“Lucky you live Hawaii,” the saying goes. Long-time readers of this column may chuckle at that because we have been pointing out lots of ways the government here could be improved. But sometimes our sister States get themselves into big … Read More
Our Legislature’s 2023 session is definitely cranked up now. Committees are revving up and sending out gobs of notices of hearing for the bills before them. The Legislature is dealing with over 3,000 bills introduced this year, definitely a lot … Read More
On the eve of the 2023 legislative session, many tax proposals are on the horizon. The Conversation talked to Tom Yamachika, head of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii about some of the ideas. With inflation abounding and talk about a recession this year, … Read More
Many financial and political experts (or people who say they are) are trying to make sense of the defeat of Honolulu’s Charter Question No. 1 in the general election earlier this month. The charter question put before Oahu voters was … Read More
I’m sometimes asked how we can achieve true fiscal reform here in the Aloha State. It’s easy to imagine an end goal, with government spending within its means and with no gargantuan liabilities (the big two are the State’s defined … Read More
Maui, our Garden Island, has been on the move lately. It recently passed a budget, its largest ever, where it proposes to spend more than One Billion Dollars in this fiscal year. This, by the way, is a 26% increase … Read More
On June 21st, Gov. David Ige released a lengthy list of bills he intended to veto. The Hawaii Constitution requires him to issue that list and provides that any bills not on the list will become law, with the Governor’s … Read More
EDITORIAL | ISLAND VOICES Keli‘i Akina is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Tom Yamachika is president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii. Column: Hawaii’s tax future now in Gov. David Ige’s hands