December 2008
Amicus Brief
for Supreme Court case Hawaii vs. OHA
This case deals with the gravest threat to the State of Hawaii in its history. GRIH believes the January 31, 2008 decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court, the 1993 Apology Resolution on which it is based, and the Akaka Bill which it would enable, have brought the State of Hawaii to the brink of self-destruction. On March 7, 2008 GRIH advised the Honorable Linda Lingle of its concerns and asked her as Governor to take appropriate action on behalf of all the people of Hawaii. GRIH's concerns were that the State Attorney General had not contested the misstatements of history in the Apology Resolution; and did not raise the constitutional and trust law defenses to the Office of Hawaiian Affair's ("OHA's"). (www.aloha4all.org/news.aspx.) (more)
December 2008
Government Operated Education: An Oxymoron
Hawaii’s popular view of its system of government education (k-12) has experienced a major shift in the past 20 years. Twenty years ago, the prevailing attitude was that there were some flaws in the DOE organization but none that could not be fixed by injecting more money into it. Today, it is conventional wisdom that the system is broken. It is failing great numbers of our children. And what is being done about it? Not much. But at least the "more money mantra" is dying a slow death. The Governor wants to accomplish some significant change. The legislature disagrees. They want to tinker with the system. Yes. Tinker. Leave it intact with an adjustment here and a tweak there. In effect they are making a generation or more of children tinkertoys. And it gets worse. Talented, dedicated teachers and administrators whose calling is the development of children are being drowned in a mindless, unaccountable, unresponsive bureaucratic system that feeds on itself from within and from the public through the legislature. (more)
November 2008
Sunshine on the Akaka Bill
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has three major goals with regard to the so-called Akaka Bill: to educate the Hawaii public with regard to the Akaka bill, to educate the US public and their elected representatives and to demand a vote of all the people of Hawaii before any establishment of a separate government in Hawaii could be put into effect. (more)
November 2008
Truly Progressive Education Reform
Does Sweden Have an Answer?
Curiously, the idea of using government money to help send children to private schools is considered a very right-wing, conservative notion. Granted, in the U.S. it is mostly Republicans who support the concept, with Democrats against. Thus we have the odd situation of liberals opposing a government hand-out that has the potential to mostly benefit the poor and minorities. Not very progressive of them. (more)
November 2008
Finding Solutions to Oahu’s Traffic Gridlock
Hawaii, and in particular the island of Oahu where the majority of residents live, has been a battleground for mass transit advocates and opponents over the last 30 years. The fight over the best alternatives to traffic congestion has intensified as the state’s population has swollen to 1.2 million, with more than 800,000 people residing on Oahu, the majority of whom prefer to commute by automobile, the more personalized, convenient and flexible transit option. With more commuters driving to and from work, dropping their children at school and other activities, traffic has naturally become more congested, particularly on Oahu’s freeways during the morning and afternoon drives times. (more)
November 2008
Getting Less for More
Feeding the Government Education System in Hawaii
Governor Linda Lingle’s request for all departments to provide a budgetary reduction plan is causing heated debate among stakeholders in Hawaii’s public education system. As the Board of Education struggles to make $46 million in cuts on a $2.4 billion budget, it is an ideal time to review the money that has been spent and the results of this investment. The Department of Education Operating Budget has grown from $972 million in FY 99‐00 to $2.4 billion in FY 08‐09.1 The current proposed reduction of $46 million represents a mere 1.9% cut of the entire budget. (more)
October 2008
Where Have All the Jitneys Gone?
With so much attention on plans for a city railroad, it's worth taking stock of the government strangulation of transportation over the past 70 years. Few people today know what jitneys are, but there used to be lots of jitneys and the people of Honolulu loved them. That is, until 1940 when the government put them all out of business. In a free market, jitneys travel major traffic routes and pick up and drop off customers all along the way. They don’t have fixed routes or schedules, so they can gather up customers during the rush hour and can take them door-to-door if they choose. The service fits neatly between that of buses and taxis. (more)
October 2008
The Real Cost of the Rail GET Increase
In April 2005 when state lawmakers debated giving the City and County of Honolulu the option to add a 0.5% surcharge to the state's four percent general excise tax (GET) for 15 years in order to pay for its transit project, Hawaii was a much different place. The 0.5% surcharge, a 12.5% increase to the GET rate, was approved without any tax relief to lower income residents and without an actual price tag for the transit project. (more)
October 2008
A Health Care Reform Agenda for Hawaii
This report was prepared by a working group convened by the State Policy Network in October 2002. SPN is an association that provides assistance to independent research organizations devoted to discovering and developing market-oriented solutions to state and local public policy issues. (more)
October 2008
What Can Bring Increased Accountability to Hawaii Government?
