Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
A Raid by Any Other Name…
We have written before about GEMS (Green Energy Market Securitization), a program adopted by our state government in 2013. The state wanted to facilitate the buildout of “clean energy infrastructure,” a necessary step to reaching its clean energy goals. GEMS was...
Tax Casualty? Maui Memorial Hospital
This week our series of tax news returns to Maui, where we have an update on the efforts to help with Maui Memorial Hospital workers and other employees of our state health system. As we have written before, our state-run hospitals in Maui County, including Maui...
Yes, Toto, Tourists Also Pay Real Property Tax
On March 8, the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism released a study on Hawaii real property taxes. It may be unusual for a State agency to do a study on a county tax. But this study appeared to be an outgrowth of a move by our teachers’...
A Constitutional Amendment for Education Wars
A bill in the legislature, championed by the state teachers’ union, would propose a new way of raising additional money for education. It would authorize a substantial surcharge on real property to fund education. The bill would require an amendment to the Hawaii...
Obamacare Heavy
One of the ideas now working its way through our legislative system addresses the fate of Obamacare in Hawaii. Many are concerned that our federal government will be changing the federal Affordable Care Act, sometimes known as Obamacare. They would like...
The Need for Tax Vigilance in 2017
It’s been a month into the legislative session. The sheer number of bills related to tax or public finance is staggering. It’s much more frenetic this year than in any other year I’ve been in this position, and my sentiments are shared with some of the rules attorneys...
What’s Next for Marijuana Tax?
Here in Hawaii, we have an initial group of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries getting ready to open shop, although none have opened to date. This has raised some tax issues before, and some are likely to come up again. On Election Day 2016, voters in several...
Psych!
In almost every year that the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz has run, Lucy offers to hold a football for Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown comes running up to kick it, and then Lucy yanks the football away at the very last second. Psych! Charlie Brown...
Zombie States – Hawaii Is No. 6
Although Halloween is over for this year, various ghosts and ghouls remain to haunt our society. Those include “Zombie States.” Zombie States are states that are financially “dead” but are somehow shambling on, through a combination of hiding significant liabilities...
Tom Yamachika is president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, a practicing tax attorney and a Grassroot Scholar.