SBH News + Views
By Sam Slom
President, Smart Business Hawaii and SBH Entrepreneurial Education Foundation
July 7, 2010
Hope you and your family enjoyed the 4th of July weekend and celebrations. Many businesses were on the job.
The Governor finally ended the suspense and surprised many people yesterday at 3 pm by announcing she would veto HB 444 the Civil Unions/Same Sex Marriage bill. (She had the choices of veto, signing or allowing the bill to become law without her signature). By local and some national media standards you would think this is the most pressing issue in Hawaii. It is not. Jobs and the economy are the priorities- and despite the decision yesterday, the issue will not go away. The Governor cited the last minute tactics and rules suspension in the House passage of the bill April 29 and said the public deserves a full vote (as was done a decade ago). The Governor did the right thing and did not back away from the challenge of true leadership. Court challenges probably await.
The Speaker of the House, Rep. Calvin Say, last Friday announced the House would not participate in any Special override Session yesterday. What he really meant was that the House didn’t have the votes for several potential vetoes-including HB444-and the Democrats wanted to put the full responsibility on Governor Lingle. The Senate was raring to go. The Governor announced 31 other vetoes from her original list of 39 released on June 21. For a complete listing of these bills see http://hawaii.gov/gov/leg/2010-legislative-session/bills/veto.html
According to a national online poll hosted by USA Today and Orbitz, Honolulu is the best destination in the U.S. Honolulu beat out Yellowstone National Park in the final voting.
Congrats to Maui resident W.S. Merwin who for a year will be the Nation’s Poet Laureate.
Hawaii bankruptcies continued at a high level in June, amounting to 371 total, or 37% higher than June, 2009. More than 300 bankruptcies are Chapter 7.
The drug Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, getting very bad FDA reports and may be pulled from the market next month.
Honolulu’s Alexander & Baldwin has completed purchase of two Kaka’ako properties. A&B plans to develop residential towers in two years.
Prepare for higher postage costs for snail mail. The Postal Commission has voted to increase stamp rates for First Class 2¢ from 44¢ to 46¢ beginning next year (January). Post cards to 30¢. The USPS is suffering billions in losses because most businesses and individuals have switched to email and other technologies. Raising rates and cutting Saturday service will not save the government mail. Or the taxpayer subsidy.
It was reported that last month General Motors sold more vehicles in China than in the U.S.
Today, Chairman Sen. Donna Kim and the Senate Ways & Means Committee holds a continuation of last week’s investigation of state transportation contracts.
The State announced it was awarded nearly $602,000 for on-the-job training and employment services for the state’s dislocated workers. The money comes from an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009) grant.
Have you visited SBH’s newly redesigned website yet? We still have more work to do and your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Want help with a business problem? Please call me personally at SBH for assistance, at (808) 396-1724 or email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Our local temperatures have increased but lucky you live Hawaii and not New York or the steamin’ East Coast. Cool head main ting; concentrate on your summer business plan.