KEEPING UP WITH HONOLULU & STATE COVID ORDERS: What’s Happening?
According to the Mayor, our good behavior moved us into Tier 2 with a positivity rate of 2.5-5% for 2 weeks. What we can do in Tier 2 is in the City’s Emergency Order No. 2020-29 approved by the Governor who also extended the state’s emergency period through November 30 in his 8th Proclamation.
As of Thursday a(10/22), Honolulu is in Tier 2 of Honolulu’s Reopening Strategy which provides for the following changes allowing:
Restaurants: Groups of 5 regardless of household
Personal Care Services
Legal Short Term Rentals
Gyms and Fitness Facilities: Indoors at 25% capacity
Indoor group physical activity classes but no more than 5 people
Outdoor group physical activity but no more than 10 people
Other commercial attractions: Groups of 5 allowed indoors at 50% capacity
Helicopter tours at 50% capacity
All essential and designated businesses and operations will still need to comply with Social Distancing Requirements and other conditions as outlined in the Order. The signed version of Emergency Order No. 2020-29 can be found here.
If you have questions about the Order, you can call the City’s COVID-19 information hotline every day except holidays from 8am to 4:30pm at (808)768-2489 or email at covidresponse@honolulu.gov. You can also check out the website, oneoahu.org to get answers to frequently asked questions.
KAKAAKO PRIVATE STREETS: Update on Continuing Dispute
The trial to resolve ownership of disputed streets in Kakaako continues, with the City and State contesting the alleged ownership by the Chun brothers / Kakaako Land Company [KLC] of parts or all of Kawaiahao, Cooke, Queen, Ilaniwai and Cummins Streets and Ward Avenue., in order to profit from charging for street parking combined with towing of vehicles for their enforcement. Area businesses and their clients have suffered under KLC’s charging for street parking and towing vehicles if not paying their fees; and the roads continue to fall into further disrepair. The various associated cases have been consolidated into a single trial which would determine once and for all whether KLC’s alleged ownership of the disputed roads is legitimate (quiet title) among other things. Hearing of the testimony and evidence concluded on September 30; and the parties have until November 13 to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Closing arguments are set for December 3 at 9am and will be available for public viewing on Webex.
TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Kakaako Sewer Work
The City Department of Environmental Services alerted my office that traffic will be affected next week while department crews work on the sewer line system. Two locations within our district will experience a traffic alert on
October 27-29 at 816 Cedar Street (Main Replacement) between 8:30am and 3:30pm.
October 27-29 at 425 Queen Street (Main Rehabilitation) between 8:00pm and 6:00am.
Please use an alternate route to avoid the area if possible. If you are not able to avoid these locations, please proceed with caution for yourself and others in the area.
ADDRESSING UNEMPLOYMENT CHALLENGES: Patience Required
Our office has been working to assist claimants still struggling to get their initial or extended benefit claims approved or are awaiting payments. We try here to explain the complex UI system and programs. The State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) is working on changes we hope will help.
What has been confusing is the different programs. The state funded UI runs for 26 weeks. But due to covid, the federal relief funds provided benefits to PUA claimants as well as extended benefits due to covid—Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). Additionally for UI claimants, if the unemployment rate is high, claimants have an additional 12 weeks of benefits. Eligible PUA claimants may receive a total of 46 weeks of benefits ending on December 26. The DLIR chart below may help in clarifying the different programs:
We share below some information we’ve learned about the challenges and tips about your claim and requiring your patience:
21-Day Payment Lag: PEUC and EB require you to apply again using your same account no. They follow the same 21-day processing time as a new claim. There were approximately 48,000 claimants who exhausted their Regular UI claim and filed for PEUC from September up until yesterday. Due to the heavy workload it may take longer than 21 days as each claim must be manually processed.
Adjudication (Dispute Resolution) If it is determined that the claimant did not have good cause for not accepting work (DNA), the DNA could be sent to adjudication (dispute resolution) where the claim will be reviewed and a final decision made.
