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Leasehold state housing won’t solve housing crisis
The Hawaii Legislature is considering forming a new state agency that would build high-rise condominium units on state land that it would sell for about $300,000 each under 99-year leases. But the proposal, called ALOHA Homes, would not be the answer to...
Akina updates ‘808 State Update’ on contracting report
It didn’t take long for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s newest policy report, “How to revive contracting as a policy option in Hawaii,” to receive some thoughtful media attention. Publicly released on Wednesday, March 13, the...
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...
Good intentions pave road to homelessness
We are all aware of Hawaii’s “pay to play” culture and “friends and family” cronyism, but the high cost of housing does not appear to be the result of widespread corruption. It is more a case of good intentions gone awry. That was the message...