Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – The Governor recently released $14,500,000 in capital improvement project funding to finance the design and construction of improvements to facilities at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. “I'd like to thank Governor Green for releasing funding to finance design and construction plans for improvements to facilities at UH Hilo," said Senator Lorraine R. Inouye (District 1 – Hilo, Paukaʻa, Papaikou, Pepeʻekeo). “The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is a pillar of the Hilo community and improving its facilities will go a long way to improve the campus experience for students, faculty, and staff. Improving the learning environment at our colleges improves the standard of higher education in our state. The University of Hawaiʻi system does so much for our State and its campuses throughout the state, it's imperative that we continue to adequately fund and provide the necessary resources for it to continue its mission to serve the public by creating, preserving, and transmitting knowledge in a multi-cultural environment."

Hoʻolehua, Hawaiʻi – On Monday, December 4, 2023, Senator Lynn DeCoite (District 7, Hāna, East and Upcountry Maui, Molokaʻi Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, and Molokini) and Senator Joy A. San Buenaventura (District 2, Puna) will host a community conversation entitled “Molokaʻi Community Session on Suicide Prevention & Mental Health.” The informational session will include presentations and resources from C. Kimo Alameda, Psychologist and Community Advocate; Director Tia L.R. Hartsock, Office of Wellness and Resilience; Director Kenneth S. Fink, Department of Health; and Suwan K. McGrath, Maui County Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic. Molokaʻi Community Partners in attendance will include Molokaʻi Homestead Farmers Alliance, Molokaʻi Rural Health Association CARES TEAM, and Maui County Area Health Education Center. Please join Senator DeCoite and Senator San Buenaventura for a listening session with Moloka‘i community members to the discuss suicide prevention, mental health resources available and to help identify those that are still needed. WHAT: Molokaʻi Community Session on Suicide Prevention & Mental Health. WHEN: Monday, December 4, 2023 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. WHERE: Lanikeha Community Center 2200 Farrington Ave Ho'olehua, HI 96729 This meeting is open to all. Please pre-register at https://forms.office.com/r/XRELpKhuWW to ensure enough seating and food. The registration link also includes a short survey with a few questions to help the presenters better understand the needs of the Moloka’i community. Please see the corresponding flyer for additional information.

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – Today, the Hawaiʻi State Senate confirmed both Judge Lisa M. Ginoza and attorney Vladimir P. Devens to the position of Associate Justice to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. “The two appointees have taken very different paths to the Supreme Court, but they both have rich professional and personal backgrounds that will serve our State well,” said Senator Karl Rhoads (District 13 - Dowsett Highlands, Pu‘unui, Nu‘uanu, Pacific Heights, Pauoa, Punchbowl, Pālama, Liliha, ʻIwilei, Chinatown, and Downtown), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I am confident that these two justices will serve with intelligence and integrity. Mr. Devens and Judge Ginoza will bring their unique skillsets to the Supreme Court and serve with a sense of decorum and responsibility.” Lisa M. Ginoza has been confirmed as Associate Justice to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. Ginoza has served as a judge on the State of Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals since 2010, rising to the role of Chief Judge in 2018. Prior to her judgeship, Ginoza was the First Deputy Attorney General for the Department of the Attorney General from 2005 to 2010. Her legal experience includes working in the private sector as a litigation attorney at McCorriston Miller Mukai McKinnon, LLP from 1990 to 2005, where she became partner in 1996. Ginoza is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. Prior to her confirmation, Ginoza served as the chair of the Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education, a member of the Board of Directors for the Judicial History Center, and a member of the Board of Directors for the American Judicature Society. Vladimir P. Devens has been confirmed as Associate Justice to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. Devens has been the founding partner of the Law Office of Vladimir P. Devens since 2013, where his scope of practice varies from litigation, appeals, labor relations, land use, and more. He was previously a partner at Meheula & Devens, LLP (formerly known as Winer, Meheula, & Devens, LLP) since 1997, having started as an associate when he joined the firm in 1995. Devens’ legal experiences go beyond corporate practice, having represented several labor unions, including the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, and more. Devens is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Prior to his confirmation, Devens served as a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court and as a committee member of Crime Stoppers Honolulu, Inc. His previous public service roles included being a member on the Governor’s Hawai‘i Impaired Driving Task Force in 2013, and as Chair and Vice Chair of the State Land Use Commission from 2007 to 2011. For six years, he was a police officer with the Honolulu Police Department and has continued to serve the Department as a volunteer reserve police officer. Photos taken from the confirmation hearing and floor sessions can be viewed here.

