Governor Josh Green recently gave his State of the State address. His office and his agencies dropped a bill package into the legislative hopper. It really feels like we’re in the legislative session now! Bills introduced as part of the Governor’s Package … Read More
The Hawaii State Tax Watch Doggie told me that he can convince me that tax cuts for everyone, such as some of the bold cuts that Governor Green is proposing, are not advisable for us today. (Actually, he can’t really … 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
The elections have been held. We know who the new Representatives and Senators are. The Hawaii legislative session doesn’t open until Wednesday, January 18th, but you’d better believe that legislators have been busy already. Unlike in Washington, D.C., our House … Read More
Now that the New Year is off and running and we are quaking in our boots waiting for our Legislature to reconvene, here are some of the ideas that we have been following. We’ve put them into a Word Find … Read More
This week, we are focusing on the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). They have been trying to award a tourism marketing contract worth tens of millions of dollars, as they have for the past several years. In the past, that contract … Read More
As we have written about before, last year’s Legislature approved $600 million to our Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) to reduce the monstrous waiting list of Hawaiians waiting for homestead lands. The catch, however, is that DHHL needs to … Read More
Ridicule, Violent Opposition, Acceptance. The hosts for this show are Jay Fidell and Tom Yamachika. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote that all truth goes through three stages: 1st it is ridiculed; 2nd it is violently opposed; 3rd it is … Read More
Cracking Down on Vacation Homes. The hosts for this show are Jay Fidell and Tom Yamachika. One of the ideas that has been kicking around in the state and county legislatures for a couple of years now is the idea … 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