“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
In a recent interview with Hawaii News Now, Governor-elect Josh Green outlined the top priorities he has for his first 100 days in office, presumably including the start of this year’s legislative session. He said that he would focus on … Read More
One of the ideas that has been kicking around in the state and county legislatures for a couple of years now is the idea of an “empty homes tax.” The idea seems to be gaining steam now since our federal … Read More
Here in Hawaii, we have weathered a major pandemic. The primary driver of our economy is, and has been for a long time, tourism. Tourism was in the toilet during the pandemic, with our Governor going so far as to … Read More
Our state has a love-hate relationship with public-private partnerships (P3). P3s are where public (government) interests and funds partner with private companies to cooperate and share risks and benefits. The most recent and visible example is our iconic Aloha Stadium. … Read More
We at the Foundation have been warning lawmakers for several years now that our state has been losing people. News media and some local nonprofits have been trying to find out why. The people leaving have said that they are … Read More
As many of you already know, the Hawaii Department of Transportation has been studying implementation of a Road Usage Charge (RUC). Such a charge would be assessed to a driver based on how many miles they’ve driven on our highways … Read More
It’s been no secret that housing costs are astronomical here in Hawaii (even if you aren’t the TMT observatory). It’s been a tougher problem to determine why this is so, and then try to find solutions. Lawmakers have often latched … Read More
Debunking the Remote Buyer Myth. The hosts for this show are Jay Fidell and Tom Yamachika. The guests are Malia Hill and Jensen Ahokovi. Hawaii is renowned for high housing prices. Lawmakers have blamed them on wealthy out-of-state buyers with … Read More
It’s been obvious for some time that there is a physician crisis here in Hawaii. Simply put, we don’t have enough doctors here. The ones we do have are moving away, and most of the medical school graduates are opting … Read More