Latest news with #SenateBill534
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to increase pensions for disabled veterans advances
PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — A bill that would increase the pension for approved veterans is making its way to the Pennsylvania Senate. The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee approved Senate Bill 534. It would increase the monthly pension amounts for Pennsylvania's Blind Veterans Pension Program and the Amputee and Paralyzed Veterans Pension Program. The bill, introduced by Senator Judy Ward and Senator Devlin Robinson, would raise the monthly pensions from $150 to $180 for veterans who suffered service-connected injuries resulting in blindness, paralysis, or the loss of two or more extremities. Amputee, paralyzed Pennsylvania veterans encouraged to apply for pension program 'For more than two decades, these critical pension programs have remained unchanged while the cost of living has continued to rise,' Ward said. 'This modest increase is the least we can do to support the men and women who have heroically sacrificed so much in service to our nation.' The last increase for the programs was in 1999 and Ward noted that the increase would potentially provide relief to over 2,500 Pennsylvania veterans. 'It is past time for the legislature to take action and put more money back in the pockets of our heroes,' Robinson said. 'I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation with Sen. Judy Ward to continue advocating for fellow Pennsylvania veterans.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislation advances in Pa. Senate committee to boost pensions for disabled veterans
U.S. Military veteran and amputee Lloyd Epps walks after doctors serviced his prosthetic leg at the Veterans Administration (VA), hospital on January 29, 2014 in Manhattan, New York City. (Photo by) Disabled Pennsylvania veterans may get a boost in their pensions, under legislation in the Pennsylvania Senate. The proposal is one of five pieces of legislation advanced by the state Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness on Tuesday. Senate Bill 534 is sponsored by Sens. Judy Ward (R-Blair) and Devlin Robinson (R-Allegheny). 'Under current law, Pennsylvania veterans who suffered service connected injuries or diseases that resulted in a loss of vision, paralysis or the loss of two or more extremities, are eligible to receive a pension of $150 per month,' Robinson said on Tuesday. 'Senate Bill 534 would increase the pension amount from $150 to $180 per month for both programs.' As of Nov. 30, 2024, Robinson said 98 people across Pennsylvania were in the blind veterans pension program, while 2,345 are in the amputee and paralyzed veterans pension program. Robinson, a military veteran, said the two initiatives have not received any increase since 1999 and a similar effort in the previous session cleared the committee, but did not get passed by both chambers. The bill was supported unanimously on Tuesday, although an effort from Democratic Sen. Katie Muth, Minority Chair of the committee, to add an amendment to establish an annual cost of living adjustment for both programs was tabled. Boosting veteran owned businesses Senate Bill 64, sponsored by state Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington), would create a special logo to be used for veteran owned businesses in the commonwealth. According to the Senate Republican Communications Office, a business must be registered with the Department of State and at least 51% of the ownership interest must be held by a veteran, reservist or member of the National Guard to be eligible. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'They're deserving of our support in any and every way we can possibly show it,' Bartolotta said. 'And I think this is just a way to signal to the community that the owner of that business served our country and…if we prefer to support those kinds of businesses, this is a way that we can do it.' Pennsylvania has the fourth largest veteran population in the nation. In an effort to discourage the logo from being used for fraudulent purposes, those who falsely claim to be a veteran to get this designation would face a third degree misdemeanor, with fines associated with the violation awarded to the Veterans' Trust Fund. The proposal, along with an amendment for it to mirror House Bill 993, was approved by the committee unanimously.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bid to undo Kakaako Makai housing ban fails