The ConCon Can
The 1978 Constitutional Convention illustrated the impact 102 Hawaii citizens could have in shaping the state. Most of the delegates to the convention were everyday people of different backgrounds and political affiliations, coming together not in pursuit of selfish interests but with a common commitment to exercise their right to be heard. It was the start of political careers for some, such as future governor John Waihee and future Honolulu mayor Jeremy Harris, and a high note in the long volunteer service career of then civil servant Bill Paty and public interest attorney William Burgess. Thirty years later, we are presented with the same opportunity in a time of new predicaments and concerns. (more)
October 2008
Debunking Myths of Honolulu Rail Transit
The City and County of Honolulu has pursued adding rail transit to the mix of commute options, which currently includes bus, vanpool and ferry in addition to private cars and private bus service. Because of the multi-billion dollar price tag and the 14-year temporary increase to the state's General Excise Tax (GET) to pay for construction costs, the issue has been widely debated. Some ideas have been circulated as (unsubstantiated) facts. These include that: 1) public transportation ridership will increase once the rail system is built, 2) rail consumes less energy than other options, particularly cars, 3) the carbon footprint of the rail system is substantially smaller than that of other transportation options. (more)
September 2008
What Comes After Akaka Bill Passage?
A Preview from Senator Inouye
Over the past several years there has been a fair amount of theorizing about what will follow if The Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007, otherwise known as the Akaka Bill (S. 310 / H.R. 505), passes Congress and is signed into law. The bill has now passed in the U.S. House and is only a few votes short of the 60 votes needed to break a U.S. Senate filibuster. (more)
September 2008
The Boat to Nowhere
TheBoat (Honolulu’s city-run subsidized $2 ferry service) is an expensive and time consuming commute option plagued by high fixed costs and low ridership. Yet, the City & County of Honolulu continues to run the moneylosing service despite the fact that its own existing bus service and commuting using personal vehicles are both less expensive and faster options. (more)
August 2008
2008 Legislative Scorecard
To some, the theme of the 2008 legislative session appeared to be “ban and buy”. Legislators attempted to ban any number of items, and in some cases—such as styrofoam containers and non-solar water heaters—they succeeded. The Governor and legislature also placed a number of luxuriously expensive items on their shopping list, including Turtle Bay, Haiku Valley, and government preschool for all. Of course, the taxpayers—not our elected officials--will get the bill. (more)
August 2008
Good News
Native Hawaiians Prosper
This paper examines the effects of demographics and earning power of those identifying themselves as Native Hawaiian. It finds that Native Hawaiians are as prosperous as everyone else, despite claims to the contrary from some in our community. A "Native" as used herein is someone who has self-identified as being "Native Hawaiian," either alone or in combination with another race or races, in response to the Census survey. A "non-Native" is someone who has not so self-identified. (more)
July 2008
Mayor Hannemann's Hit Piece Disrespects Voice of Thousands of Hawaii’s Citizens
By now, most Honolulu residents are aware that Mayor Mufi Hannemann purchased more than $20,000 worth of newspaper advertisements under the heading, “Getting Real on Rail.” The ads contained accusations and mischaracterizations of me, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and a number of those who question the financial and environmental viability of the mayor’s rail plan. (more)
July 2008
A Divided Aloha State
The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 (The Akaka Bill)
The Akaka Bill (S. 310 / H.R. 505) sponsors the creation of a race-based Native Hawaiian Governing Entity (NHGE) for persons with possibly as little as one drop of Native Hawaiian blood. Because the bill provides few specifics, the NHGE would have broad unlimited power. The NHGE would be permitted to negotiate with the federal government to settle claims based in part on the federal 'Apology Resolution' which relates to the 1893 revolution in the Hawaiian Kingdom that ultimately led to statehood in 1959. The bill's supporters have conceded that ultimately, secession and independence are possibilities. (more)
June 2008
Making Public Schools Work
Applying a business organization model that allow schools and parent...gasp! control over funding as Hawaii moves towards decentralization