Last month, Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi (District 8, Kaua'i, Ni'ihau) was elected as Chair of the Senate President’s Forum; a nonpartisan, nonideological, nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization of State Senate leaders. The position of Chair rotates between Democrats and Republicans, and Kouchi steps into his new role with the end of the term of Kentucky State Senate President Robert Stivers. Senate President Kouchi most recently served as the Forum’s treasurer. “I am honored to have been chosen by my peers to serve as Chair of the Senate President’s Forum,” said Kouchi. “Serving in my new role allows me the opportunity to bring Hawai'i’s most pressing issues to the national stage’. Senate President Kouchi’s election continues the positive progression of Hawaiʻi legislators serving in national leadership roles, as House Speaker Scott Saiki was previously president of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Forum hosts three educational conferences each year, where legislative leaders meet to discuss and share their experiences in their positions, and gain insight from globally recognized experts. “In my upcoming tenure as Chair, I hope to have one of the conferences be held here in Hawaiʻi,” said Kouchi.” We need to put a spotlight on Hawaiʻi, including its innovations and challenges, and bring it to the forefront of national politics.”

Pearl City, Hawaiʻi – A novel idea may be the fix for a troubled cemetery in Pearl City. On Thursday night, November 16, the Pearl City Neighborhood Board will unveil a proposal to cover the five-acre site of Sunset Memorial Park with solar panels. Since the owner passed away in 2011, the neglected cemetery has degenerated into a magnet for grave robbers, vandals, overgrown vegetation, and sunken graves. “We’ve had hundreds of complaints, and the majority have been about the homeless and people trespassing and desecrating it,” said Pearl City Neighborhood Board Chairman Larry Veray.Veray has partnered with community groups and area legislators to address this situation. “A long-term plan for Sunset Memorial Park has been elusive,” says Representative Gregg Takayama (House District 34, Pearl City, Waiau, Pacific Palisades), “I have gotten the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) to map out all the grave sites, and earlier this year legislators passed a resolution requiring DCCA to come up with answers to this decades old problem.” In August, Senator Glenn Wakai (Senate District 15, Kalihi, Māpunapuna, Airport, Salt Lake, Ᾱliamanu, Foster Village, Hickam, Pearl Harbor, and portions of ʻAiea and Pearl City) participated in a tour of the area organized by Veray. He noticed an electrical substation on the other side of a fence. “I immediately saw that as the golden ticket out of this deplorable situation,” says Sen. Wakai, “What if we could bring in revenues by turning Sunset Memorial into a power plant? That will bring in funds for fences and security, plus it’s a way to provide cheap electricity for neighbors.” Wakai requested a study by the Hawaii State Energy Office. Their analysis showed that covering the site with solar panels could net a $7 million profit in twenty years. This proposal will be the subject of the Town Hall meeting. WHAT: Pearl City Neighborhood Board: The Future of Sunset Memorial Park WHEN: Thursday, November 16 at 6:00 pm WHERE: Waiau District Park, 98-1650 Kaahumanu Street Pearl City, HI 96782 The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Attorney General will update stakeholders on the status of the trust and what legal steps will be necessary to move the cemetery into private ownership. Hawaiian Electric will also describe how Community Based Renewable Energy (CBRE) adds to Hawaii’s grid and lowers costs to subscribers.

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – On Wednesday, November 15, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Senator Stanley Chang (Senate District 9, Hawaiʻi Kai, Kuliʻouʻou, Niu, ʻᾹina Haina, Waiʻalae-Kāhala, Diamond Head, Kaimukī, Kapahulu) will host the virtual event, The Rise of Social Housing in America. The seminar will discuss common housing issues faced in Hawaiʻi and the entire nation, and how other countries have implemented social housing solutions. “The housing shortage is Hawaiʻi’s most urgent crisis, but existing tools are inadequate to solve the problem,” said Senator Chang. “Luckily, innovative models like social housing, a financially sustainable and mixed income form of government-built housing, have been successful across the country and right here in Hawaiʻi. This conference hopes to educate housing stakeholders and the public on this promising concept.” This event will feature various experts, including Director Scott Bruton (Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs), Director Chelsea Andrews (Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County), Assemblymember Alex Lee (California State Assembly), Director Adam Roversi (Kauaʻi County Housing Agency), Director Hakim Ouansafi (Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority), Michael Lam (Hunt Development), Jared Everett (Greystar), Lance Wilhelm (Wilhelm Group), Francesca Mari (New York Times Magazine), Senator Scott Wiener (California State Senate), Senator Troy Hashimoto (Senate District 5, Wailuku, Kahului, Waiheʻe, Waikapu Mauka, Waiʻehu), Representative Luke Evslin (Hawaiʻi State House), Deputy Director Joe Campos (Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services), and Executive Director Dean Minakami (Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation). This conference aims to bring stakeholders together to look to recent success stories in social housing as well as to discuss approaches and challenges to housing accessibility. WHAT: The Rise of Social Housing in America WHEN: Wednesday, November 15, 9:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. HST WHERE: Zoom: tinyurl.com/2023housingconf

Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi (District 8 – Kauaʻi and Niʻihau) issued a statement today regarding Governor Josh Green’s appointment of now former-Representative Troy N. Hashimoto to the vacant Senate District 5 seat left by former Senator Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran: “I am truly pleased to extend a warm welcome to Senator Hashimoto as our chamber’s newest member,” said Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi. “Given his character, experience as a legislator, and knowledge of the district, I am confident that he will be a valuable addition to the Senate.”

Today, the Senate Ways and Means Committee visited a site being considered for a potential multi-acre film studio in Kailua-Kona and heard updates on our local film industry for its last stop on a three-day visit on Hawaiʻi Island. Committee members heard from Georja Skinner, Chief Officer of the Creative Industries Division (CID) in the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) and Aulani Freitas, Hawaiʻi Island Film Commissioner, on various challenges and opportunities presented in filming in Hawaiʻi. Skinner highlighted DBEDT’s intentions to grow the film production industry, including efforts to increase job training and workforce development. Committee members encouraged Skinner to prepare any legislation necessary for the Committee to consider during the upcoming legislative session that will aid the industry. Freitas recognized that Hawaiʻi Island has ten of fourteen microclimates, making it a near universal option for film and television storytelling. Additionally, Freitas discussed efforts to amplify culturally appropriate productions and support local filmmakers, including expanding studio capabilities and providing facilities to house film sets to attract more productions to be made in Hawaiʻi. Committee members expressed interest in Freitas’s ideas. "In Hawaiʻi, we have unique stories that have often captivated the world,” said Senator Chris Lee, Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts. “The Senate is committed to helping our film industry and art agencies continue to tell these stories and perpetuate our culture.” Considering yesterday’s agreement reached by SAG-AFTRA and film studios, the visit’s timing could not have been more relevant. “The conclusion of the strike allows our local productions, performers, and entertainment workers across the industry to return working,” said local SAG-AFTRA president Andrea Sikkink. “The film and TV industry in Hawaiʻi generates millions of dollars for our local economy each year while providing incomes and earnings for tax paying workers around our island state. This industry, with support and infrastructure, can continue to grow to become an even bigger revenue generating part of our state economy.” "Unions are the backbone of many industries in Hawaiʻi, and film and television production is one of those industries” said Senator Sharon Moriwaki, Chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Technology. “I am excited that our local actors have been offered a fair deal and can get back to work creating art and telling stories. Development of new dedicated infrastructure will allow our artists to make local productions and provide opportunity for larger non-local producers to utilize our great local resources and artists.” As this marks the final Ways and Means site visit of 2023, Senators look forward to integrating updates from the community to inform legislation for the upcoming 2024 Session.

