This commentary appeared originally in Honolulu Civil Beat on May 30, 2020. ________________ Our leaders need to move quickly to completely lift the state and county COVID-19 lockdowns Evidence has been mounting for years that prolonged unemployment in a community can result in increased deaths from suicides, substance abuse and
This commentary was originally published in the May 16, 2020, edition of Hawaii Filipino Chronicle. ________________ As the coronavirus crisis has deepened during the past two months, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has acknowledged that most of the actions taken to protect our most vulnerable citizens have been well intentioned.
It was just over a year ago that the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii produced a report stating: “Hawaii’s state budget does not have the extra cushion to deal with a large recession, if one should hit, so lawmakers should rein in spending and build up a financial reserve, rather than
Hawaii lawmakers must not be afraid to cut the state budget __________ By Joe Kent, Ken Schoolland, Per Bylund and Victor V. Claar In the rush to mitigate the economically devastating impact of Hawaii’s state-mandated shutdown, many lawmakers and policy wonks have been invoking “the multiplier effect.” For example, when Gov.
This commentary appeared originally in The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai, on May 5, 2020. ______________ Ever since March 16, when Gov. David Ige issued his proclamation shutting down the state, the meetings and records of our state and county governments have been officially closed to the public. The governor
The following was issued as news release by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on April 28, 2020. ________________ Major reforms could help the pension system honor its promises HONOLULU, April 29, 2020 >> If you think Hawaii’s unfunded public pension liabilities of $14 billion[1] are daunting now, brace yourself for what they could
This commentary was published originally in The Maui News on April 24, 2020. ___________ Maui County’s economy is in trouble because of the coronavirus recession, but there are ways to turn that around, if only our state and county lawmakers would get out of the way. On a per capita
Planes, trains and automobiles. A movie, yes, but what else do they all have in common? For starters, American companies and individuals are free to buy them from any country in the world. They use them to transport goods or passengers, commute to work, take vacations and for many other
This commentary was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat, April 18, 2020. ____________ Hawaii is leading the nation in per-capita unemployment right now because of government actions intended to stop the coronavirus. According to the state Department of Labor, almost 250,000 people have lost their jobs over the past few weeks
This commentary was published originally in the Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, April 18, 2020, page 10. ___________ If we want Hawaii’s economy to recover from the coronavirus shutdown, we have to put aside any possibility of a minimum-wage hike. As I write this, Hawaii is on Day Six of a statewide
This commentary appeared originally in Honolulu Civil Beat on May 30, 2020. ________________ Our leaders need to move quickly to completely lift the state and county COVID-19 lockdowns Evidence has been mounting for years that prolonged unemployment in a community can result in increased deaths from suicides, substance abuse and
This commentary was originally published in the May 16, 2020, edition of Hawaii Filipino Chronicle. ________________ As the coronavirus crisis has deepened during the past two months, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has acknowledged that most of the actions taken to protect our most vulnerable citizens have been well intentioned.
It was just over a year ago that the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii produced a report stating: “Hawaii’s state budget does not have the extra cushion to deal with a large recession, if one should hit, so lawmakers should rein in spending and build up a financial reserve, rather than
Hawaii lawmakers must not be afraid to cut the state budget __________ By Joe Kent, Ken Schoolland, Per Bylund and Victor V. Claar In the rush to mitigate the economically devastating impact of Hawaii’s state-mandated shutdown, many lawmakers and policy wonks have been invoking “the multiplier effect.” For example, when Gov.
This commentary appeared originally in The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai, on May 5, 2020. ______________ Ever since March 16, when Gov. David Ige issued his proclamation shutting down the state, the meetings and records of our state and county governments have been officially closed to the public. The governor
The following was issued as news release by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on April 28, 2020. ________________ Major reforms could help the pension system honor its promises HONOLULU, April 29, 2020 >> If you think Hawaii’s unfunded public pension liabilities of $14 billion[1] are daunting now, brace yourself for what they could
This commentary was published originally in The Maui News on April 24, 2020. ___________ Maui County’s economy is in trouble because of the coronavirus recession, but there are ways to turn that around, if only our state and county lawmakers would get out of the way. On a per capita
Planes, trains and automobiles. A movie, yes, but what else do they all have in common? For starters, American companies and individuals are free to buy them from any country in the world. They use them to transport goods or passengers, commute to work, take vacations and for many other
This commentary was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat, April 18, 2020. ____________ Hawaii is leading the nation in per-capita unemployment right now because of government actions intended to stop the coronavirus. According to the state Department of Labor, almost 250,000 people have lost their jobs over the past few weeks
This commentary was published originally in the Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, April 18, 2020, page 10. ___________ If we want Hawaii’s economy to recover from the coronavirus shutdown, we have to put aside any possibility of a minimum-wage hike. As I write this, Hawaii is on Day Six of a statewide