impossible.

It would be against the law to not make those payouts. So again, it’s shibai in convincing people that, “Well, we’ve reduced these budgets,” and then they can use the money somewhere else when in fact they don’t have the option to reduce those amounts. It’s a requirement under the law.

Next, they cut out transition funding in the Governor’s office. This would affect the next governor – whoever that person is. There is a statute passed by the Legislature that requires when you’re transitioning from one governor to the next, there would have to be $100,000 set aside for that transition. They have zeroed out that amount.

Again, it’s a requirement under the law. It may have helped them in a shibai fashion to balance the budget on paper; but it’s not something they are allowed to do under the law without changing the underlying statute.

I want to address a key talking point that the House Finance Committee Chair has repeated over and over again. He uses an expression he lifted from my State of the State speech about “kicking the can down the road.”

You all remember me making that point and he has picked up on it. It’s an interesting use of that expression – “kicking the can down the road.” He uses it in reference to the delay in paying the tax refunds. I want to address that specifically.

Our budget director has been completely transparent and open in her financial plan and in her review of that plan with legislators of both parties. She has gone down in person, she has talked with them, she has showed them what our six-year financial plan meant.

I was very open with the people of Hawaii. This isn’t something we tried to hide in any way. I told you at a news conference, and we explained putting off paying the tax refunds very quickly.

We are within the law. There is no penalty or interest that the government has to pay because of this delay. It’s just that we have become so efficient at getting our refunds out so quickly. And Kurt (Kawafuchi), to you and your team at the Tax Department, I know we always prided ourselves. We improved from when we first came into office. We got better and better at it every year. So we were getting our tax refunds – all of us – we were getting them very, very quickly.

But under the law, we’ve always been allowed a certain amount of time. This year, we made a conscious decision to use that amount of time in order to balance our budget and our six-year financial plan. We were open and transparent about it because we wanted the public to know at the earliest possible date what it was we were going to do in order to meet the tremendous deficit that we faced.

The alternative to this delay in paying the tax refund would have been additional massive cuts to education, for health and human services, or it would have meant a tremendous tax increase next year. But that wouldn’t have helped us now.

Remember the deficit we were trying to meet was between now and June 30th, plus the following year. So we had a very short period of time to cut that hole. That really meant we were left with one option: and that was additional massive cuts in public services.

We made the decision not to do that and to push the refunds into the next fiscal year by a week or so, so that we would be able to meet our obligations without further cutting education – either K-12, UH – or health and human services. So we acted like any business or individual does. If you can put it off until you get your next paycheck and there’s no interest or penalty, you would push it out as long as you possibly could. We have pushed it enough to get us through this fiscal year.

Kurt’s people are geared up. We’re going to try to get refunds out as quickly as we can; but in order to meet our constitutional obligation for a balanced budget, we have made this delay. We did it in a way that was upfront, open and transparent. So if the head of the House committee wants to use my expression of “kicking the can down the road,” I think it’s very misplaced and just doesn’t fit. It’s not as if we were not being upfront. We certainly were.

Finally, I want to conclude by saying we have half a session left. We have plenty of time to get ourselves refocused on job creation and getting the economy back on track. We also have the opportunity to have honesty in state budgeting. I think that’s very important for the public – to know that the legislators are being truthful, transparent and upfront. Up to this point, the House has been none of those things. They have not been upfront in their budgeting. They have used shibai tactics to hide the fact that they can’t balance the budget with the approach that they’ve taken.

In fact, every time we’ve come in with a proposal to reduce the expenses of the government, their reaction is to hold public hearings, to bring in special interests who then say why we shouldn’t do that. The fact is, based on the Council on Revenues’ recent projection, we all know we’re chasing a larger deficit. That means the Legislature needs to begin to support us in our efforts to reduce government’s expenses on a consistent basis, on a sustainable basis and yet provide better public service.

I think the best example, the most recent example of that is our Department of Human Services’ attempt to improve service to those most in need and save $8 million a year on a consistent basis going forward. Nobody likes the idea of anyone losing a job; but our obligation is to the general public over the long-term. Not just right now, not just this budget year but over the long-term.

That’s what Lillian (Koller) is doing in Human Services and all of our departments are doing to make certain our budget doesn’t just balance on paper right now; but that it’s a sustainable spending plan based on what we project the revenues to be over the long-term.

I look forward to working with these legislators to get re-focused on job creation and economic growth because that is the only way we will be able to address all the other issues that everyone wants to address, such as education, health and human services, environmental protection, energy independence and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

So thanks for coming today at this half-way point, and I’m happy to answer any questions that you might have.