State Legislators on the Senate Ways and Means committee have been conducting site visits during the interim with officials from State departments to follow up on major issues and priorities. In the 2023 State Legislative Session, the Legislature committed $660,000 of general funds for the Early Childhood Educator Stipend Program, an initiative to boost the State’s early childhood workforce. “Over the last few years, the Legislature has demonstrated its commitment to expand early learning opportunities for all keiki across the state, recognizing it as a critical investment in our future” said Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. “At these site visits, departments share progress pertaining to implementation of key initiatives and provide the committee an opportunity to ensure State funds are being used properly and are actually supporting our residents” he continued. The committee hosted a site visit at Pāhoa Elementary on Hawaiʻi Island on November 7, 2023, where they received updates on the stipend program, as well as on early childhood program expansion efforts, from the Executive Office on Early Learning, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, and the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa College of Education. The program initially launched in time for the 2023 University of Hawaiʻi Summer Semester and will accept applications in advance of each semester. “Our early childhood workforce, especially those in the classroom working directly with children, are the backbone of a quality program” said Senator Michelle Kidani, a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and Chair of the Senate Committee on Education. She stated, “we want to ensure this program supports more people like Principal Payne-Arakaki, Principal of Pāhoa Elementary, and Kali Lender, the teacher for Pāhoa Elementary’s EOEL Public Prekindergarten classroom to enter the field so we can continue to provide more opportunities for Hawaiʻi’s families.” This is the first publicly funded tuition stipend program for professionals in early childhood education. “We want to acknowledge Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke, who has really taken the charge on leading these efforts through her Ready Keiki Initiative” says Chair Dela Cruz. “We want to continue working with the Lieutenant Governor and State departments to ensure we are supporting our communities and meeting their needs as efficiently as possible” he continued. The program is open to students enrolled at UH Mānoa, UH West Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Community College, Honolulu Community College, Kauaʻi Community College, and UH Maui College and requires a consecutive two-year commitment to working directly with children in the early learning field. The next application deadline is December 1, 2023. For those interested in applying or learning more about the program, they may visit EOEL’s website. Senators Chris Lee, Glenn Wakai, Donovan Dela Cruz, Lorraine Inouye, Donna Mercado Kim, Joy San Buenaventura, Michelle Kidani, and Henry Aquino visit Pāhoa Elementary. Senator Donovan Dela Cruz and Donna Mercado Kim awaiting a presentation at Pāhoa Elementary Senators Lorraine Inouye, Donna Mercado Kim, Joy San Buenaventura, and Michelle Kidani engage with students at Pāhoa Elementary.

Senator Angus L.K. McKelvey (District 6 - West Maui, Mā‘alaea, Waikapū, South Maui) issued the following statement in response to the Office of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) FHA mortgage bar: "The announcement by HUD to bar any foreclosures of FHA notes is good news to the people of Lahaina, Maui. I want to thank President Biden, Governor Green, Rep. Jill Tokuda and the other members of our federal delegation for delivering this much needed help. This action will help to stop the trauma of foreclosures for many families, especially for those whose homes are no longer standing. While this an important first step, it is only the first one and as such I hope our federal partners and others will continue to work towards deferment of mortgages for owner occupied properties, especially multimember households, as well as other types of forbearance that could be used to help forestall the sale of Lahaina."

On Thursday, November 2, the Senate Committees on Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture and Environment (AEN) will hold a joint informational briefing on the defueling process of Red Hill. “As chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, I am hopeful that the Red Hill defueling is not causing any health issues to the community,” commented Senator Joy San Buenaventura (District 2, Puna). “This informational briefing will allow legislators to ask constituent questions and hopefully, assuage concerns of the defueling efforts.” The Red Hill crisis has grown as an impending threat to Oʻahu’s natural resources and public health. Various complexities surround the defueling process that has been approved by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The defueling is currently being implemented by the U.S. Navy. “As a resident of Oʻahu and the Chair of the Hawaiʻi Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment, I’m relieved that the defueling of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility has begun,” said Senator Mike Gabbard (District 21, Kapolei, Makakilo, Kalaeloa, portions of Fernandez Village, and ʻEwa). “I commend Joint Task Force - Red Hill for getting the defueling started earlier than originally scheduled and our Congressional Delegation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, for their work on this complex but essential issue.” WHAT: Informational Briefing on Red Hill Defueling WHEN: 1:30 P.M. Thursday, November 2, 2023 WHERE: The Hawaiʻi State Capitol Conference Room 229 415 South Beretania Street Honolulu, HI 96813 WHY: The purpose of this informational briefing is for the Joint Task Force-Red Hill to update the public and the committees on the defueling of Red Hill, the Navy region Hawaiʻi/Naval facilities engineering systems command-Hawaiʻi, and health updates. Please refer to the agenda for further details. Photo ID is required for entrance into the State Capitol. A live stream of all Senate Standing Committee meetings is available on the Senate YouTube Channel.

Governor Josh Green, M.D. and State Librarian Stacey A. Aldrich announced on Tuesday, October 17, that The Princeville Public Library will temporarily close due to renovations on Monday, October 30, 2023. The last day for full library services and to pick up requests will be Saturday, October 28 at 4:00 p.m. The library will remain locked for the entirety of the renovations. No book donations will be accepted during the closure. During the project, a pop-up in the library parking lot will act as an interim location. Patrons will be able to browse, borrow, and return books from a small collection as well as pick up holds and access limited wi-fi service. The pop-up is scheduled to open in late November. Currently, the renovation project is scheduled for completion by October 2024. Updates on the pop-up opening date and future information will be available on The Princeville Public Library web page at: librarieshawaii.org/branch/princeville-public-library/.