GEORGE F. LEE / AUG. 23 In 2024 about 30 acres of land in Kakaako Makai was acquired in 2012 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, OHA, in lieu of back payments owed by the state. OHA has tried to convince state lawmakers to allow residential development on at least some of it. Here, tables and umbrellas for food trucks occupy the site of the old Fisherman's Wharf. 1 /2 GEORGE F. LEE / AUG. 23 In 2024 about 30 acres of land in Kakaako Makai was acquired in 2012 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, OHA, in lieu of back payments owed by the state. OHA has tried to convince state lawmakers to allow residential development on at least some of it. Here, tables and umbrellas for food trucks occupy the site of the old Fisherman's Wharf. GEORGE F. LEE / JAN. 9 The Office of Hawaiian Affairs property Kakaako Makai is bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, Forrest Avenue and Ilalo Street. 2 /2 GEORGE F. LEE / JAN. 9 The Office of Hawaiian Affairs property Kakaako Makai is bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, Forrest Avenue and Ilalo Street. GEORGE F. LEE / AUG. 23 In 2024 about 30 acres of land in Kakaako Makai was acquired in 2012 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, OHA, in lieu of back payments owed by the state. OHA has tried to convince state lawmakers to allow residential development on at least some of it. Here, tables and umbrellas for food trucks occupy the site of the old Fisherman's Wharf. GEORGE F. LEE / JAN. 9 The Office of Hawaiian Affairs property Kakaako Makai is bordered by Ala Moana Boulevard, Forrest Avenue and Ilalo Street. A reformed effort by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs to permit housing on land it owns in Kakaako has come up short at the Legislature. Two Senate committees on Friday indefinitely deferred a bill that proposed to partly repeal a ban on residential development in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard, for the benefit of OHA. The decision sidelines further consideration of Senate Bill 534 this year. OHA has been trying for more than a decade to convince a majority of state lawmakers to allow residential development on at least some of the 31 acres OHA accepted from the state in 2012 to partially settle claims against the state over unpaid revenue generated from former Hawaiian crown lands, referred to as ceded land. In several prior years, the Senate passed OHA-backed bills to allow residential development in the area known as Kakaako Makai. Those prior bills were defeated in the House, where they were opposed by then-Rep. Scott Saiki, who represented Kakaako and during that time was House speaker or majority leader with great power over legislation. Saiki lost his bid for reelection in August. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. This year 18 representatives in the 51-member House expressed early support for OHA's proposed legislation. SB 534 was introduced by 11 of 25 state senators. In early February three Senate committees—Housing, Hawaiian Affairs, and Water and Land—advanced SB 534 in unanimous or near-unanimous votes after a three-hour public hearing where more than 400 pages of written testimony were submitted. Supporters of the legislation outnumbered opponents by more than 3-to-1. Two more Senate committees—Judiciary and Ways and Means—intended to take action on the bill Feb. 26. Instead, Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Karl Rhoads announced Feb. 26 that a new draft of SB 534 was being proposed by the two committees and that a public hearing was scheduled for two days later, Friday, because proposed amendments were pretty substantial. Yet on Friday, Rhoads (D, Nuuanu-Downtown-Iwilei ) recommended deferring the bill indefinitely without the planned hearing because some senators didn't support the new draft. 'We were scheduled to take testimony, but we have not found a way forward on this bill, ' he announced. 'Several proposals have been put out there, and we don't have a consensus on them.' Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Ways and Means chair, added that the chairs of the three committees that previously advanced the bill did not agree with the proposed new draft. 'We couldn't reach agreement with the subject-matter chairs, so we'll be deferring, ' Dela Cruz (D, Mililani-Wahiawa-Whitmore Village ) said in the hearing room. New provisions in the proposed draft included a different way for the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency regulating development in Kakaako, to fund area infrastructure improvements, and forming a working group to help transfer regulation of Kakaako development from HCDA to the city. OHA expressed support for the proposed draft in written testimony. Some opponents of earlier versions of SB 534 opposed the proposed draft. Kai Kahele, who spearheaded the push for SB 534 as OHA's board chair, said Monday in a statement that he was disappointed by the outcome but respects the legislative process and accepts the decision. 'I am proud of the way Team OHA presented the case for affordable workforce housing in Honolulu's urban core, and we remain committed to addressing the needs of our beneficiaries, ' said Kahele, a former state and federal lawmaker who was elected to the agency's board of trustees in August. 'As for the future of our lands in Kakaako Makai, the Board of Trustees will determine the best path forward in alignment with our mission and responsibilities.' Some opponents of SB 534 suggested that the state swap other land for the nine parcels that OHA accepted in lieu of $200 million. 