There was a call this morning from (Save Our Schools) this morning, requesting you to take some action on furloughs. What’s your response?

Well, I am the one who has made specific proposals going back to Nov. 15. I’ve made three separate proposals, all of them have been fair and, perhaps even generous under the circumstances so we could get students back in the classroom. I think the union needs to respond to the children and the community at large.

My team continues to meet on this issue. We’ve been meeting with legislators to talk about a new format for a proposal that we’d like to make. I think we got a pretty good reaction from them; but I want these issues tied with a restructuring of the Department of Education. We really need to have the bills move forward that would do away with the elected school board and let the next governor appoint the superintendent of education. Without that, just dealing with the immediate furlough doesn’t get to the issue of a lack of accountability in the system. That’s what we need to address over the long-term. Who is going to be held responsible for the lack of results from the Department of Education? Because more money alone will not produce better results. We already know that because we spend more every year and the results have not gotten better.

In doing that, Governor, by tying it to a restructuring of the DOE, are you moving the goal posts on the issue of the furlough? Are you taking it in a different direction?

For me, they’ve always been tied together. In other words, I don’t think it’s responsible to spend more taxpayers’ money under the current structure, knowing that things won’t get any better. It’s just not fair to taxpayers.

Is any of the urgency to get it fixed on either side actually lessening the longer people get used to it? (rest of question inaudible)

I don’t sense any urgency on the part of the teachers or the union at all. I just don’t feel it. I don’t hear from them in that kind of an urgent way. I think legislators would like to get this resolved. That’s our impression in talking with them. Our side certainly wants to get it resolved.

The bill that is moving from House to Senate would adjust the tax refund date to be 30 days after [inaudible], thereby eliminating the ability to pay later… is that something you think is going to be a bad idea?

Whatever action legislators take, they’re going to need to be able to pay for, so if they’re going to restrict our ability to pay within the allotted time that we currently have under the law, if they want to change the rules now in the middle of the budget year, they’re going to have to make that up by cutting education or cutting health and human services.

I think when these kinds of proposals come up – when they talk about things like, “Well, you’re kicking the can down the road” – my reaction is, “Where would you get the $275 million?” Or if they change as you just described it and say, “Well you only have 30 days,” where would you get the extra $100 million for this year? Where would the money come from and what would you cut in order to get the money?

I think every idea that comes up, as a reporter you need to be asking them, “How do you pay for that?” That would be my question for the legislators. So I would wait to see it and what they’ve identified to cut in order to meet that 30-day requirement on the refunds.

When we asked how they would pay for it, they said, “Well, that’s why we have another year and we don’t make it effective for another year. We have until 2011.” It’s almost impossible to make up $275 plus $275 in one fiscal year. How long do you think it would take to work this kink back out of the system?

Well, of course, it depends on the expansion of the economy. If they take some of the job creation measures that we’ve recommended to them, it will be that much faster. If they continue on this current path of dealing with foie gras and pot stores and these kinds of issues, if they come up with job-killing measures like more taxes and fees, it’s going to take a very, very long time. I can promise you that.

But if they get refocused and look at those proposals that actually create jobs that make it easier for businesses, then the amount of time it will take to get back on a regular schedule with the refunds would be short.

Governor, come April, when the Legislature continues down its track and does pass this series of tax increases and fee increases, you veto that, and they come in and override it to pass their version of the budget – is that what’s likely to happen right now?

Any year is the same. They have the final say-so on the budget and the rest of us in Hawai‘i have to live with that. So they will have to be able to explain and defend whatever actions they take. Remember, we gave them a balanced budget. We gave them a balanced six-year financial plan. As things change and the Council on Revenues makes adjustments, we stand ready to work with them on any proposal that they’d like to look at. We can make additional suggestions to them as well.

The Council on Revenues, moments before deciding on the negative 2.5 talked internally that they think it actually may end better as far as up to negative .7 or event flat. Do you think it’s going to outpace the negative 2.5?

