Hawaii’s entrenched state and county bureaucracies have long been blamed for many things, and delaying the advance of high technology into their own operations is definitely one of them. Repeated failures in trying to upgrade the payroll and other technology systems with which they operate has cost Hawaii taxpayers probably
Has the bureaucracy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grown so big that it can shield employees from accountability? Worried Hawaii veterans would like to know. The list of VA scandals stretches from the East Coast all the way to the Pacific. And evidence of poor practices continues to
Imagine a football game in which there is only one team playing. Instead of seeing dazzling plays, the entire game is spent watching that one team sprint down the field and score over and over again. The winning team might glory in the score, but for the crowd, there’s an
One more overreach from our “constitutional scholar” in the Oval Office was just shot down. In this case, a three-judge panel on the DC Court of Appeals ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is “unconstitutionally structured” and must be restructured. But the court’s temporary remedy doesn’t actually change anything,
“Feds to target Wall Street’s finance felons” proclaims a story headline in the Star-Advertiser. The article quotes a Justice Department memo, “It’s only fair that the people who are responsible for committing those crimes be held accountable.” What’s new about that? The answer is nothing in theory but lots in
The Honolulu City Ethics Commission has just adopted a new policy that minimizes government transparency. The staff are now mandated to go through a cumbersome approval process before speaking to the media: “Additionally, any written media communications put out by the commission now needs to be sent to, in order,
On May 20th, the Grassroot Institute held an expert panel on the issue of transparency and government secrecy in Hawaii. Moderated by Grassroot President Keli’i Akina, the panel included Rick Daysog of Hawaii News Now, Gina Mangieri of KHON2, Brian Black of Civil Beat Law Center, environmental watchdog Carroll Cox,
April 7, 2015 To: House Committee on Finance Rep. Sylvia Luke, Chair Rep. Scott Nishimoto, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: SB 1208 — RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM Dear Chair and Committee Members: The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
The Grassroot Institute is proud to be doing its part to improve government transparency and accountability in the state. With the launch of OpenHawaii.org, we are making critical data more publicly accessible. Getting this kind of information into the hands of voters is an important step towards a more active
March 24, 2015 To: House Committee on Judiciary Rep. Karl Rhoads, Chair Rep. Joy A. San Buenaventura, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: HCR 207 — REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF ALL STATE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES UTILIZING STATE FUNDS FOR OUTSIDE COUNSEL.
Hawaii’s entrenched state and county bureaucracies have long been blamed for many things, and delaying the advance of high technology into their own operations is definitely one of them. Repeated failures in trying to upgrade the payroll and other technology systems with which they operate has cost Hawaii taxpayers probably
Has the bureaucracy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grown so big that it can shield employees from accountability? Worried Hawaii veterans would like to know. The list of VA scandals stretches from the East Coast all the way to the Pacific. And evidence of poor practices continues to
Imagine a football game in which there is only one team playing. Instead of seeing dazzling plays, the entire game is spent watching that one team sprint down the field and score over and over again. The winning team might glory in the score, but for the crowd, there’s an
One more overreach from our “constitutional scholar” in the Oval Office was just shot down. In this case, a three-judge panel on the DC Court of Appeals ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is “unconstitutionally structured” and must be restructured. But the court’s temporary remedy doesn’t actually change anything,
“Feds to target Wall Street’s finance felons” proclaims a story headline in the Star-Advertiser. The article quotes a Justice Department memo, “It’s only fair that the people who are responsible for committing those crimes be held accountable.” What’s new about that? The answer is nothing in theory but lots in
The Honolulu City Ethics Commission has just adopted a new policy that minimizes government transparency. The staff are now mandated to go through a cumbersome approval process before speaking to the media: “Additionally, any written media communications put out by the commission now needs to be sent to, in order,
On May 20th, the Grassroot Institute held an expert panel on the issue of transparency and government secrecy in Hawaii. Moderated by Grassroot President Keli’i Akina, the panel included Rick Daysog of Hawaii News Now, Gina Mangieri of KHON2, Brian Black of Civil Beat Law Center, environmental watchdog Carroll Cox,
April 7, 2015 To: House Committee on Finance Rep. Sylvia Luke, Chair Rep. Scott Nishimoto, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: SB 1208 — RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM Dear Chair and Committee Members: The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
The Grassroot Institute is proud to be doing its part to improve government transparency and accountability in the state. With the launch of OpenHawaii.org, we are making critical data more publicly accessible. Getting this kind of information into the hands of voters is an important step towards a more active
March 24, 2015 To: House Committee on Judiciary Rep. Karl Rhoads, Chair Rep. Joy A. San Buenaventura, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: HCR 207 — REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF ALL STATE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES UTILIZING STATE FUNDS FOR OUTSIDE COUNSEL.
To the Hawaii Legislature:
Hawaii families face skyrocketing healthcare costs and a shortage of doctors. Exempting medical services from Hawaii’s general excise tax would result in millions of dollars in savings for residents and help bring doctors back.
