Development agency to take over Aloha Stadium redevelopment
HONOLULU — The Hawaii Community Development Authority will take over redevelopment of Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
The authority’s board members endorsed a draft memorandum of understanding to act as the stadium project’s “delivery agency.”
The project spent several years in a conceptual and planning phase, which officials said was driven by the state Department of Accounting and General Services and the Aloha Stadium Authority.
Democratic Gov. David Ige signed a bill in July to transfer the project to the development authority from the other two state entities.
The authority is expected to use its redevelopment power to build a new stadium in place of the existing 50,000-seat stadium in Halawa, which opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Hawaii football team.
The new stadium project began around 2014 with assessment studies and earlier this year received a $350 million funding commitment from the state Legislature. Maintaining the old stadium would have cost about $420 million, officials said.
State officials hope to have a new stadium with about 35,000 seats open by fall 2023.
Low-income earners could lose aid under rule changes
HONOLULU — Low-income earners throughout the state could lose government assistance under proposed rule changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Changes would prevent Hawaii from waiving federal income and asset requirements to qualify for SNAP, also known as food stamps.
The potential loss is connected to Hawaii’s high cost of living, said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst with advocacy group Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice.
Hawaii residents qualify for the program if their income reaches up to 200% of the poverty level if they demonstrate high living costs.
There are currently no asset limits in Hawaii. But a proposed rule change could disqualify seniors or applicants with disabilities with assets above the federal limit of $2,250 or $3,500, officials said.
About 4,600 children could lose free school lunch if their families no longer qualify for SNAP, Hawaii Appleseed estimated.
Another SNAP rule change that removed work requirement waivers for able-bodied adults without a disability was already finalized and goes into effect April 1.