I think it’s a possibility but it’s a little early to say that at this time. Again, from my perspective, a lot depends on the signals sent by the Legislature. If the Legislature, for instance, were to say, “You know what, we’re going to start look at the unemployment insurance issue in the out years. We’ve addressed it a little bit in the short term; but it’s going to take a couple years.” I think any positive signals from the legislature that they’re going to bring down the cost of doing business, bring down the cost of hiring more people; I think that would send a very positive signal to the community and you’d see businesses willing to invest more. I think there are also some issues that legislators are look at as it relates to how they can write off losses, capital goods taxes, these kinds of things. I think those are things, also, that could send a very positive signal. I think, sometimes legislators, because they’re in the Capitol and they’re hunkered down here over a period of months, they don’t recognize that what they do in a negative way can negatively impact the economy. But likewise, when they take positive steps, it can make a big difference for the businessperson watching this. This is true for the federal level and it’s true on our level as well.

What kind of deficit would be starting in the fiscal year with with the deferred checks and the unemployment insurance – what kind of deficit would we be getting into in the fiscal year?

The unemployment insurance is a separate issue from the general fund. That’s a separate, discreet unemployment insurance trust fund. That’s a separate issue from when we talk about our deficit. When we submitted the six-year financial plan in late-December, it dealt with the deficit, both for this year and for the next fiscal year. The only change we have proposed as far as the deficit, if they would accept our plan, would be this $65 million recently identified by the Council on Revenues.

Thank you.

The Council on Revenues on Thursday, March 11 kept the state’s revenue forecast for the current fiscal year at a 2.5 percent decline. The council also reduced the forecast for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to 6 percent growth, down from 7.6 percent growth. That means a $48 million loss for the state.

Following the announcement Gov. Linda Lingle made the following statement:

“The Council on Revenues’ stable revenue projection is a reflection of the efforts we have undertaken over the past year-and-a-half to address the impact the global and national recession has had on the State’s revenue outlook.

“These measures have included working with the building industry to implement a comprehensive capital improvement plan to accelerate public construction projects, coordinating with the tourism sector to increase visitor marketing and outreach, as well as passing legislation last year to advance the payment of general excise taxes and certain other taxes.

“In addition, we have worked to obtain federal stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). That kept us from suffering larger cuts to education and healthcare for the poor, and created some construction jobs.

“The Council’s projections also reflect promising signs that the economy is starting to stabilize. The visitor industry outlook in particular is expected to improve due to increased air seats, aggressive marketing campaigns and improving global economic conditions.

“While there is reason to be optimistic, we also need to be realistic and accept the fact that actual revenues are still significantly lower than earlier projected, and it will take several years before general fund revenues return to pre-recession levels.

“For this reason, the focus of our entire state must be on job creation. The fact is, we cannot successfully revive our economy unless our residents get back to work. My Administration is working with the Legislature to pass laws that will help businesses create new jobs, while also ensuring that any legislation that would hinder job creation does not pass.”

MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. Linda Lingle has released $17,250,000 to the Department of Education for capital improvement projects (CIP) and new construction at public schools on Maui, Lanai, Hawaii and Oahu.

The four projects are:

* Kihei High School – $8 million will be used to acquire land for a new high school in Kihei, Maui. The campus will support the growing student population in the area. Currently, Kihei area students must commute to Maui High School in Kahului. The release of funds will enable the Department of Land and Natural Resources to proceed with the appraisal of the lands to be purchased. In 2006, Lingle released $700,000 in planning funds. The total cost of the project is estimated at $145.5 million.

* Lanai High and Elementary School – $8 million will go toward the construction of a six-classroom building at Lanai High and Elementary School. The building will include science, general education and special education classrooms. The total cost of the project is estimated at $8,616,000.

* Hilo High School – $1 million has been released for the design and construction of a new gymnasium at Hilo High School. It will also serve the community as an emergency shelter. The governor released $1,100,000 in 2007 for the design of the gym. An additional $10.9 million was released in January 2008 for the construction and equipment. The current gym was built in 1937 and is undersized in comparison with standard high school gyms today. The total cost of the project is estimated at $13 million.

* Webling Elementary School – $250,000 has been released for the construction of two portable classrooms at Webling Elementary School in Aiea. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $872,000. The governor previously released design and construction funds for this project in 2007 and 2009. This additional $250,000 is needed to complete the project.

“As part of our ongoing effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs, we remain focused on accelerating public construction projects, especially the repair and maintenance of our schools as well as new construction to meet the needs of growing communities throughout the state,” Lingle said.

The Lanai High and Hilo High projects are among those targeted by the state as part of a plan launched in December 2008 to accelerate public infrastructure and construction to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Since the CIP plan was launched, the state has successfully opened bids for, awarded contracts for or started construction on 702 capital improvement projects, totaling $1,683,363,188.

