Hawaii

Clean Energy Partnership, Export Opportunities

November 3, 2009 -- HONOLULU – Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has concluded a successful round of meetings in Beijing as part of the Administration’s ongoing strategic effort to strengthen the state’s long-term economy by promoting Hawaii as a visitor destination to China’s growing outbound tourism market, developing export opportunities for Hawaii products and services and forming partnerships in clean energy.

Beijing was the first stop on the Governor’s six-city tour to promote economic development opportunities for Hawaii with one of the world’s most important emerging economies. Pictures are available at www.hawaii.gov/gov or by request.

Encouraging Chinese Tourism    » read more »

Mortgagee Review Board proposes to permanently withdraw FHA approval from Financial Mortgage USA

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that its Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) is proposing to permanently withdraw the HUD/FHA approval of Financial Mortgage USA, Inc., a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM or reverse mortgage) lender based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

HUD's MRB alleges the Company failed to implement an FHA-required quality control plan; separate its lending operations from those of its affiliated insurance company; conform to prudent lending practices; and properly provide borrowers with housing counseling services.    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- U. S. Representative Neil Abercrombie today announced that the City and County of Honolulu is receiving $3,863,700 for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The block grants are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to help communities improve their energy efficiency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and create green jobs locally.

“Ultimately, this helps families save money on utility bills,” said Rep. Abercrombie, “because the more energy efficient Hawaii’s communities are, the smaller our overall energy demand and the less fuel we’ll need to generate electricity.”    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Honolulu will receive $3,863,700 to fund energy efficient initiatives including the reduction of fossil fuel emissions, the creation of green jobs, and the implementation of practices that lessen overall energy use, Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka announced today.

The federal funds are made available to Honolulu through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) award.

The grant is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.    » read more »

Senator Akaka impressed with Silo House entry in "Solar Decathlon"

October 30, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Three Hawaii high school graduates were part of a Cornell University team which designed, built, and operated a unique environmentally friendly home entered in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that brings 20 college and university teams to the nation's capitol for a competition to create the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka visited the students and toured the home, which was transported from Ithaca, New York and placed on the National Mall for the duration of the contest.    » read more »

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye announced today that Hawaii will receive $17,410,000 for interior and environment projects including wildlife refuges, tropical landscape management and the preservation of endangered Native Hawaiian birds.

The federal funds for Hawaii-related projects were approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

The conference report was passed by a vote of 72 to 28, with Chairman Inouye and Senator Daniel K. Akaka supporting the bill, and the measure now goes to President Barack Obama for his expected signature.    » read more »

October 28, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Today, President Barack Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference agreement, which included Senator Daniel K. Akaka's Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance (AREA) Act to replace COLA with locality pay for Federal workers in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Territories.

COLA rates will be frozen as of today's date, and the transition to locality pay will start in January 2010. Senator Akaka plans to set up information sessions on implementation for federal employees in Hawaii.    » read more »

Testimony of Governor Linda Lingle - Commission on Water Resource Management Public Meeting on East Maui In-Stream Flow Standards

October 15, 2009 -- Members of the Commission Staff and Members of the Community:

I am here tonight to discuss an issue of far-ranging importance to the people of Maui and the people of the State of Hawaii.

It is the fundamental issue of whether we will enable agriculture to survive in our state by ensuring that farmers have access to adequate water to grow their crops.

I am not here tonight to talk about the technical and scientific aspects of in-stream flow levels. There are many able people in this audience who can provide that information.    » read more »

Additional $12 million will help reduce energy use and carbon pollution, improve energy efficiency, and create green jobs

October 13, 2009 -- (The Following Was Released By The Department Of Energy):

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced that Hawaii has received all of the State Energy Program funding allocated to the state under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Department of Energy delivered an additional $12 million to the state, which has now received a total of $25 million through the State Energy Program to support energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the state, while creating jobs and reducing carbon pollution.    » read more »

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Hawaii will receive $34,010,000 for agriculture initiatives this fiscal year including funds to eradicate fruit flies, improve the plight of geographically disadvantaged farmers and expand research, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye and Senator Daniel K. Akaka announced today.

The Senate approved the Conference Report for the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill by a vote of 76 to 22. It will now go to the President for his expected signature.    » read more »

Washington, Oct 7, 2009 -- The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the FY2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which funded several of the requests Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) submitted to the House Appropriations Committee in April, including funding programs to protect communities from flooding, support Hawaii’s flower and other agriculture and aquaculture industries, and provide water to island farmers and ranchers. H.R. 2997 passed out the House by a vote of 263 yeas to 162 nays.

H.R. 2997 includes $34,731,000 in FY2010 funding for 21 projects in the State of Hawaii that Congresswoman Hirono requested. Many of the projects approved for funding were also requested by Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and Congressman Neil Abercrombie.    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- HONOLULU – The State of Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) has awarded a $33.9 million contract for the State Capital District, Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) project to Noresco, LLC (NORESCO), an energy services company.

The project includes energy efficiency improvements to 10 State office buildings within the State Capital District, including the State Capitol, that comprise over 1.3 million square feet of building space.    » read more »

October 7, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - The final conference agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (NDAA) released today contains important Federal workforce provisions, including the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act (S. 507), sponsored by Senator Daniel K. Akaka and cosponsored by Senators Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), which would provide fairness in retirement pay for the roughly 50,000 Federal workers in Hawai‘i, Alaska, and the Territories.

After sponsoring the original legislation, Senator Akaka spoke in support of the provision on the Senate floor and advocated for it during the Armed Services Committee conference.    » read more »

FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill

October 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Defense projects in Hawaii will receive $207.5 million in federal funds during the coming fiscal year for an array of projects including satellite deployment, space surveillance, improvements to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and the development of tactical technology, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye announced today.

The spending measure passed by a vote of 93-7.

The bill must now face a joint House-Senate Conference and final approval by the Senate and House, before it is transmitted to the White House.    » read more »

Legislation impacting Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories still active

October 2, 2009 -- Continuing the fight to ensure fair pay and retirement benefits for federal employees in Alaska, U.S. Senator Mark Begich continues to push to bring parity between federal workers' retirement in Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories with those in the continental U.S.

Begich joined Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii in March in introducing The Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act, which allows for the gradual transition to locality pay from cost of living allowance (COLA) increases.    » read more »