The Senate Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Jill Tokuda, heard and then killed no less than five bills of broad applicability:
- SB 2478, which would have established a state defined benefit fund to pay long-term care expenses of residents and would have been paid for by a 0.5% surcharge on Hawaii’s broad-based General Excise Tax.
- SB 2599, the bill sponsored by the Hawaii State Teachers Association which would have made various improvements to the K-12 educational system in our state but which would have raised the base GET retail rate from 4% to 5%.
- SB 3095, which would have exempted from the GET the sale of services to the federal government; now, only sales of tangible personal property are exempt.
- SB 2089, which would have exempted from the GET rental payments from the Section 8 and Housing First rental assistance programs.
- SB 2299, which would have established a state Earned Income Tax Credit at 10% of the federal amount.
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