MEDIA RELEASE

For the first time in 10 years, all 5,245 public housing units managed by the state Public Housing Authority (HPHA) have passed the rigorous physical inspection standards established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“This accomplishment reflects the focused work of the board of directors of the HPHA and their staff whose primary responsibility is to provide safe, decent and clean public housing for low-income families and senior citizens,” Gov. Linda Lingle said. “We are proud that this milestone has been achieved.”

Each year the federal government, through the Real Estate Assessment Center of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, conducts physical examinations of federally subsidized public housing across the nation.

The purpose of the inspections is to ensure that these housing units meet basic health and safety standards, including working fire alarms, safe fire exits, the absence of electrical hazards, rodent and pest control, and trash and litter removal.

Federal officials examine the building interiors, common areas, perimeter controls, and individual dwellings and score each building. A passing score is 60 or higher, out of a total possible score of 100.

In total, Hawaii’s federal inspection score increased by almost 20 percent (18.4 percent) over last year’s review, as a result of HPHA’s focused effort on training staff and better coordination.

“I commend the staff of the HPHA and appreciate the cooperation of our residents,” said HPHA board Chairman Travis Thompson. “We intend to build upon this achievement over the next year to further improve the physical condition of our buildings using federal stimulus funds, and also further train and improve the managers of our public housing buildings.”

In addition to the physical condition of public housing units, HUD also reviews the financial status of public housing agencies, their management capabilities, and also surveys public housing residence regarding their level of satisfaction with their housing. These additional reviews are currently pending.

The physical inspection scores can be viewed at:

portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/physical_inspection_scores

Gov. Linda Lingle released this statement Tuesday, March 2:

When we received news Friday night of the devastating earthquake in Chile and the resulting tsunami waves that were approaching Hawaii, emergency response personnel across the state sprang into action. The outstanding coordination resulted in a well-executed operation to keep the residents and visitors of Hawaii safe.

State and County Civil Defense officials, scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, lifeguards, police officers, firefighters and other first-responders were well prepared to carry out their duties, and they worked together calmly and efficiently.

Military leaders at Pacific Command on Oahu and officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were standing by in case we needed their help. Hawaii tourism leaders worked closely with state and county officials to make sure our visitors were safe and well informed. The media ensured residents and visitors received accurate and timely information.

Our residents did their part by evacuating from danger zones and stocking up on emergency supplies – and they did so without panicking and without losing their aloha spirit.

Fortunately, the tsunami waves were much smaller than predicted and no damage was reported on any island. We were very fortunate.

Looking back at the events of this weekend, I come away with an even deeper appreciation of how extensively our state has prepared for emergencies, and how professionally everyone responded when the time for action arrived.

This gives me great confidence that our state will be ready for the next emergency, be it a tsunami, hurricane, earthquake or other natural or man-made disaster. At the same time, it is critical that we continue to prepare for emergencies and work to improve our response capabilities.

Mahalo to everyone who played a part in keeping Hawaii safe.

MEDIA RELEASE

(Editor’s Note: The Hawaii State Teachers Association has filed a complaint with the state’s labor board against Gov. Linda Lingle, claiming she “willfully and unlawfully” squashed the union’s tentative agreement with the Board of Education to end furlough days. Union and state education officials were willing to use $35 million in ‘rainy day’ funds to restore seven furlough days; Lingle rejected that plan and offered up $50 million from the rainy day fund to cancel 24 furlough days. HSTA is claiming Lingle did not have legal authority to kill their first deal and wants the Hawaii Labor Relations Board to force the governor to fund it.)

“The HSTA’s latest action proves once again that the union leaders care more about money than educating Hawaii’s children. Instead of accepting the generous offer of $50 million I proposed last November that will allow the immediate return of children and teachers to the classroom, the HSTA is spending their time on frivolous complaints.

It’s clear that the HSTA sees their chance to squeeze more money out of taxpayers slipping away as others in the community lobby legislators for portions of the limited Rainy Day Fund.

Their unwillingness to resolve the issue of returning children to school is evident by this most recent complaint that lacks substance and merit. This type of action wastes time and will further encourage legislators and the public to support a constitutional amendment allowing the next governor to choose the superintendent of education.

The HSTA’s legacy will be that money comes first; children come second.”

TRANSCRIPT OF GOVERNOR’S Q&A
WASHINGTON, D.C. MEETINGS

The following is the transcript of a call-in interview with Gov. Linda Lingle on KSSK radio Monday, Feb. 22. Lingle is in Washington, D.C. participating in the National Governors Association’s annual winter meeting.

