by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Sep 8, 2017 | Blog, President's Column, Taxes
On Thursday, I had the honor of speaking at the Tax Foundation of Hawaii’s annual luncheon, along with Tom Yamachika, president of the foundation, and Gavin Thornton, co-executive director of the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice. During the panel...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Aug 25, 2017 | Blog, President's Column, Rail
Hawaii lawmakers are finally embracing the call for a “deep dive” audit of the Honolulu rail project, but how they follow through on that embrace could make it all for naught. There are many ways to subvert a serious audit, which is why it is important to insist that...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Aug 12, 2017 | Blog, President's Column, Rail
When the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii first kicked off our “Audit the Rail” campaign, we had a feeling the idea would catch on. Over the summer, we’ve seen respected voices across the state join the chorus. At the outset, we did some digging and uncovered the...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Jul 29, 2017 | Blog, President's Column, Rail
What does it say about the state of governance in Hawaii that endorsing basic standards of fiscal responsibility is a revolutionary act? Ever since the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii launched its campaign to “audit the rail,” we’ve heard lots of excuses and...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog, Budget, President's Column, Unions
Hawaii may be giving millennials the short end of the stick when it comes to the state’s unfunded public pension liabilities. That’s because the Aloha State owes more than $12 billion to the public pension system, and its own projections show that debt increasing to...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Jul 14, 2017 | Blog, President's Column, Rail
It’s not hard to understand why public opinion about Honolulu’s rail project has been souring. The official talk may be all about promised construction and unfortunate funding gaps, but we’ve all seen this situation before on a smaller scale: It looks like...