'It would make sense if the State wants to help OHA develop affordable housing to offer additional, more appropriate land elsewhere, ' Jonathan Lott said in written testimony for Friday's anticipated hearing. 'Perhaps the State could take back the Kakaako Makai ceded lands in exchange.' Sherry Broder told the Senate Judiciary and Ways and Means committees in written testimony that the current housing prohibition in Kakaako Makai is unfair to Native Hawaiians. 'OHA should be allowed to maximize this asset just as Howard Hughes (Corp.) and other developers have been doing in Kakaako, ' she said. 'OHA's plan is excellent and will bring benefits to everyone : more housing, attractive development and an income stream to OHA for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.' Through SB 534, OHA sought to allow towers rising up to 400 feet, twice the current limit, on two of its parcels fronting Ala Moana Boulevard. The bill also mandated that more than 50 % of all resulting homes on these two parcels be reserved for Hawaii resident households that don't earn over 140 % of Oahu's median income. Furthermore, buyers of these reserved homes would have to be owner-occupants, and a preference would be given to those who work within 5 miles of the area in 'essential ' fields that include education, health care, law enforcement, hospitality and construction. Kahele framed the objective as helping the state address a chronic affordable- housing shortage. 'We are not building homes for out-of-state investors, ' he said during a community meeting in January. The three Senate committees amended the original version of the bill to require that the reserved homes have perpetual price limits keeping them affordable for all future owners with the same income restriction. On three other OHA parcels, the agency proposed market-priced housing within existing height limits and for only Hawaii residents with an owner-occupant restriction, or perhaps a hotel or condo-hotel on one parcel. Proceeds from market -priced housing were intended to help fund OHA programs that benefit Hawaiians and to allow the agency to pay for other planned improvements on its Kakaako land, including a Hawaiian cultural center and public waterfront promenade along the Ewa edge of Kewalo Basin Small Boat Harbor. The Legislature banned residential use of land in Kakaako Makai in 2006 to block HCDA's plan to have a developer create a mix of housing, commercial uses and recreational public spaces after project opponents argued that it was a bad use of public land and would curtail public access to the waterfront. Today the area includes a mix of warehouses, car dealerships, office buildings, parking lots, a marine research lab, a waterfront restaurant, a ship repair facility, a children's museum, the University of Hawaii medical school and Kakaako Waterfront Park.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
OHA Kakaako Makai housing bill advances
GEORGE F. LEE / AUG. 23 The 30 acres of land in Kakaako Makai acquired in 2012 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in lieu of back payments owed by the state. GEORGE F. LEE / AUG. 23 The 30 acres of land in Kakaako Makai acquired in 2012 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in lieu of back payments owed by the state. Three Hawaii Senate committees have advanced a contentious bill to allow housing on land owned by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard. Some new provisions were also added to the bill, including one that would prevent Kamehameha Schools from developing housing on land it owns in the same area, and one that would require OHA to complete an environmental impact statement before seeking a development permit for housing on five parcels on the Kakaako peninsula. Another amendment requires that OHA restrict resale prices for some homes so that they are affordable to moderate-income households in perpetuity. The Senate Committee on Housing voted 4-0 Tuesday to advance Senate Bill 534 with amendments. On Monday, Water and Land Committee members voted 4-1 to advance the bill with the same amendments, as did the Hawaiian Affairs Committee on a 3-1 vote. The three committees received nearly 400 pages of written testimony on the bill discussed Jan. 29 during a three-hour hearing. Supporters of the legislation outnumbered opponents by more than 3-to-1. