by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Mar 8, 2019 | Featured, President's Column, Taxes, Website
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...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Mar 1, 2019 | Featured, President's Column, Taxes, Website
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...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Feb 22, 2019 | Featured, President's Column, Taxes, Website
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...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Feb 15, 2019 | Featured, President's Column, Rail, Website
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....
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Feb 8, 2019 | Budget, Economy, Featured, President's Column, Socioeconomics, Taxes, Website
After watching so many State of the State addresses, I’ve learned to regard them as something more than a summary of the state’s political outlook. In fact, they’ve started to seem a lot like wish lists. The governor outlines everything his party would like to get in...
by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D. | Feb 1, 2019 | Featured, Housing, President's Column, Website
Regardless of our political differences, there are a few things most residents of Hawaii can agree on: The cost of living is high, the sunsets are beautiful, and there’s not enough housing. The difficulty isn’t identifying the problem; it’s finding a solution....
