Working for a better economy, better governANCE and a better society
Voter backlash no longer a threat to tax hikes?
When you live in a state dominated by a single party and known for its high taxes, you take your reprieves where you can. But it’s beginning to look like the last bulwark against yearly tax hikes is eroding. For years, it was conventional wisdom that as tax-happy as...
Bond funding scheme for rail shows need for audit
Is anyone surprised that Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell wants the city to use $44 million of bond debt to pay for administrative costs related to construction of the city’s planned 20-mile rail system? The proposal is a bad sign, indicating once again that the city...
Abolishing mandatory fees could help unions
Will Hawaii’s public unions lose power if their membership dues become voluntary under a pending Supreme Court ruling in the case known as Janus v. AFSCME? Probably not, according to panelists at an event I moderated last week for the Federalist Society of Hawaii...
Let’s get Hawaii on road to prosperity
What if there was a roadmap to economic prosperity, a simple set of guidelines that policymakers could follow to ensure that everyone in their communities could be more prosperous? Sounds too good to be true, right? But that map exists. In fact, it’s on the Grassroot...
State should speed up responses to information requests
Hawaii takes the longest in the nation to make decisions about transparency disputes, and in the interest of accountable government, this just will not do. According to a study by the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, the average number of days to receive...