Uncle Sam leads the crowd at the 2009 Hawaii Tax Day Party in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Hawaii’s taxpayers have had enough, and on April 15th their voices were heard loud and clear. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii co-sponsored the first-ever Honolulu Tax Day Tea Party at the Hawaii state capitol. In the largest tax protest in Hawaii history, up to 2000 attendees expressed their frustration with wasteful government spending at the local, state, and national levels. Children, retirees, blue-collar workers, and small business owners all showed up to protest the stranglehold government has on families and businesses.

Grassroot Institute President Jamie Story had the opportunity to address Tea Party attendees, explaining that Hawaii’s is the only state legislature in the country that does not use fiscal notes to identify the cost of each bill before voting on it. “Hawaii’s legislators are saying they don’t care how much of your money they spend, or how they spend it!" she said. "The more Hawaii's taxpayers find out about what's going on in their government, the angrier they get and the more they want to get involved. That's why Grassroot Institute projects like the Hawaii Pork Report, HawaiiVotes.org, and events like this are so vital," said Story. "Government officials should know that we are watching and educating the community about what they're doing with our money." The Institute has worked to educate taxpayers since 2001, and recently produced the Hawaii Pork Report and created HawaiiVotes.org to help citizens keep tabs on their state legislature.

The three hour event saw thousands of citizens from every walk of life express
their frustration at a government that refuses to live within its means. Additiona
co-sponsors included The Hawaii Republican Assembly and Admor HVAC. Supporters included Joe the Builder Inc., Mac Mouse Club, Studio Ryan Advertising, Screentech Hawaii, Smart Business Hawaii and HawaiiReporter.com.

The Hawaii Tax Day Tea Party, which will be an annual event, was also held on Maui, the Big Island and Kauai, and is part of a national movement which had events in over 600 cities across America on Tax Day 2009.

-GIR-