This following is a news release issued by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Jan. 12, 2021. ______________ Efforts to save money now will cost taxpayers more later while putting government employees and retirees at risk, says the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii HONOLULU, Jan. 12, 2020 >> Hawaii taxpayers will
This commentary was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday, November 15, 2020. ________________ Gov. David Ige in his 2018 State of the State address said, “One value that has guided this administration is to not simply pass our debts to our kids and grandkids.” But that value seems
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
Could Hawaii go bankrupt? That was the topic of a free live webinar on Thursday, May 14, sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. As a technical matter, the answer currently is, “No.” But as a practical matter, Hawaii’s economy has tanked and local tax revenues are plummeting, leaving the state
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
Some advice for all our policymakers out there struggling with public pension liabilities: The first step is admitting you have a problem. The next step is getting real data on how bad that problem is. Only then can you begin working out how to address it. Which means the Kauai County
It is common knowledge that medical costs have been skyrocketing for years, regardless of all attempts to reform our nation’s medical system. What many people in Hawaii don’t realize, however, is that higher medical costs increase our state’s debt — and Hawaii taxpayers might be the ones who end up
The good news is that Hawaii’s legislators are eager to solve our pension crisis. The better news is that we have the solutions they need. On Thursday, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii sat in on the Legislative Fiscal Academy, held at the state Capitol and sponsored by the National Conference
This is a letter to the editor that was published Monday, Dec. 3, in The Garden Island, which headlined it, “Pension problem needs solving.” Your recent guest column, “Don’t begrudge pensions for public employees,” (TGI, Nov. 27) misrepresented the position of groups like the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii as an
This article was originally published in The Garden Island on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. Soaring public pension and health benefit costs will be slamming Hawaii’s county governments in coming years, forcing them to consider cutting important government services or increasing taxes — neither of which are attractive options. But the
This following is a news release issued by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Jan. 12, 2021. ______________ Efforts to save money now will cost taxpayers more later while putting government employees and retirees at risk, says the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii HONOLULU, Jan. 12, 2020 >> Hawaii taxpayers will
This commentary was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday, November 15, 2020. ________________ Gov. David Ige in his 2018 State of the State address said, “One value that has guided this administration is to not simply pass our debts to our kids and grandkids.” But that value seems
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
Could Hawaii go bankrupt? That was the topic of a free live webinar on Thursday, May 14, sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. As a technical matter, the answer currently is, “No.” But as a practical matter, Hawaii’s economy has tanked and local tax revenues are plummeting, leaving the state
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
Some advice for all our policymakers out there struggling with public pension liabilities: The first step is admitting you have a problem. The next step is getting real data on how bad that problem is. Only then can you begin working out how to address it. Which means the Kauai County
It is common knowledge that medical costs have been skyrocketing for years, regardless of all attempts to reform our nation’s medical system. What many people in Hawaii don’t realize, however, is that higher medical costs increase our state’s debt — and Hawaii taxpayers might be the ones who end up
The good news is that Hawaii’s legislators are eager to solve our pension crisis. The better news is that we have the solutions they need. On Thursday, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii sat in on the Legislative Fiscal Academy, held at the state Capitol and sponsored by the National Conference
This is a letter to the editor that was published Monday, Dec. 3, in The Garden Island, which headlined it, “Pension problem needs solving.” Your recent guest column, “Don’t begrudge pensions for public employees,” (TGI, Nov. 27) misrepresented the position of groups like the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii as an
This article was originally published in The Garden Island on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. Soaring public pension and health benefit costs will be slamming Hawaii’s county governments in coming years, forcing them to consider cutting important government services or increasing taxes — neither of which are attractive options. But the