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Aloha,
October is proving to be a busy month already. Last week the Senate convened a special session to confirm a number of Judicial appointments put forth by Governor Ige. Absentee ballots have been mailed to voters on Hawai'i Island. And this week we will start to see travel measures put in place by Governor Ige and Mayor Kim for out-of-state visitors. I am also happy to announce that I have hired two new staff to join my office. My office manager, Tommie Suganuma, has decided to retire and my committee clerk, Sydney Hart, will be returning to the mainland. I will be introducing the new staff in my November newsletter.
If you need any assistance, please reach out to my office at (808) 586-7335 or seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov.
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Kind regards,
Senator Lorraine R. Inouye
Senate District 4 | Hilo, Hāmākua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa, and Kona |
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Governor Ige Extends COVID-19 Emergency Period Through November
On October 13, Governor David Ige signed a 14th supplementary emergency proclamation that extends the COVID-19 emergency period through November 30.
As previously announced, the emergency proclamation leaves in place the 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers. However, beginning October 15, a pre-travel testing option will allow travelers an alternative to the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Travelers, five years and older, who do not want to be subject to the state’s 14-day mandatory travelers quarantine must take an approved COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to departure from the final leg of travel. If results are not received prior to arrival, the traveler will be required to self-quarantine until a negative test result is reported to the state Department of Health. The state will accept test results from trusted testing and travel partners only. A complete list can be found here.
Negative test results may be uploaded to the Safe Travels Digital Platform, and all travelers must also complete the state’s mandatory travel and health form on this digital platform.
The proclamation allows counties to require a subsequent test after arrival into the state. Such a test would be paid for and administered by the county. People arriving in a county that requires a post-arrival test do not need to self-quarantine prior to obtaining the subsequent test. Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or who anyone who tests positive at any point in their stay must take steps to isolate or quarantine as directed by the Department of Health.
The inter-island quarantine for travelers arriving in the counties of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, Maui and Kalawao (Kalaupapa) remains in place. However, the proclamation empowers the counties to adopt a negative test exception process for travelers subject to the inter-island travel quarantine.
The proclamation also:
- Extends the prohibition on evictions for non-payment of rent until November 30.
- Extends the expiration dates of expired/expiring state IDs and driver's licenses until November 30.
Gov. Ige also announced four more trusted testing and travel partners:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Bartell Drugs
- Port of Oakland
For more information on the State of Hawaiʻi’s pre-travel testing program, visit https://hawaiicovid19.com/.
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Hawai‘i Senate Holds Special
Session on Judicial Appointments
The Hawai‘i State Senate convened last week for a special session to review Governor David Ige’s appointment for a vacancy on the Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals and the Chief Justice's appointments on a number of district court positions.
Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) Associate Judge Alexa D.M. Fujise retired in April 2020. The special session considered and confirmed the Governor's appointment, First Circuit Court Judge Karen Nakasone, to fill the vacancy and restore the ICA to its full complement of six members.
The Senate also confirmed judicial appointments Karin Holma, Tracy Fukui, Bryant Zane and Andrew Park to the District Court of the First Circuit and Courtney Naso, Elizabeth Paek-Harris and Thomas Haia to the District Family Court of the First Circuit.
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Hawai'i County Establishes Arrival
Testing to Ensure Community's Safety
Under an amendment to Mayor Harry Kim’s COVID-19 Emergency Rule No. 12, travelers arriving on Hawai‘i Island from out of state who have chosen to participate in the State’s pre-test program to bypass the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine period will now be required to take a County administered COVID-19 test upon arrival to Hawai'i Island. The tests will be administered at all three Hawai'i Island airports: Ellison Onizuka International Airport at Keahole, Waimea-Kohala Airport, and Hilo International Airport.
