On September 15, Governor Ige released his final list of bills he is vetoing from the 2020 legislative session. The list included House Bill 2124, which some people have called the “Revolving Door Bill.” Currently, the State Ethics Code, in … Read More
On Tuesday, September 8, the Tax Foundation was pleased to welcome former Govs. Neil Abercrombie and John Waihee III to the first ever virtual annual meeting of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii. During the Zoom meeting, we had a free-flowing … Read More
In 2016, lawmakers came up with a law requiring the State Auditor to review exemptions, exclusions, and credits in the general excise, public service company, and insurance premium taxes. Under the terms of the law, HRS section 23-71, the existing … Read More
Last week we discussed contact tracers, the people at the Department of Health who are supposed to follow up with COVID-19 positive patients and trace their contacts in order to either find their sources of infection or at least let … Read More
The story you are about to read is true. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent. This is the city: Honolulu, Hawaii. I live here. I’m a doggie. This is the Case of the Missing Contact Tracer … Read More
Two weeks ago in this space, we wrote about a generous genie known as Uncle Sam who is making available $1.25 billion under section 5001 of the CARES Act. The catch is that the money can be used only to … Read More
Now that the economy is down and tax revenues are in the tank, we are now seeing cases of our Department of Taxation using some particularly nasty provisions in the tax code. In 2010, lawmakers enacted Act 155, which the … Read More
Imagine what would happen if a genie came up to you and said, “Here’s a pot of money for you. All you need to do is spend it by the end of the year. If you don’t, whatever you haven’t … Read More
Two weeks ago, in this space, we discussed the unemployment tax and insurance system and how employers are likely to be hit with a significant and automatic rate increase at the end of this year. For many nonprofit employers, the … Read More
Our Legislature has reconvened and has adjourned for the year. If you blinked and missed it, you probably are not alone. This year, there was a huge focus on passing only essential items. As a result, only 86 bills passed … Read More