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. SB 534, drafted by OHA, proposes to allow towers rising up to 400 feet, twice the current limit, on two agency parcels fronting Ala Moana Boulevard. OHA's bill would mandate that more than 50 % of all resulting homes on these two parcels be reserved for Hawaii resident households that don't earn over 140 % of Oahu's median income. Furthermore, buyers of these reserved homes would have to be owner-occupants, and a preference would be given to those who work within 5 miles of the area in 'essential ' fields that include education, health care, law enforcement, hospitality and construction. The new amended version of the bill adds that these reserved homes must have perpetual price limits keeping them affordable for all future owners with the same income restriction. On three other OHA parcels, the agency wants to produce market-priced housing within existing height limits and for only Hawaii residents with an owner-occupant restriction, or perhaps a hotel or condo-hotel on one parcel. Proceeds from market -priced housing would help fund OHA programs that benefit Hawaiians, and allow the agency to pay for other planned improvements on its Kakaako land, including a Hawaiian cultural center and public waterfront promenade along the Ewa edge of Kewalo Basin Small Boat Harbor. The Legislature banned residential use of land in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard, in 2006 to block another state agency's plan to have a developer create a mix of housing, commercial uses and public spaces in the largely blighted industrial area. OHA received 31 acres in the area known as Kakaako Makai in 2012 from the state to partially settle a dispute over unpaid revenue generated from former Hawaiian crown lands, and since then has tried several times to convince lawmakers to permit housing in the area.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kakaako Makai housing bill attracts a flood of testimony
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @ Office of Hawaiian Affairs board Chair Kai Kahele, right, met with members of the Save our Kakaako group prior to the start of a Senate hearing Wednesday at the state Capitol. The hearing was for Senate Bill 534, which would allow OHA to develop housing on land it owns in the Kakaako Makai sector. JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @ Office of Hawaiian Affairs board Chair Kai Kahele, right, met with members of the Save our Kakaako group prior to the start of a Senate hearing Wednesday at the state Capitol. The hearing was for Senate Bill 534, which would allow OHA to develop housing on land it owns in the Kakaako Makai sector. A contentious bill to largely undo a state law prohibiting residential development on the peninsula in Kakaako drew almost two-thirds more support than opposition at an initial public hearing Wednesday. Three Senate committees received nearly 400 pages of written testimony on Senate Bill 534, and after a three-hour hearing deferred a decision on the legislation until early next week. About 140 individuals or organizations expressed support for SB 534, which was proposed by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs to enhance the value and revenue-generating potential of land the agency owns in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard, subject to the existing ban. About 40 individuals or organizations opposed the bill. Among supporters testifying in person was former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who once opposed housing in the area known as Kakaako Makai. 'I've really come full circle now all the way with Kakaako Makai, ' he told about a dozen senators at the hearing at the state Capitol. 'If we don't have housing in the urban core, if we do not make for housing in Kakaako Makai, what we're telling everybody is, 'you don't count.'' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Other supporters included Hawaii's biggest public worker unions, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Kamehameha Schools, which owns four large parcels that would gain entitlements to possibly build 400-foot residential towers if the bill as written becomes law. Entities testifying against SB 534 included Life of the Land, Friends of Kewalos, Hawaii's Thousand Friends and a community advisory council that helped create a plan for desired uses on much of the peninsula before OHA acquired 31 acres there in 2012. Ron Iwami, president of the Friends of Kewalos community organization, which helped persuade the Legislature to ban residential use on the peninsula in 2006, told senators Wednesday that the group doesn't oppose housing or OHA but wants to stand up for what he called a 'landmark ' law. 'We stand for protecting open spaces for Hawaii's future generations, and we've been doing this for 20 years, ' he said. The 2006 law was enacted to block a private project on land then owned by the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency that allowed residential use in Kakaako Makai under its zoning rules and had sought to enliven the largely blighted area by soliciting private development proposals providing public benefits. HCDA picked a plan by Honolulu-based Alexander &Baldwin Inc. that included three condominium towers clustered on one inland lot, a hula amphitheater, restaurants, stores, a farmers market, a public waterfront promenade and a pedestrian bridge spanning the Kewalo Basin harbor channel. In 2012, when Abercrombie was governor, OHA agreed to receive 31 acres valued at about $200 million from HCDA to partially settle claims against the state over unpaid revenue generated from former Hawaiian crown lands, referred to as ceded land. OHA, a state agency created to better