The cost of the rapid COVID-19 arrival test will be borne by Hawai‘i County via federal CARES Act funding. Testing will be managed by Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency staff and administered by Premier Medical Group Hawai'i. This antigen test will provide results within 15-20 minutes. If a traveler tests negative for COVID-19, they will not be subject to self-quarantine. Those testing positive for COVID-19 will be required to take a subsequent PCR test immediately and will be required to self-quarantine per State Department of Health rules while awaiting those results of this test, which are expected within 36 hours.
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Absentee Ballot Information
Review the contests and candidates on your 2020 general election ballot at elections.hawaii.gov.
Pursuant Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) Section 11-103, the public is hereby notified that the initial mailing of ballots for the 2020 General Election began on Wednesday, October 7, 2020.
Voters should have received their ballots within 2-3 days of the mailing date. Any registered voter who has not receive a ballot within 5 days of the mailing date should contact the Elections Division at (808) 961-8277.
Places of Deposits will be available to all voters beginning October 14, 2020 up to 7:00 p.m. on November 3, General Election Day.
The locations are:
- Hawai‘i County Building
25 Aupuni St. Hilo, HI 96720
- Laupāhoehoe Police Station
36-2285 Old Māmalahoa Hwy.
Laupāhoehoe, HI 96764
- Waimea Police Station
67-5185 Kamamalu St. Waimea, HI 96743
- North Kohala Police Station
54-3900 Akoni Pule Hwy. Kapa‘au, HI 96755
- West Hawai‘i Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy. Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
- Rodney Yano Hall
82-6156 Māmalahoa Hwy. Captain Cook, HI 96704
- Nā‘ālehu Police Station
95-5355 Māmalahoa Hwy. Nā‘ālehu, HI 96772
- Pāhoa Police Station
15-2615 Kea‘au-Pāhoa Rd. Pāhoa, HI 96778
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2020 Election Charter
Amendment Ballot Questions
There will be 16 Charter amendment proposals on the 2020 General Election ballot for consideration by the electorate.
These will be placed on the ballot as questions to answer "yes" or "no" to. Only "yes" and "no" votes will be counted, and the Charter amendment proposal will be approved if there are more "yes" votes than "no" votes.
View the 2020 Charter Amendment Ballot Questions as they will appear on the ballot, summaries for each question, and the full text for each proposal.
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Census 2020
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a request from the Trump administration to halt the census count while an appeal plays out over a lower court's order that it continue.
In response, the U.S. Census Bureau has announced that the self-response and field data collection operations for the 2020 Census will conclude on October 15, 2020.
If you have not already done so, please fill out your 2020 Census before tomorrow's deadline:
• Internet self-response will be available across the nation through October 15 at 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (HST). Visit 2020Census.gov to respond today.
• Phone response will be available for its regularly scheduled time on October 15.
• Paper responses must be postmarked by October 15.
• Nonresponse follow up census takers will continue resolving nonresponding addresses through the end of the day on October 15.
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Please join me in sending off my Office Manager, Tommie Suganuma, and my Committee Clerk, Sydney Hart. It has been a pleasure working with them and I wish them well in their future endeavors. (Pictured from left-to-right, Tommie Suganuma, Lauren Yamaguchi, Sydney Hart, Melvin Ah Ching)
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Waimea and Waikoloa kupuna are the latest to receive nutritious meals and fresh locally sourced produce delivered to their doors thanks to federal coronavirus relief funds.
Waimea resident Patti Cook and 10 volunteers loaded coolers at Kuhio Hale with meals provided by the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council (HCEOC) for the first delivery to 140 seniors in Waimea and Waikoloa. For each senior: five frozen dinners plus a bag of fresh produce.
Currently, the HCEOC is servicing 700 seniors around the island, which equates to about 3,500 meals a week and 700 produce bags. The nonprofit states its mission is to “reduce, mitigate and alleviate poverty in the County of Hawaii.” These efforts have been ongoing since March, when the County’s Office of Aging nutrition program shut down.
The effort, some seven months later, was recently bolstered by a $655,000 grant from Hawaii County funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The funding allowed the HCEOC to expand the program to include Waikoloa and Waimea as well as a bag of fresh produce.
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