Monday morning, Lingle and her fellow governors met with President Obama and his cabinet at the White House. Over the last three days the governor has also met with various federal officials and Obama Administration senior leadership to discuss matters of critical importance to Hawaii residents.

How was it meeting with the [President]?

It was a very good meeting. [We had] wide-ranging discussion on issues that governors all have in common. Which are really – number one was jobs and the economy. We also talked about education, as well as healthcare issues. It was a real good discussion.

Initially, the President had planned to televise it live and I think he made a good decision by letting the press only stay in the beginning and then asking them to go so there could be a more open and well-rounded discussion and I think it was.

What does it mean, open and well-rounded? What was it that got well-rounded that we wouldn’t have liked?

It means, that it allowed the Democrat governors, especially, to be maybe more open in their comments, rather than having to worry that they would be seen as criticizing the President, who leads their party. And I think it would be true if it was the Republicans. I think that kind of discussion needs to be as open as possible – open in a sense people feel their words aren’t going to be reported when they walk out. It was all of the issues that you would expect to be discussed.

I’ve been up here now a couple of days and had a chance to meet with several of the Cabinet secretaries on issues of importance to Hawaii and I had three specific things I wanted to achieve up here.

One of them was to get an official designation from the Department of Homeland Security for the APEC Leaders Conference in 2011. As you know, we have been the successful bidder for this conference. There will be 20 heads of state in our State of Hawai‘i at the same time. We’ve never had something like that, and to get this national – it’s called a National [Special Security] Event designation – that gives us a lot of resources so that our Honolulu Police Department can be reimbursed for the overtime and that sort of thing. And the Secret Service becomes involved to help us and that meeting went really well with Homeland Security yesterday.

I’m confident we’re going to get that designation and even though I’ll be out of office before that occurs, I felt obligated to make certain that we get the designation so we don’t face a fiscal problem later on.

The second thing I wanted to do was talk with the Department of Transportation about the rail issue. I met with Secretary LaHood as well as the head of the Federal Transit Administration, Peter Rogoff.

I basically looked Secretary LaHood in the eye and I told him that I wanted him to understand there are no politics involved from my side of this and my concern is that the people of Hawai‘i are not stuck with something that they can’t afford in the long-term.

I let him know that we would be doing an independent financial analysis whenever the City turns in their final financial plan and I suggested to him that we compare their financial plan analysis with our independent analysis. I think they saw the positive aspects of that because I said it does no good later on if we do an analysis and you do one – and then we have these dueling analyses. At least, let’s make certain that we know in advance what the numbers are so we’re talking from the same set of numbers. I think that message got through.

You’re actually pro-rail. You’re just worried about the cost, right?

Well, I’m certainly pro-transit. I think a rail system in some configuration would be good for us; but I want to make certain we can afford it over the long-term.

I wanted to be able to look him in the eye and say, “Look, this is not politics. This is the most expensive transit project in the history of America. Per-capita there is no system that has cost this much in such a small population base as Hawaii and people need to realize that.

When I said that to him, he did not respond back or challenge that fact; and it is a fact.

Have they signed off on the City’s financial plan?

No they have not. No. They’re doing an analysis right now. That’s still a ways away.

What was your third – you went up there for three things?

The third was terrific. I met up with the Health and Human Services, which is also headed by another former governor, Kathleen Sebelius. We have a really innovative program that they’re excited about – it’s called Premium Plus.

This would allow any employer to hire someone new, and as you know they would be required to pay their health care insurance, which is a big cost and a big reason why people aren’t hiring right now. And we’re saying, starting May 1 of this year, for the next year – until May 1 of 2011 – if you hire a new person, we will pay your health insurance costs for that employee for a year. The State will pay half and I want the Feds to pay half and I believe they’re going to agree to do that.

The problem is not whether they – they love our plan; they think it’s very innovative. It reduces our unemployment insurance costs, it puts people back to work, it gives people health insurance – what they’re worried about is can they process this by May 1?

So during the questioning period with the President this morning, I told him my only question is, “Can we get the bureaucracy of the federal government to move fast enough to allow us to put these innovative ideas into play?”

And the President said…

So he called on Secretary Sebelius to respond to me and she said she’s going to do everything she can to get it done by May 1. So that was very good for Hawaii.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Yeah, I’ve had a really successful time up here. I appreciate the chance to talk to the people.

MEDIA RELEASE

With a focus on strengthening Hawaii’s economy and enhancing partnerships with the federal government, Gov. Linda Lingle is in Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Governors Association annual meeting.

