Status of 2017 Legislative Tax Measures

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Below is our list of 2017 Legislative Tax Measures.

The first page of the list is the list of bills introduced by the Executive Branch.  These are organized by agency:

  • BED = Dept. of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism
  • BUF = Dept. of Budget and Finance
  • CCA = Dept. of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
  • PSD = Dept. of Public Safety
  • TAX = Dept. of Taxation
  • TRN = Dept. of Transportation

Subsequent pages in the list are organized by tax type, and within tax type by bill number.

Numbers in strikethrough text are measures that appear to be dead, either because they missed a deadline or because they were deferred by a committee hearing the measure.  However, no measure is permanently dead until the legislative session adjourns.

Continue reading Status of 2017 Legislative Tax Measures →

SB 1146, HD-2

Miscellaneous

SUBJECT:  MISCELLANEOUS, Exempt Affordable Housing from School Impact Fees

BILL NUMBER:  SB 1146, HD-2

INTRODUCED BY:  House Committee on Education

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Our Department of Education now may require real estate developers to pay it an “education impact fee” for the anticipated costs of new school facilities.  Although the law as originally designed explicitly requires government housing projects and affordable housing projects to pay this fee as well, this bill proposes to exempt such projects from the fee.  The question left unanswered is:  Who is expected to pay the freight for the projects that are exempted?

Continue reading SB 1146, HD-2 →

SB 1183, HD-1

Miscellaneous

SUBJECT:  MISCELLANEOUS, Extend, and Change 10% Skim Off, County Surcharge

BILL NUMBER:  SB 1183, HD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  House Committee on Transportation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  A contributing factor to the financial woes of the City and County of Honolulu is the fact that the state is siphoning 10% of all rail surcharge collections into the general fund.  This diversion was supposed to represent payment to the state for the costs incurred in administering the surcharge, but the amount diverted turns is a massive amount of money, roughly $25 million a year which is almost as much as the entire operating budget of the department of taxation.  The amount is obviously far in excess of the costs involved.  The Foundation has contended that a diversion of the City and County’s revenue of that magnitude is unconstitutional and its lawsuit is still pending in the court system.

This bill changes the 10% diversion to an unspecified amount, together with an unspecified amount for the State Department of Transportation for state highway projects.  This does not solve the constitutional problems, namely that the State is skimming money off a county-imposed tax to fund state projects where the burden of paying the tax is borne only by the county residents and businesses.

Continue reading SB 1183, HD-1 →

HB 1593, SD-1

Miscellaneous

SUBJECT:  MISCELLANEOUS, Raid GEMS for Rebate Program

BILL NUMBER:  HB 1593, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committees on Transportation and Energy and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Proposes a rebate program for energy storage systems.  Funds the program by raiding the GEMS fund, which may well be in breach of the bond indentures signed when the initial $150 million for the GEMS fund was raised on the bond market.

Deletes the PUC’s regulatory authority over GEMS.

Continue reading HB 1593, SD-1 →

HB 1044, SD-1

Net Income (HRS 235)

SUBJECT:  INCOME, Renewable Fuels Credit Administration

BILL NUMBER:  HB 1044, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committees on Transportation and Energy and Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Provides that DBEDT will no longer certify, administer, and verify claims for this credit.  Instead, DBEDT would receive an independent, third-party certified statement from the credit claimant and would acknowledge receipt of the statement.  DBEDT would keep tabs on the $3 million annual aggregate cap, but complains that it lacks the required resources or expertise.

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HB 547, SD-1

Net Income (HRS 235)

SUBJECT:  NET INCOME, Credit for Exchange Student Host Families

BILL NUMBER:  HB 547, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committees on Education and International Affairs and the Arts

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Adds a new credit for expenses paid by families hosting foreign exchange students.  A direct appropriation would be preferable as it would provide some accountability for the taxpayer funds being utilized to support this effort.

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HB 1244, SD-1

Net Income (HRS 235)

SUBJECT:  INCOME, Modify Tax Credit for Cesspool Conversion

BILL NUMBER:  HB 1244, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Agriculture and Environment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Amends the cesspool upgrade, conversion, or connection income tax credit to: (1) make the tax credit refundable; (2) disallow the tax credit for taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income exceeds certain amounts; (3) expand the criteria for cesspools that qualify for the tax credit; and (4) extend the sunset date to 12/31/2022.  Requires that all cesspools in the State be upgraded or converted to septic or aerobic treatment unit systems or connected to sewer systems.  Establishes a grant program to assist with cesspool upgrade or conversion costs.

Continue reading HB 1244, SD-1 →

HB 552, SD-1

Net Income (HRS 235)

SUBJECT:  INCOME, Extend Obamacare Individual Mandate to Hawaii Law

BILL NUMBER:  HB 552, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Reacting to threatened changes to Obamacare, this bill attempts to enact Obamacare, together with its individual mandate, in Hawaii.  The federal effort to repeal Obamacare has run into a roadblock, perhaps making it premature to adopt legislation like this in Hawaii.

If it is decided that this legislation is needed now, we urge great care.  Adapting a 900-page federal act to state law is not easy, and doing it in a 32-page bill probably means things are going to be missed.

Continue reading HB 552, SD-1 →

HB 943, SD-1

Net Income (HRS 235)

SUBJECT:  INCOME, UNEMPLOYMENT, Kapolei jobs initiative program

BILL NUMBER:  HB 943, SD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Enacts a Kapolei jobs initiative five-year pilot program similar to the current Enterprise Zone program, but with different requirements.  We question why this program is not being made available to other localities in the State.

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SB 704, HD-1

General Excise (HRS 237), Transient Accommodations Tax (HRS 237D)

SUBJECT:  GENERAL EXCISE, TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS, Transient Accommodations Brokers as Tax Collection Agents

BILL NUMBER:  SB 704, HD-1

INTRODUCED BY:  House Committee on Tourism

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Allows a transient accommodations broker to serve as a collection agent for general excise and transient accommodations taxes.  This type of arrangement would probably enhance collection of taxes because of the difficulty of policing individual owners.

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SB 686; SD-2 [Implementing Legislation]; SB 683, HD-1 [Constitutional Amendment]

Real Property (HRS 246), Transient Accommodations Tax (HRS 237D)

SUBJECT:  REAL PROPERTY, TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS, Education Surcharge on Residential Investment Properties and Visitor Accommodations

BILL NUMBER:  SB 686; SD-2 [Implementing Legislation]; SB 683, HD-1 [Constitutional Amendment]

INTRODUCED BY:  Senate Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary and Labor [SB 686], House Committee on Judiciary [SB 683]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  Proposes a substantial surcharge on real property tax for residences where the home exemption is not claimed, and on transient accommodations.  Proposes a constitutional amendment, because the surcharge would not be constitutional now.  With a tax increase of this magnitude, economic ripple effects are likely to be enormous.  We also question why such a massive increase is being sought given that the Department of Education already has a gargantuan share of the State budget but is still beset with such issues as frustrated teachers and students roasting in our classrooms.

Regarding the constitutional amendment language, we do not recommend returning the language to the “mandatory funding” language in HB 182 HD 2.

Also regarding the constitutional amendment language, either limits should be written into the amendment or the voters should be apprised that they are voting only on granting power to the legislature to impose a state level real property tax surcharge, with no limitations on that power.

Continue reading SB 686; SD-2 [Implementing Legislation]; SB 683, HD-1 [Constitutional Amendment] →