Back to the future: Just when The Sunshine Blog and many others were looking forward to a looming shakeup in state Senate leadership with high hopes for actual change in business as usual, well, apparently that’s not going to happen.

Ron Kouchi, who has been in his Kauaʻi Senate seat for 15 years, the last 10 as Senate president, had signaled his retirement last year when he tacitly endorsed soon-to-be term limited Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami for the District 8 seat.

But now Kouchi says he will run for reelection next year after all. And Kawakami says he won’t get in the way.

Kouchi told Civil Beat’s Brittany Lyte last week he’s decided to stick around and finish some unfinished projects such as increasing the share of locally grown food on school lunch plates and boosting affordable housing funds. He says he is being encouraged to stay by family, friends and supporters. 

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Kawakami has been fundraising for the Senate seat for months, with Kouchi’s endorsement. But Kawakami said he will not oppose Kouchi, whom he considers a mentor, in an election.

“We’re too tight,” Kawakami, whose eight-year reign as Kauaʻi mayor ends next year due to term limits, told Lyte.

Kawakami, 47, has made no secret of his aspirations to jump into bigger contests, musing publicly over the years about a future run for lieutenant governor or governor.

But in an interview Wednesday he said he has not yet decided which office he will seek, likening his approach to a senior in college unsure of post-graduation plans. 

“I’m still going to be prepared to run for office, but in all honesty, with me having a limited amount of time as mayor, I’m totally living in the moment right now,” he said. “I’m not wasting too much time looking too far out into the future.”

Putting the “E” in DBEDT: There is a new source to go to when seeking economic data on Hawaiʻi: Seth Colby is the new chief state economist.

Colby, according to a press release last week, recently served as the tax research and planning officer for the Department of Taxation, where he oversaw research for the state revenue system, fiscal impacts of proposed legislation and macroeconomic forecasting. He holds a Ph.D. in political economy from Johns Hopkins University.

Colby replaces Eugene Tian, who retired at the end of May after 15 years at the Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

DBEDT is Hawai‘i’s resource center for economic and statistical data, business development opportunities, energy and conservation information, “as well as foreign trade advantages,” according to the agency, which is led by Jimmy Tokioka.

DC 808: It makes so much sense that The Blog figures there’s no chance of Congress passing it.

One of the simplest ways to shore up Social Security would be to eliminate the cap on contributions. Currently people pay the Social Security tax only on wages of $176,100 or below. Meaning most of us are taxed on all our earnings, while the wealthier among us are not.

On Social Security’s 90th anniversary Thursday, Hawaiʻi Sen. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Jill Tokuda joined a handful of colleagues in reintroducing a bill to phase out the contribution cap over seven years.

They said it would allow Social Security to continuing paying benefits in full for an additional 11 years, from 2034 to 2045.

High wage-earners might have a bit of a gripe about this solution since the maximum monthly Social Security benefit at full retirement age is currently $4,018, no matter how much they paid into it. To which The Blog responds: thank you for your service.

There is no such cap, by the way, on Medicare taxes.

A rose by any other name: In case you missed it, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has changed its name. It’s now, simply, Hawaiian Council.

The rebrand “reflects the organization’s continued growth, clarity of mission, and unwavering commitment to uplifting Hawaiians and strengthening Hawai‘i,” according to a press release last week in which CEO Kūhiō Lewis notes that “It immediately tells people who we are
and who we serve.”

Launched in 2000, the council has become a political powerhouse in Hawaiʻi, playing a key role in elections in recent years, in state tourism policy and as a critical lifeline for people in need after the Maui wildfires, among other things.

For a good cause: The nonpartisan, grassroots Common Cause Hawaii is holding a “People’s Promise” town hall Tuesday a 6 p.m. at Capitol Modern (aka The Hawaiʻi State Art Museum).

The two-hour discussion, which is free and open to the public, is slated to include state Sen. Brenton Awa on the right and state Rep. Della Au Belatti on the left. Your host: the always feisty Common Cause director Camron Hurt. Topics will include immigration and government accountability, always a source of much entertaining debate. The Blog does not plan to miss it!

Email mmajikas@commoncause.org for more information.