Blog
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii blog offers news and commentary on a wide variety of topics related to economic freedom and individual liberty. Come back frequently to see the latest from our staff, contributors and Grassroot scholars.
New report tells how to revive contracting as policy option
Hawaii lawmakers need greater flexibility in determining how to deliver public services. HONOLULU, Mar. 13, 2019 >> A small tweak to an old law might be all that is needed to help the state partner with the private sector, according to a new report by the...
Take longer view on Hawaii infrastructure
When friends visit the islands, I love to show them Hawaii’s beautiful mountains, beaches and sunsets, but I try to direct their eyes away from the state’s crumbling government infrastructure. The state’s disintegrating roads, brittle bridges and run-down...
GET tax hike a lose-lose proposition
The Hawaii Legislature seems to have learned the wrong lesson from last year’s constitutional amendment debate. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii was among those who objected to the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would have allowed the Legislature...
State’s use of contractors just a hint of what could be
At least 11 of Hawaii’s state agencies have each saved thousands of dollars a year by privatizing some of their janitor positions, giving a rare glimpse of the savings that could be possible if more state and county agencies followed this approach. The private...
Building more suburbs could help millennials stay in Hawaii
Hawaii policymakers might not have noticed, but millennials across the country are moving to the suburbs, where housing is less expensive. Not surprisingly, those suburbs generally are not in Hawaii, so if we want to make it possible for our own younger generation to...
Akina talks rent control on ‘Lars Larson Show’
Oregon last month became the first state to adopt statewide mandatory rent control, which bars landlords from raising their rents more than 7 percent a year, plus inflation. On Monday, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli‘i Akina spoke on the popular national...
GET increase will add to Hawaii’s high cost of living
The Hawaii Legislature is considering a bill to add 0.5 percent to the 4 percent state general excise tax in order to fund public education, but Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, says this seemingly small increase would be...
Help people save by cutting their taxes
The Hawaii Legislature appears to be dropping hints about the way people save their money — or don’t save it, as the case may be. While much of the news coming from this year’s legislative session has revolved around a possible minimum-wage hike and increase in the...
Indirect taxes make perfect sense — to politicians
We’ve heard a lot lately about the need to raise more revenue for the state and county. There have been several proposals discussed: higher GET, higher gas tax, more tourist taxes, etc. Perhaps the discussion should start with some basic questions like: How...
‘Everyone’ cannot afford another GET surcharge
The road to hell is paved with good intentions … and tax increases. In November, a proposed constitutional amendment failed in the courts, eliminating property taxes as a source of funding for the state Department of Education. Now, the Hawaii Legislature is...
New report urges ‘building out’ to ease housing crisis
Grassroot Scholar Randal O'Toole faults artificial land scarcity for high Hawaii home prices HONOLULU, Feb. 19, 2019 >> Hawaii has the least affordable housing of any state in the nation, and that is almost wholly because of government land-use regulations that...
Other states show we can hold rail accountable
Across the country, people are getting fed up with large, expensive public works projects that siphon away taxpayer funds. In January, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo canceled a plan years in the making that would have shut down New York City’s L Train for tunnel repairs....
U.S.-build rule deters ocean cargo service to Hawaii
Have you ever wondered why there are only a few ocean common carriers carrying goods between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland? Mainly it has to do with the federal U.S. shipping law known as the Jones Act, otherwise known as Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920....
‘Perry & The Posse’ hosts Akina on morning radio show
The host of one of Hawaii’s most popular morning radio programs, Michael W. Perry, of KSSK’s “Perry & The Posse,” wanted to know what the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to see come out of the 2019 Hawaii legislative session, so he interviewed Keli‘i...
Unshackle Maui taxis to help them compete
In the wake of the state announcing that ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft can now pick up customers at Kahului and Kapalua airports, Maui airport taxi drivers are expressing frustration that such companies will essentially be operating as taxis while not having to...
It shouldn’t take audits and lawsuits for government to be transparent
As the Hawaii Legislature and county councils work into the new year, Hawaii residents should keep pressuring them to be more transparent. And it’s not like we’re asking them to do anything that isn’t already part of Hawaii law. Yet still there are state and county...