Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
State spending cap routinely ignored
When you’ve dug an $88 billion hole, you need to stop digging. That is the amount of unfunded liabilities that our state and county governments are projected to accrue in the next 30 years, as discussed in the January edition of Hawaii Business magazine, which...
Stop the exodus from Hawaii!
Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week were true to expectations: During fiscal year 2019, Hawaii bade farewell to more residents than ever — a record 13,817, compared to the previous record in fiscal 2017 of 13,537. Overall, more than 60,000 residents...
Let’s unite to reform the Jones Act
This past holiday season, I was excited to receive an early Christmas gift, courtesy of Hawaii Congressman Ed Case. As we discussed when I interviewed him in September for my “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii, U.S. Rep. Case has a long history of...
Property tax onslaught looms statewide
First they came for the owners of million-dollar homes, but I didn’t speak against it because I didn’t have a million-dollar home. Then they came for the TVR owners, but I didn’t speak against it because I did not own a bed-and-breakfast or short-term vacation rental....
‘Gut and replace’ has got to go
Shakespeare once wrote that, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But in the Hawaii State Legislature, the name of a bill is everything. In fact, the name game is at the heart of the Legislature’s practice of “gut and replace,” under which an approved...