Court victory welcome, but what about public schools?
Last week’s action by the Hawaii Supreme Court to boot the “education tax” proposal from the Nov. 6 ballot was a victory for accountable government and the democratic process. Had it been approved by the voters, it would have authorized the state to tax real property...
Hawaii’s high court strikes down tax proposal
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii agrees the ballot measure was vague and misleading HONOLULU, Oct. 19, 2018 >> The Hawaii Supreme Court today struck down the proposed constitutional ballot question on whether the state should be allowed to tax real property to...
More taxes not a cure
When even a Hawaii Supreme Court Justice isn’t sure who is supposed to pay a new tax, you know you have a confusing ballot measure. On Thursday, Hawaii’s highest court heard the counties’ arguments against the wording of the proposed state constitutional amendment...
Hawaii public teachers’ salaries misrepresented
This column was originally featured in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday, Oct. 17. This version includes the charts and footnotes. A widely cited study issued last month by WalletHub erroneously stated that Hawaii public school teachers make a starting salary...
Why we joined the ‘surcharge’ lawsuit
Shakespeare said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet — proof that he wasn’t a lawyer … or a politician. Either of them would tell you that a “surcharge” smells a lot better to voters than a “tax.” And that’s one of the problems with the ballot measure...
Aaron Lief is a writer and researcher for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.