Legislature reconvene, safe travels, unemployment, Kakaako food distribution

LEGISLATURE WILL RECONVENE
The Senate President and Speaker of the House announced today (Thursday) that the Legislature will reconvene on Monday, May 11, 2020.  The Senate will convene for floor session at 11:30 am and the House at Noon. This will not be a resumption of the “regular” 60-day calendar that was cut short this year.  Rather, this will be for specific purposes and the resumption may last as few as six working session days.

As you may recall, the Governor announced a large anticipated budget shortfall and proposed solutions such as drastic budget cuts and State employee furloughs.  After hearing these proposals, the Legislature expressed our concerns and sought to work with the Governor to find alternative solutions.  This will be the primary focus of the Senate Ways and Means and House Finance Committees.

SAFE TRAVELS: UPDATE ON PASSENGER ARRIVALS
The senate committee has been concerned for the safety of our community as the number of passengers keep growing, with 669 passengers deplaning yesterday.  Our focus has been on the verification of passenger information before leaving the airport and enforcement of the 14-day quarantine. We visited the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to observe the procedure; and recommended adjustments to tighten enforcement. Today, DOT Director Jade Butay; Airports Division Deputy Director Ross Higashi and Administrative Officer Ford Fuchigami; Hawaii Tourism Authority CEO Chris Tatum and State Attorney General Clare Connors presented procedures and proposals to ensure our safety. A new “Travel Declaration Form” will be required of all passengers, including crew, that will ask identifying information, including travel and lodging.  A web application “SafeTraveler” is being developed that can be used in lieu of the paper form.

The new procedures will take more time –similar to TSA procedures– but will ensure that all arriving passengers: are temperature screened, understand and agree to the 14-day quarantine order (and the penalties for violating the quarantine), and verify their quarantine residence.  Even returning residents will need to self-quarantine; essential workers (including flight crew) will be exempt while doing essential business only.  To prevent the violations we’ve seen happening, further restrictions were added to ensure compliance with the quarantine: car rental companies are prohibited from renting cars during the quarantine period; and hotels are issuing one-time-use key so anyone leaving the room will be reported to law enforcement.  Travel will be different and this may be the new normal for a while.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IMPROVING BUT…
Today, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced that 141,077 unemployment insurance claims have been processed, or 63% of applications received.  Unfortunately, about 91,000 applications still await processing.

Labor Director Scott Murakami updated the committee on the UI system improvements. While the additional web services and certification solutions have been installed, the numbers are still overwhelming and causing the delays in getting paid. But the director said that some of the delay is due to applicant errors.   There are over 6,000 problems in applications that are as simple as the wrong direct deposit routing or account number or failing to include all employment for the 18-month qualification period.  Remember this is an automated system so all errors, no matter how minor, will delay the claim.

The certification process should be accepting more reports as it is on a new gateway. Because of the volume of claimants filing, the system was overloaded.  The department is thus accepting reports based on your last name as follows: On Monday – A-G; on Tuesday- H-O; on Wednesday- P-Z; and if you missed your assigned day, you can file on Thursday to Sunday.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is unfortunately not as simple. This will really confuse and frustrate you but take a deep breath and follow along. The new PUA program is a federal pandemic relief program and is providing benefits to claimants who normally would not qualify under the state system. So, the state installed a new system that is now running and in pre-application phase; and will be processing claims on May 15.  But, in order to assure the feds that the program is not paying claims that should be paid by the state, this new system only accepts claims from folks who have been disqualified from the state program.  So…if you applied on the UI website and are among the 40,000 who were denied, you may be eligible for PUA so apply on the PUA website. But everyone (even gig workers and independent contractors) must first apply on the UI site as a new claim at:  https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/#/. Once you are disqualified/denied, then file at the PUA website: https://pua.hawaii.gov/_/.  Got it? Hopefully this will help those who have been unable to log in to get a step closer to assistance.

NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR

Kakaako Walk-in Free Food Distribution
Free Food will be distributed tomorrow (Friday), May 8, Noon – 2:30 pm at 653 Ala Moana Blvd. (Corner of Keawe & Ala Moana).  All visitors are requested to walk-in. Bring a cart if you can so it’ll be easier to carry away.  For parking, you are advised to park at SALT across the street.  Please do not park on the road and block traffic.  Future distributions will take place on May 15, 22, and 29.  See flyer for details – Mahalo to Na Kupuna Makamae Center, a project of Pacific Gateway Center and their partners