A couple of weeks ago, we raised the question of whether lawmakers are looking at businesses and taxpayers as cows to be milked as opposed to constituents to serve. This week, we look at another set of folks who seem … Read More
Read more about the bills discussed: Here’s What We’re Following (House) and Here’s What We’re Following (Senate)
The Hawaii Tax Review Commission, under our state constitution, convenes once every five years or so to examine and report on our state tax system. It recently published its report addressed to the Legislature.
Brian Black of the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest and Tom Yamachika of the Tax Foundation of Hawai’i joined Common Cause on December 9, 2021 to talk about Gut and Replace and how the Hawai’i Supreme Court’s … Read More
The Honolulu City Council wants to raise money for the Honolulu Police Department by adding a surcharge to traffic fines. As KHON2 reports, they say that the money can and should be used to recruit, retain, and equip police officers. … Read More
HART Board Actions May be Challenged. The host for this show is Jay Fidell. The guest is Tom Yamachika. HART was having difficulty in mustering a quorum and gathering the necessary votes to get things passed. The problem came … Read More
Our amicus brief argues that the Auditor’s workpapers should have a qualified privilege against forced discovery similar to the privilege that now applies to tax return information.
If at first you don’t succeed because of the rules, do you redouble your efforts to meet the rules? Or do you change the rules so you can meet them? HART, the Honolulu transportation agency, has just done the latter. … Read More
Over the past 10 or so years that I have been in the seat, I have seen legislature after legislature consider many, many bills to increase taxes. Every year. Without fail. At the Foundation, we keep a list of the … Read More
Some time ago, we devoted some of this space to discuss the State Auditor’s findings regarding the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Special Land and Development Fund (SLDF). That fund is the repository of all land rents the State … Read More