conditions for Native Hawaiians, later claimed that the land's value was worth far less and has repeatedly but unsuccessfully tried for over a decade to get the Legislature to reverse the housing ban for at least some of its land. OHA's new plan seeks to permit residential use on five of its nine Kakaako Makai parcels, along with four blocks owned by Ka mehameha Schools. Two of these OHA parcels and all four Kamehameha Schools parcels fronting Ala Moana Boulevard are proposed for 400-foot building height limits, up from an existing 200-foot limit. OHA also is asking to amend the bill to increase density for buildings on these six parcels. For the six parcels, OHA's bill would mandate that more than 50 % of all resulting homes be reserved for Hawaii resident households that don't earn over 140 % of Oahu's median income. Furthermore, buyers of the reserved homes would have to be owner-occupants, and a preference would be given to those who work within 5 miles of the area in 'essential ' fields that include education, health care, law enforcement, hospitality and construction. For the other three OHA parcels, the agency would like to be able to produce market-priced housing within existing height limits and for only Hawaii residents with an owner-occupant restriction, or perhaps a hotel or condo-hotel on one parcel. In all, OHA estimates that it could produce 1, 000 to 2, 000 new homes over a decade or so. Kai Kahele, a former state and federal lawmaker who is OHA's board chair after being elected to the agency's board of trustees in August, has framed the proposal as helping the state end a chronic shortage of affordable housing for moderate-income households. 'This state is facing a crisis, ' he said at Wednesday's hearing. 'Our workforce housing shortage is forcing locals and local families to leave. … We are not here to build housing for out-of-state investors.' Kahele said proceeds from market-priced housing would help fund OHA programs that benefit Hawaiians, and allow the agency to pay for other planned improvements on its Kakaako Makai lands, including a Hawaiian cultural center and public waterfront promenade along the Ewa edge of Kewalo Basin Small Boat Harbor. The state Department of the Attorney General raised concerns about SB 534 running afoul of a provision in Hawaii's Constitution that requires the state to legislate over land under its control through general laws instead of special laws. 'An unconstitutional special law regulates specific parcels of land rather than land generally, ' the department said in written testimony. The department suggested ways to address the concern. HCDA Executive Director Craig Nakamoto suggested that the Legislature give authority for determining appropriate Kakaako Makai land uses back to the agency, which employs planning experts and must hold public hearings for rule changes. Since 1982 when HCDA was directed by the Legislature to govern development in Kakaako Makai, the agency changed its rules more than once to allow or not allow residential use in the area. Much of the roughly 200-acre peninsula was created from fill as a city dump. Later the buried waste was consolidated and covered by HCDA to form the hilly Kakaako Waterfront Park. Surrounding commercial development has included warehouses, base yards, ship repair facilities, office buildings, restaurants, a children's museum and the University of Hawaii medical school. Two senators during Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-Iroquois Point ) and Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D, Puna ), expressed some disdain for HCDA. Fevella and San Buenaventura are among 11 senators who introduced SB 534 in the 25-member Senate. The three Senate committees that heard the bill Wednesday were the Committee on Water and Land, the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs and the Committee on Housing. In past years, the Senate has passed other OHA-backed bills to allow residential development on some of the agency's land in Kakaako Makai only to have those bills stall in the House, where they were opposed by then-Rep. Scott Saiki, who represented Kakaako and during that time was House speaker or majority leader with great power over bills. Saiki lost his bid for reelection in August. This year, 18 representatives in the 51-member House have expressed early support for OHA's proposed legislation. House Bill 605, which mirrors SB 543, is a priority for the bipartisan 13-member House Native Hawaiian Caucus, and five other representatives helped introduce the bill. A hearing has not yet been scheduled for HB 605. At a Friday news conference, Rep. Daniel Holt, co-chair of the caucus, expressed optimism that there will no longer be a standstill in the House over such legislation. 'With new House leadership and with new leadership at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, I really look forward to having productive, meaningful discussions to finally get this issue taken care of and this settled for the Hawaiian community, ' said Holt (D, Sand Island-Iwilei-Chinatown ).
