In the news

About 25 of Kauai’s industry leaders will be showcased at the second annual Hawaii on the Hill event in Washington, D.C., this week. The event, spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), is one of many hosted by different states to promote their key industries to policy makers. Kauai businesses such as...

Three Hawaii nonprofits will benefit from a $3.6 million AmeriCorps grant this year, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced Wednesday. Approximately $2 million will be distributed to local nonprofits and $1.5 million will be distributed in the form of educational scholarships for AmeriCorps members, they...

It’s a tradition on Capitol Hill for states to host events to showcase state pride. Hawaii’s event is called “Hawaii on the Hill. It’s June 9-10 this year, and an opportunity to showcase our state’s key industries and spirit of Aloha, connecting leaders from Hawaii and Washington, D.C. It started last year, spearheaded...

As a company that was ready to grow, officials from Maui Brewing Co. say they were working to make it happen two years ago. They had acquired the five acres needed to construct their planned 42,000-square-foot production facility in the Maui Research and Technology Park and secured a business loan from Bank of Hawaii to...

Lihue resident Debra Altman could not access her bank account last February – she was dead, according to her bank and the Social Security office. The retired nurse was locked out of her checking account that housed her Social Security disability payments and tens of thousands of dollars. That same month, she received a letter from her health...

It happens more than you think. The inspector general for the Social Security Office has estimated up to 1,000 people are month mistakenly turn up on Social Security's Death Master File. And that changes your life in ways you could never imagine. One woman on Kauai lived it and now she's sharing her ordeal. Debra Altman enjoys simple things like...

The four members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation Tuesday introduced legislation to reinstate Medicaid eligibility for Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants. “Without federal dollars, Hawaii has borne the cost of care for COFA migrants which has strained the state’s resources,” according to a joint press...

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono is channeling “Late Show” host David Letterman to denounce the Republican budget proposal. In anticipation of the Senate vote this week, Hirono borrowed a format made famous by the CBS late-night host and released her own Top 10 list of reasons why she thinks the GOP budget “hurts the middle class and is bad...

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and Hawaii Gov. David Ige will dine with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House tonight along with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. It’s part of a series of events scheduled in honor of Abe’s visit to the U.S. The prime minister will also address a joint...

In an era where the government collects more information than ever before, the importance of maintaining public access to that information becomes a bigger concern with each passing year. That point isn’t lost on U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono. Serving as a member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee — in her freshman term, it should be...

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) is rolling out a package of proposals Wednesday, pushing for Congress to expand and bolster Pell Grants. Hirono's proposal, comprised of four pieces of legislation, would let students use Pell Grants for three semesters, compared to the current two, and increase the Pell Grant maximum for the 2014-2015 school year from...

Cybersecurity legislation advancing in Congress could create the first brand-new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act in nearly half a century—a prospect that alarms transparency advocates and some lawmakers. A bill approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee last month would add a new tenth exemption to FOIA, covering all...

U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono got a firsthand look Wednesday at two major problems facing Hawaii Island’s forests as they stood on a dirt road near Pu‘u Kali‘u in Puna. On one side of the road, several fast-growing and invasive albizia trees towered over the native vegetation, while on...

Following the success of last year’s Hawaii on the Hill, plans are underway for another campaign June 9-10 in Washington, D.C. Sen. Mazie Hirono, who spearheaded last year’s event attended by more than 1,000 people, spent part of her Kauai itinerary Thursday visiting with local businesses that participated and made the gathering a hit....

Mazie Hirono, the U.S. senator from Hawaii, is demanding that Senate Republicans abandon “a partisan script” and confirm Loretta Lynch as attorney general. Hirono, who spoke to reporters at the Capitol along with three colleagues, pointed out that Lynch’s confirmation has been stalled longer than the...

Democratic senators renewed their efforts Friday to ease the path for Filipinos who fought for the United States in World War II and are now U.S. citizens to obtain immigration visas for their adult children. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation that would exempt up to 20,000 individuals from...

Sen. Mazie K. Hirono and Congressman Mark Takai traveled to Alabama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. On Saturday, Senator Hirono and Congressman Takai joined civil rights leaders, President Obama, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.Senator Hirono and Congressman Takai plan...

The first Japanese immigrant to serve in the U.S. Senate shared her views on immigration reform on MSNBC’s “The Rundown” with José Díaz-Balart on Wednesday. Mazie Hirono’s appearance came in advance of a “Rundown” interview with President Barack Obama and as the GOP in Congress has hung up...

Washington, D.C. –  Today Senator Mazie K. Hirono praised President Obama’s designation of the Honouliuli Internment Site as a national monument, which has long been a priority for the Hawaii delegation—from Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka to the current delegation. As a national monument, the Honouliuli Internment...

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday Senator Mazie K. Hirono took to the Senate floor to continue to urge the House and Senate to come together to pass a clean appropriations bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Honolulu Civil Beat highlighted how Senator Hirono pressed that if DHS shuts down, the department’s 2,000...