An hour with Congresswoman Mazie Hirono

Mazie and the Big Dog meet at the ILWU Hall in Hilo for an update of issues facing retirees in Congress

Congresswoman Mazie Hirono came to the ILWU Hall on Thursday, May 3, to address a group of HSTA-R Big Island members as she spoke about issues that are important to our retirees.

Part of what Congresswoman Hirano spoke about are things that Congress is now addressing.

Congress is looking at raising the Medicare age from the current 65 to 67.   There are other things being discussed related to Medicare which includes those eligible to buy their own insurance.

She also spoke about Hawaii’s energy dependence of fossil fuels.

“Hawaii is the most energy and food dependent state in the Nation,” she said.  “We need to get off our reliance on fossil fuels.”

She spoke about wind farms on Oahu and Geothermal energy here on the Big Island.

Other topics covered had to do with her support of the so called ‘Obama Care.’  

She also wants to eliminate the cap on Social Security.  Right now those that earn more than $110,000 per year stops paying into SS with any monies earned beyond that amount in one year.  

Our Congresswoman suggest that there should be no cap and wage earners who earn more than the $110,000 per year should continue paying into the system, which would help save Social Security and extend its life.

Other topics were discussed and the Congresswoman took questions from those in attendance.

If you missed the event you missed a great opportunity to voice your concerns/ideas with our Congresswoman.

Much thanks to our district council that spent countless hours putting this gathering together for us.   I’ve said it many times before and I will say it again – we have the best District Council on the planet!   Mahalo, HSTA-R District President, Wayne Joseph