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Senate Bill 582 would provide another $297 million for displaced Maui residents living in hotels. The other measure, Senate Bill 3068, would set aside $186 million for the state’s response to the Maui wildfires and mitigation efforts.
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A measure to allocate nearly $20 million during the next fiscal year to the state Department of Agriculture for biosecurity measures is being described by some as a "landmark" bill. Nearly $3.2 million would fund 44 new department positions to support biosecurity.
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Nearly two dozen students from Hawaiian immersion schools on Maui have traveled to the state Capitol multiple times this legislative session with a simple message. The high court’s unanimous decision found the state attorney general's office made false statements to try to exploit the Maui wildfires to advance its own interests.
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Despite sizable public opposition, lawmakers are racing to finalize a bill that could pass the costs of the Maui wildfires onto ratepayers. HPR's Maddie Bender and Savannah Harriman-Pote explain what that means for Hawaiian Electric and its customers.
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A handful of Honolulu councilmembers have introduced resolutions to let voters decide how the commission operates. The resolutions come a year after the commission gave councilmembers a controversial 64% raise. The commission said the raise followed and made up for years of stagnant pay. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.
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The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting.
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Long-term funding could finally be coming to the state’s DA BUX program. The initiative cuts the price in half for eligible produce grown by Hawaiʻi farmers, and this year’s state budget bill could allocate a recurring $1 million annually to DA BUX.
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A state legislative bill to create a pilot program for a state-initiated expungement process for Hawaiʻi County passed a final reading in the House and will be transmitted to Gov. Josh Green for approval.
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The 10 red-light cameras currently installed in urban Honolulu have issued over 900 citations. The chosen intersections, such as King Street and Ward Avenue, have a history of high crash rates.
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Hawaiʻi's two electric utilities briefed the Senate on Thursday about their wildfire mitigation efforts since the Aug. 8 fires. The vast majority of the 3.5-hour briefing was dedicated to Hawaiian Electric.
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Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi is formally asking to create a standalone Department of Ocean Safety on Oʻahu. The council has been moving along its own measure that would ask voters this year if they wanted an ocean safety department with its own oversight commission.
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The owner of the property selected for Lahaina's fire debris disposal site has filed a lawsuit against Maui County and its eminent domain actions to acquire the 20 acres. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, the property owner tried to donate 5 acres, but the county said it needs all 20 acres.