Lingle and the nation’s governors will meet with President Obama at the White House.

Lingle already has met with Obama Administration officials, including Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to discuss the ongoing Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to discuss maximizing Hawaii’s partnership with the federal government to ensure residents’ health and well being; and Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, to discuss issues relating to homeland security and public safety, including Hawaii’s role in the security of the Asia-Pacific region.

The governor and Napolitano also discussed the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting, which will be hosted in Honolulu in 2011. Lingle has requested Napolitano designate the APEC meeting as a National Special Security Event.

The high-level international gathering is expected to attract more than 10,000 participants from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to Hawaii, including leaders from 21 APEC economies, senior government officials, business leaders, international economists, Asia-Pacific experts and worldwide media.

Lingle is also scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to discuss transportation issues affecting Hawaii.

The focus of this year’s National Governors Association meeting explores the states’ role in health care reform – particularly in ensuring a high-quality, efficient, and coordinated health care system.

The opening plenary session (6 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20) on transforming health care delivery will feature remarks by First Lady Michelle Obama and will be carried live on C-SPAN.

The meeting will also focus on other critical issues including energy, transportation and the economy. Other topics that will be addressed include the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – with a presentation by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and homeland security – with presentations by Napolitano, former Homeland Security Secretary and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan.

Lingle returns to Tuesday, Feb. 23 to Hawaii.

MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. Linda Lingle’s radio address for this week:

Aloha,

Hawaii residents have made it very clear that they want an immediate and complete solution to get our students back into the classroom.

The plan I presented in November and revised Jan. 8 would accomplish this by using up to $50 million from the Rainy Day Fund to restore teacher furlough days. This plan is reasonable, generous, workable and could be implemented immediately.

By refusing to present this plan to the teachers, the Board of Education and the Department of Education are standing in the way of returning students to the classroom.

The clock is ticking. Therefore, I am once again calling on the Board of Education and Department of Education to move forward on our plan to return Hawaii’s students to the classroom and end the “furlough Friday” situation immediately.

Please call the Board of Education at 586-3349 today to voice your opinion.
Mahalo. This is Gov. Linda Lingle.

MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. Linda Lingle announced today that the State of Hawaii successfully sold $721.6 million of general obligation bonds to fund various State capital projects, including public school facilities, University of Hawaii projects and other statewide capital projects.

The $721.6 million bond sale included $500 million of taxable Build America Bonds authorized under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 to fund new capital improvement projects.

Due to very favorable market conditions and strong demand for the bonds, the size of the Build America Bond sale was increased from the planned $312 million to $500 million. Unlike the traditional tax-exempt general obligation bonds, the State pays investors a higher taxable interest payment under the Build America Bonds.

However, the State receives an interest rate subsidy from the federal government when issuing the Build America Bonds which results in an overall lower cost to the State than traditional tax-exempt bonds. The net interest rate on the Build America Bonds, after the interest rate subsidy from the federal government, was 3.27 percent.

The State also sold $221.6 million of tax-exempt refunding general obligation bonds at an average interest rate of 2.79 percent to refinance general obligation bonds currently outstanding, which will generate debt service savings of approximately $90 million in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Similar favorable market conditions and strong investor demand for the State’s tax-exempt bonds allowed the State to generate an additional $48 million of debt service savings in fiscal year 2012, in addition to the $90 million savings achieved in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service and Fitch Ratings affirmed the State’s bond ratings of Aa2, AA and AA, respectively.

Standard and Poor’s Ratings Service cited one of the State’s credit strengths as, “the governor’s willingness to implement aggressive solutions to balance the fiscal 2010-2011 biennial budget given lower general fund tax revenue forecasts.”

“The State of Hawaii, like most other states, is faced with significant fiscal challenges due to the global and national recession,” Lingle said. “We are very pleased that the bond rating agencies have recognized our efforts to address our budget issues in a responsible manner, protect our State’s credit rating and provide needed funds to support jobs for the construction and related industries.”

The municipal bond market has improved in the weeks leading up to the State’s bond sale and the timing of the sale resulted in significantly improved borrowing costs for the State.

The State’s sale was well received by a variety of investors, with significant demand from retail investors. The sale received approximately $234.1 million in retail orders, many of which were from Hawaii residents.

“We were able to take advantage of this opportunity to borrow additional funds for construction projects at very attractive interest rates,” said Georgina Kawamura, director of budget and finance.

The bonds were sold by a financing team with Citigroup Global Markets Inc., serving as senior manager and Bank of America Merrill Lynch serving as co-manager.