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
They call it the first law of holes, and the principle is simple: When you’re in a hole, stop digging. If only we could apply this to Hawaii’s public pension crisis. When it comes to the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, there’s broad agreement that it’s a problem. And everyone is
A Grassroot Institute FOIA request reveals that 320 employees spiked their salaries ahead of retiring HONOLULU, Sept. 5, 2018 >> The Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) billed the state and counties more than $20.5 million because of excess pension costs in fiscal year 2017, according to an open records request made to the
The following article was originally featured Aug. 15, 2018, in The Maui News. The Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii has unfunded liabilities of almost $13 billion — a dangerous amount that threatens the retirement benefits of state and county employees and the pocketbooks of Hawaii taxpayers. But there
Hawaii’s public pension unfunded liability, conservatively estimated at almost $13 billion, is projected to be paid off by the year 2043, but that end date could drag out far longer if the investments of the state’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) do not perform as well as expected. A way to
You’ve often seen me sign off with the words “E hana kākou!” The premise behind that motto (which literally translates to “Let’s work together!”) is that, despite our differences, we must work together to make a better Hawaii. We may be from different islands, with different political views, backgrounds and
Grassroot Institute publicly releases report on fixing Hawaii’s pension debt crisis The independent, nonprofit think tank debuted its findings July 31 at a presentation on Maui HONOLULU, Aug. 1, 2018 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has released its new report titled “How to resolve Hawaii’s public pension debt crisis”
Grassroot Institute to release report on how to fix pension crisis The independent, nonprofit think tank will debut its findings July 31 at a presentation on Maui HONOLULU, July 26, 2018 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii will release a new report on Tuesday, July 31, about how to bring
How is a volcano like a dip in the stock market? That’s not a riddle, though I’m sure our witty members could come up with some clever responses. Rather, it is a different perspective on how the Kilauea eruption might have a long-term effect on the state’s unfunded public pension
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
They call it the first law of holes, and the principle is simple: When you’re in a hole, stop digging. If only we could apply this to Hawaii’s public pension crisis. When it comes to the state’s unfunded pension liabilities, there’s broad agreement that it’s a problem. And everyone is
A Grassroot Institute FOIA request reveals that 320 employees spiked their salaries ahead of retiring HONOLULU, Sept. 5, 2018 >> The Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) billed the state and counties more than $20.5 million because of excess pension costs in fiscal year 2017, according to an open records request made to the
The following article was originally featured Aug. 15, 2018, in The Maui News. The Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii has unfunded liabilities of almost $13 billion — a dangerous amount that threatens the retirement benefits of state and county employees and the pocketbooks of Hawaii taxpayers. But there
Hawaii’s public pension unfunded liability, conservatively estimated at almost $13 billion, is projected to be paid off by the year 2043, but that end date could drag out far longer if the investments of the state’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) do not perform as well as expected. A way to
You’ve often seen me sign off with the words “E hana kākou!” The premise behind that motto (which literally translates to “Let’s work together!”) is that, despite our differences, we must work together to make a better Hawaii. We may be from different islands, with different political views, backgrounds and
Grassroot Institute publicly releases report on fixing Hawaii’s pension debt crisis The independent, nonprofit think tank debuted its findings July 31 at a presentation on Maui HONOLULU, Aug. 1, 2018 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has released its new report titled “How to resolve Hawaii’s public pension debt crisis”
Grassroot Institute to release report on how to fix pension crisis The independent, nonprofit think tank will debut its findings July 31 at a presentation on Maui HONOLULU, July 26, 2018 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii will release a new report on Tuesday, July 31, about how to bring
How is a volcano like a dip in the stock market? That’s not a riddle, though I’m sure our witty members could come up with some clever responses. Rather, it is a different perspective on how the Kilauea eruption might have a long-term effect on the state’s unfunded public pension
