Saving money now is going to cost our children — and our grandchildren — billions of dollars. As part of the effort to address the state’s budget woes, intensified by the coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige last year suspended mandatory payments to the state’s Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF),
“You can’t spend money you don’t have, so you will have to make cuts. And I don’t see any other way to do it. You will have to borrow up to the hilt. And that you must do. But eventually you will have to pay it back. The last thing
The following recording from Dec. 18, 2020 features Hawaii radio host Mike Buck interviewing Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, on The Mike Buck Show on AM 690 and FM 94.3, The Answer. It’s about 20 minutes, and here’s how it started: Mike Buck: I saw something, Keli’i,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii advises that the best way to increase state tax revenues is to encourage economic growth HONOLULU, Dec. 24, 2020 >> Gov. David Ige’s proposed budget for fiscal 2021-2023 includes $1 billion of “other revenues,”[1] the source of which is not transparent, but which likely
If Benjamin Franklin had ever seen the Hawaii state budget, he’d have changed his famous quote to say that the only two things certain in life are debt and taxes. Especially these days, it’s as if local policymakers can think of nothing else to help Hawaii come to terms with
HONOLULU, Dec. 16, 2020 >> The state spent $1.4 billion over its constitutional spending cap during the past decade, which might have been enough to deal with the state’s current $1.4 billion shortfall for each of the next four fiscal years,[1] according to research from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. In
Keli’i Akina of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii outlined the financial problems Hawaii is facing, and the “best practices” that could help it recover, during the 60th — and first virtual — annual conference of the Hawaii Society of CPAs. Other speakers at the Nov. 20, 2020, event included Tracey Golden,
The following is a news release that was sent to all Hawaii media on Oct. 15, 2020. ______________ HONOLULU, Oct. 15, 2020 >> Hawaii’s unfunded liabilities for infrastructure and public health benefits have increased so far this year to $97 billion, according to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. That’s $9
This article was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat on Sept. 21, 2020. ______________ Faced with a $2.3 billion budget shortfall caused by Hawaii’s coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige on July 17 suspended the state’s required fiscal 2021 payment of $388 million to the government employees’ health benefits fund. It was a desperate move
The following is a letter to the editor that was published by Lahaina News on July 23, 2020. __________ Maui lawmakers should be congratulated for trimming this year’s county budget to $1 million less than the previous year. It was only a 0.1 percent cut, but still it demonstrates that
Saving money now is going to cost our children — and our grandchildren — billions of dollars. As part of the effort to address the state’s budget woes, intensified by the coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige last year suspended mandatory payments to the state’s Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF),
“You can’t spend money you don’t have, so you will have to make cuts. And I don’t see any other way to do it. You will have to borrow up to the hilt. And that you must do. But eventually you will have to pay it back. The last thing
The following recording from Dec. 18, 2020 features Hawaii radio host Mike Buck interviewing Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, on The Mike Buck Show on AM 690 and FM 94.3, The Answer. It’s about 20 minutes, and here’s how it started: Mike Buck: I saw something, Keli’i,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii advises that the best way to increase state tax revenues is to encourage economic growth HONOLULU, Dec. 24, 2020 >> Gov. David Ige’s proposed budget for fiscal 2021-2023 includes $1 billion of “other revenues,”[1] the source of which is not transparent, but which likely
If Benjamin Franklin had ever seen the Hawaii state budget, he’d have changed his famous quote to say that the only two things certain in life are debt and taxes. Especially these days, it’s as if local policymakers can think of nothing else to help Hawaii come to terms with
HONOLULU, Dec. 16, 2020 >> The state spent $1.4 billion over its constitutional spending cap during the past decade, which might have been enough to deal with the state’s current $1.4 billion shortfall for each of the next four fiscal years,[1] according to research from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. In
Keli’i Akina of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii outlined the financial problems Hawaii is facing, and the “best practices” that could help it recover, during the 60th — and first virtual — annual conference of the Hawaii Society of CPAs. Other speakers at the Nov. 20, 2020, event included Tracey Golden,
The following is a news release that was sent to all Hawaii media on Oct. 15, 2020. ______________ HONOLULU, Oct. 15, 2020 >> Hawaii’s unfunded liabilities for infrastructure and public health benefits have increased so far this year to $97 billion, according to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. That’s $9
This article was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat on Sept. 21, 2020. ______________ Faced with a $2.3 billion budget shortfall caused by Hawaii’s coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige on July 17 suspended the state’s required fiscal 2021 payment of $388 million to the government employees’ health benefits fund. It was a desperate move
The following is a letter to the editor that was published by Lahaina News on July 23, 2020. __________ Maui lawmakers should be congratulated for trimming this year’s county budget to $1 million less than the previous year. It was only a 0.1 percent cut, but still it demonstrates that