UI Adjudicators May Be Calling You — One hundred adjudicators started work a couple days ago resolving various issues such as not accepting work, employees who have returned to work but need to get paid for the period of unemployment, as well as misconduct issues. The UI office has been calling claimants, but the calls might be showing up on phones as “spam”, “scam” or “telemarketer.” Claimants are encouraged to pick up anyway if they are expecting a call from the UI office. The call should show as an “808” number.
Denied PUA? Depending on the reason for the DNA, the claimant may or may not be eligible for PUA. A claimant is eligible for PUA if work was refused due to childcare obligations. Conversely, a claimant is not eligible for PUA if work was refused for just being afraid to return to work with no underlying health issues and no valid doctor’s note which addresses COVID concerns.
Extended Benefits (EB) Program: If you’ve exhausted your Regular UI and PEUC ($0 balance), starting next week, you may be eligible for an additional 13 weeks of benefits under the EB Program. The EB program is triggered when the state has a high unemployment rate and stops when the UI rate falls below 5%. Our state UI rate is 13% so you may be eligible for EB, which must be manually determined by UI staff. EB claimants will receive a notice in the mail. The weekly benefit amount will be the same. To apply for EB, you will see a link on your account, as you did when you applied for PEUC.
Top Issues Delaying Payment: Below are some of the major reasons for delays in processing your claim:
Employer-employee separation.
Employment status change affecting eligibility for one or more of the UI programs.
Claimants who are partially unemployed or still tied to employer. (I would remove this reason)
Claimants who are not accepting offers of work from their employers or just quitting altogether.
Claimants who are afraid to return to work.
Claimants who cannot return to work because of distance learning for children.
Robo-calling: Claimants clog up the call system by robo-calling. The new system will accept the call and, once in the queue, you are in line and cannot be dropped. Two hundred agents are talking to 1,500 to 1,800 claimants a day, 5 days a week. To help yourself and others, please do not use robo-calls.
UI Programs Will End: Benefit payments under PEUC and PUA, which are funded by the federal CARES Act, must be disbursed before the end of the year; they will expire the week of December 26. You will lose any remaining eligibility payment weeks. However, the EB Program will not expire; it will continue until the state unemployment rate goes below 5%.
For more details on the above , view the DLIR Director’s interview here.
WHERE’S MY UI RESTAURANT CARD?
Any UI claimant who filed an initial claim beginning March 1, certified that job loss was due to covid, and received benefits during September 2020 will receive in the mail a preloaded prepaid debit card for $500 to be used at Hawaii eating establishments, restaurants, bakeries and food caterers. See here to find out more: HawaiiRestaurantCard.com. You can check if you are eligible by clicking here: HawaiiRestaurantCard.com. If you have questions about the card, call (808) 825-4904 or email HRC@cochawaii.org. ;
HONORING RUTH BADER GINSBURG
Join the YWCA O’ahu & Community Partners in a Day of Action today– Saturday, October 24, 2020– to celebrate the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. See the day’s events here.
ALA MOANA-KAKAAO NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD
The board meets Tuesday, October 27, 2020, 6:30 p.m. at Kapalama Hale Conference Room, 925 Dillingham Boulevard, Room 153
Video-Teleconference (Zoom): https://tinyurl.com/y2p38z3d
Meeting ID: 844 5216 2063
Passcode: 809502
Join by Phone: +1-669-900-6833 or + 1-253-215-8782
Social Distancing: Physical attendance at the meeting is restricted to 5 people, in accordance with the Mayor’s Emergency Order No. 2020-27. Please use the video-teleconference link, or watch the ʻŌlelo 49 broadcast to the extent possible. Written testimony may be also provided to the board via email using the contact information provided on the Neighborhood Commission website. Use of facial coverings is mandatory for all meeting participants, even while speaking. Please remain 6 feet apart and sit in the designated seats.
New business under consideration:
Consider resolution regarding Ala Wai Flood Mitigation Project Alternatives
Consider resolution regarding Crosswalk Modifications in Kaka‘ako
Consider formation of a Joint Committee with the Waikiki Neighborhood Board to recommend improvements and develop strategies for the Ala Wai Promenade
Discuss McKinley High School Lighting Project
Discuss Ala Moana Boulevard Pedestrian Bridge
Discuss Ala Moana Transit Oriented Development Plan
