Regulation
The Ethics Commission Needs Ethics!
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...
Do You Have a Spare 5000 Hours For a Little Light Reading?
We criticize legislators--and rightly so--for not fully reading the legislation they're asked to vote on and for crafting such lengthy and tortuous bills in the first place. However, there's another, more obscure repository of lengthy law--the Code of Federal...
Patients and Doctors, not the FDA, Should Choose Right Medicine
Good ideas in Congress rarely have a chance. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is sponsoring legislation to speed drug approvals, but his initial plan was largely gutted before he introduced it last month. Drug discovery is an uncertain process. Companies consider between...
To Taxi or Ride-share?: Limiting Government’s Role
Across the nation, a "horizontal" battle between taxi cab companies and emerging ride-share networks such as Uber and Lyft is unfolding. Unfortunately, a profound "vertical" battle, can be overlooked - and that is the battle between the free market and government...
Grassroot Institute Testimony on Repeal of the Ethanol Requirement
March 17, 2015 To: House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection Rep. Chris Lee, Chair Rep. Nicole Lowen, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: SB 717 -- RELATING TO ETHANOL Dear Chair and...
Grassroot Testimony on Cottage Food Licensing
March 17, 2015 To: House Committee on Economic Development & Business Rep. Derek Kawakami, Chair Rep. Sam Kong, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: SB 379 -- RELATING TO FOOD Dear Chair and...
Grassroot Testimony on Restrictions on Dancing
March 17, 2015 To: House Committee on Economic Development & Business Rep. Derek Kawakami, Chair Rep. Sam Kong, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: SB 868 -- RELATING TO LIQUOR COMMISSIONS Dear...
Grassroot Testimony on Transient Accommodations Licensing
February 18, 2015 To: House Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce Rep. Angus McKelvey, Chair Rep. Justin Woodson, Vice Chair From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D. RE: HB 825 -- RELATING TO TRANSIENT ACCOMODATIONS...
The “Big Eyes” Have It: Hawaii Courts Again in the Hollywood Spotlight
We're going to start off 2015 slightly off-topic, a movie review. But rest assured, there is a small eminent domain connection. Anyone who was around in the 1960s and 1970s remembers those paintings and prints of sad children with oversize eyes. They were...
Close the Government to Close Bad Government Programs
The lame duck Congress suffered through its usual year end brinkmanship before avoiding a government shutdown. Horrors! What would people do if politicians weren’t able to legislate, regulate, and dictate in the “public interest?” The traditional civics book notion...
Grassroot Institute Joins in Letter Asking Governor To Improve Transparency
In theory, Hawaii's open government laws are good ones, requiring greater transparency than many other states and promoting the idea that open government is a key to good government and an informed citizenry. But that's only in theory. In practice, those who attempt...
CRomnibus in Context
The year-end fiscal drama in Washington DC to which we’ve become accustomed during the Obama years is reaching its 2014 climax. Tuesday night, the House of Representatives released the final text of the omnibus continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal...
Hawaii Ranks 47th in Small Business Friendliness
Low Ranking on Small Business Policy Index Points to Need for Economic Reform Hawaii is the fourth-worst state in the nation when it comes to policies that are friendly to small business according to a recent study by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council....
‘Lame Duck’ Internet Betrayal?
Pundits largely agree that those who cast ballots last week had more or less one idea in mind—Washington is broken and it needs to be fixed. So imagine the surprise that online customers will receive when Democratic Senators Reid and Durbin lead the just-chastened...
The Top 5 Ways the Jones Act has left Honolulu Vulnerable to the Zombie Apocalypse
There has been a lot written about the harm caused by the Jones Act. On this very site, we’ve explored how the restrictive cabotage provision drives up the price of goods and contributes to Hawaii’s high cost of living. But while the Act certainly impacts the people...
Grassroot’s Interview with a Vampire
Most people don’t think of vampires when they think of Honolulu, but the truth is that the undead enjoy a good vacation spot as much as the living. Grassroot Institute staffer Sebastian Koenig was flattered to be invited to dinner by Viscount Armando Cortez, who tries...
Gun Control on Elm Street
Classic serial killer films have a fairly standard arc: the killer hunts down his victims, usually teens, and slays them with various sorts of deadly implements running the gamut from prosaic knives to terrifying chainsaws. The helpless and hapless victims spend most...
Are Anti-Price Gouging Policies to Blame for Shortages on the Big Island?
After Hurricane Iselle, thousands of families were in the dark without flashlights, ice, or generators on the Big Island. Many stores on the Hilo side were still completely sold out of disaster relief items as late as ten days after the storm, leaving desperate...