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MEDIA RELEASE During fiscal year 2009, total state agency electric consumption dropped 5.8 percent from 2008 and 2.5 percent from the baseline year of 2005, according to the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism’s (DBEDT) annual “Lead By Example” report to the state Legislature. The decline in the state’s energy consumption represents the largest […]

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MEDIA RELEASE Gov. Linda Lingle attended a swearing-in ceremony for two of her judicial appointees, former U.S. Attorney Edward H. Kubo, Jr. and Lawrence M. Reifurth, to serve as a Circuit Court judge of the First Circuit (Oahu) and Associate Judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, respectively. “Ed Kubo has dedicated his career […]

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Gov. Linda Lingle hosted a press conference Friday, March 12. Here is the full transcript: Aloha everyone. Thank you for coming by. Today, we’re just about at the half-way point of the legislative session and we’ve done marijuana stores, gambling, foie gras and now is a great time to get re-focused on what this legislative […]

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The Council on Revenues on Thursday, March 11 kept the state’s revenue forecast for the current fiscal year at a 2.5 percent decline. The council also reduced the forecast for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to 6 percent growth, down from 7.6 percent growth. That means a $48 million loss for the state. […]

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MEDIA RELEASE Gov. Linda Lingle has released $17,250,000 to the Department of Education for capital improvement projects (CIP) and new construction at public schools on Maui, Lanai, Hawaii and Oahu. The four projects are: * Kihei High School – $8 million will be used to acquire land for a new high school in Kihei, Maui. […]

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MEDIA RELEASE For the first time in 10 years, all 5,245 public housing units managed by the state Public Housing Authority (HPHA) have passed the rigorous physical inspection standards established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). “This accomplishment reflects the focused work of the board of directors of the HPHA and […]

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Gov. Linda Lingle released this statement Tuesday, March 2: When we received news Friday night of the devastating earthquake in Chile and the resulting tsunami waves that were approaching Hawaii, emergency response personnel across the state sprang into action. The outstanding coordination resulted in a well-executed operation to keep the residents and visitors of Hawaii […]

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MEDIA RELEASE (Editor’s Note: The Hawaii State Teachers Association has filed a complaint with the state’s labor board against Gov. Linda Lingle, claiming she “willfully and unlawfully” squashed the union’s tentative agreement with the Board of Education to end furlough days. Union and state education officials were willing to use $35 million in ‘rainy day’ […]

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TRANSCRIPT OF GOVERNOR’S Q&A WASHINGTON, D.C. MEETINGS The following is the transcript of a call-in interview with Gov. Linda Lingle on KSSK radio Monday, Feb. 22. Lingle is in Washington, D.C. participating in the National Governors Association’s annual winter meeting. Monday morning, Lingle and her fellow governors met with President Obama and his cabinet at […]

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MEDIA RELEASE With a focus on strengthening Hawaii’s economy and enhancing partnerships with the federal government, Gov. Linda Lingle is in Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Governors Association annual meeting. Lingle and the nation’s governors will meet with President Obama at the White House. Lingle already has met with Obama Administration officials, including […]

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Hawaii residents have made it very clear that they want an immediate and complete solution to get our students back into the classroom. The plan I presented in November and revised Jan. 8 would accomplish this by using up to $50 million from the Rainy Day Fund to restore teacher furlough days. This plan is […]

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MEDIA RELEASE Gov. Linda Lingle announced today that the State of Hawaii successfully sold $721.6 million of general obligation bonds to fund various State capital projects, including public school facilities, University of Hawaii projects and other statewide capital projects. The $721.6 million bond sale included $500 million of taxable Build America Bonds authorized under the […]

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MEDIA RELEASE With a continued focus on immediately returning Hawaii students to the classroom, Gov. Linda Lingle this week renewed her call for the Board of Education (BOE) and Department of Education (DOE) to accept her plan originally proposed Nov. 15 to restore the majority of the remaining teacher furlough days. “The clock is ticking,” […]

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MEDIA RELEASE Gov. Linda Lingle’s senior policy advisor testified Thursday before a joint Senate committee on the importance of establishing a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund that would ensure funds are available for future fiscal emergencies by building a reserve in periods of economic growth to offset any budget shortfall during future economic downturns. While the […]

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