Nationwide, a failed public school system has provided the impetus for theoretical proposals and valiant efforts to establish charter schools and vouchers as the chosen methods of reform. These attempts can be likened to salmon swimming upstream, where the stream is the force of unions and status quo administrators protecting their turf, and the salmon, surprisingly, are not the parents of children in failing schools, but economists, businessmen, attorneys, think tanks, and the federal government. (more)
June 2008
Making Public Schools Work
Nationwide, a failed public school system has provided the impetus for theoretical proposals and valiant efforts to establish charter schools and vouchers as the chosen methods of reform. These attempts can be likened to salmon swimming upstream, where the stream is the force of unions and status quo administrators protecting their turf, and the salmon, surprisingly, are not the parents of children in failing schools, but economists, businessmen, attorneys, think tanks, and the federal government. In the current system, principals and teachers are the lemmings, given orders to perform but none of the resources by their superiors and their union bosses. Edmonton Superintendent Angus McBeath explains it this way: "Always remember that Education is, first and foremost, an employment scheme." (more)
April 2008
A Climate of Common Sense
During the Heartland Institute’s recent International Climate Change Conference in New York City (co-sponsored by GRIH), Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus declared that the true plans and ambitions of climate change alarmists are “to stop economic development, and return mankind centuries back.” (more)
April 2008
Bumper to Bumper on the H-1
Comparing Leeward Oahu Traffic Alternatives
Faced with the problem of increasing congestion on Oahu motorways, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and others have come out strongly in favor of a rail transit system. While rail is sometimes offered as the best solution for the island's traffic woes, a recent study by Professor Panos D. Prevedouros and the University of Hawaii Congestion Study Group (UHCS) Transportation Alternatives Analysis for Mitigating Traffic Congestion between Leeward Oahu and Honolulu shows that this is not the case. (more)
March 2008
A Race to Racism? Ascribe it to Tribe
Hawai‘i is justly admired as an integrated, racially blended, multi-cultural society. Some would call it a model for the rest of the country, and perhaps for the world. The qualities of respect for others and open-hearted kindness, without regard to race or origin or station in life, are common traits among all of Hawai‘i’s people and are part of that many-dimensioned concept, “aloha.” But some people in Hawai‘i find no comfort in integration and equality. For several years, a counter-current promoting special privileges for persons of Hawaiian ancestry (one-fifth or more of the state’s population) has achieved considerable success. Recently it has expanded into a movement for “Hawaiian sovereignty,” a confused concept which can mean anything from the defense of current race-based Hawaiian entitlement programs to outright secession of all or part of the State of Hawai‘i as an independent Hawaiian nation. (more)
February 2008
In Pursuit of an Equitable Honolulu Airport Taxi Dispatch System
Honolulu’s airport taxi system, the largest single source of revenue for cab companies in the state, has been void of competition for more than 30 years because the contract to operate the airport cab service has gone almost exclusively to one company – SIDA of Hawaii. Other cab drivers and cab company owners seeking work at the Honolulu International Airport say the system has not been operated fairly, legally or ethically by SIDA, which has hurt their businesses and hurt customers seeking immediate and affordable transportation. Now Hawaii’s new Republican Governor, Linda Lingle, is faced with the opportunity to change that system – or leave it as is. What her administration decides will affect more than 2,000 cab drivers, several private cab and transportation companies and thousands of visitors and residents who take cabs each day from the Honolulu International Airport. (more)
February 2008
Great Rail Disasters
The Impact of Rail Transit on Urban Livability
The stampede to plan and build rail transit lines in American cities has led and is leading to a series of financial and mobility disasters. They are financial disasters because rail projects spend billions of taxpayers’ dollars and produce little in return. They are mobility disasters because rail transit almost always increases regional congestion and usually reduces transit’s share of commuting and general travel. (more)
Blogs
The Mystery of Hawaiian History
Correcting historical revisionism and misconceptions promoted by the Akaka Bill.
Hawaii Spendometer
How Fast Does The State Government Spend Your Money?
$9,122,166,121.47
