Opinion

Community Voices: Another chance to make things right on civil asset forfeiture

A plea for Gov. Josh Green to sign into law HB126, which would limit civil asset forfeiture to only cases in which the property owners have been charged with a crime.

Community Voices: Your Zip code shouldn’t determine your access to mental health care

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we must confront the reality that where you live can define whether you receive life-saving care or none at all.

Community Voices: Partnering is a proven process for building stronger teams, securing better outcomes and preventing disputes

For organizations looking to improve internal alignment, stakeholder engagement, and/or internal or external collaboration, this structured, facilitation-based process offers a compelling alternative to traditional problem-solving and strategic planning models.

Community Voices: Legislature on a housing-reform streak

Bills were passed this session that would cut back on the school impact fees, permitting delays, and layers of rules that impede housing.

Community Voices: The major raid that wasn’t

The state Legislature came close to raiding nearly $320 million from 97 different special funds this session.

Community Voices: Small victory

This session, the Legislature eliminated a procedural trap that kept taxpayers from being to appeal to the Tax Appeal Court. Here's what that issue was all about.

Community Voices: Backyard Kuleana 2025 – When the systems fail, we must return to each other

We are looking at a collapse of many systems that our communities rely upon to sustain themselves. We will all need to step up our service going forward. Here, I share more about that forward-looking evolution.

Community Voices: Fearing federal cuts, state looks to axe tax credits

Renters, landlords, business owners and more should watch out for House Bill 1369, which the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i has dubbed the "Category Killer," for the categories of tax exemptions and credits it seeks to eliminate.

Community Voices: Apply rebuilding waivers to all Lahaina fire victims

When disaster strikes, people want to rebuild what they lost. If that property is in a Shoreline Management Area, however, the law can get in the way, as hundreds of Lahaina homeowners have found out. A bill before the legislature would waive such restrictions, freeing people to rebuild their homes.

Community Voices: Presidential proclamation balances ocean protection and sustainable commercial tuna fishing

This viewpoint from the Hawai‘i Longline Association makes a case that President Donald Trump's reopening of commercial fishing grounds around Pacific islands is good for local consumers and industry, which use more sustainable methods than do foreign fishing fleets.

Community Voices: Persistence amid permit issues to hold services at Waikīkī Beach

Waikīkī Beach Chaplaincy has served the community surrounding the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waīkikī Beach Resort for 55 years. Last month, the chaplaincy received a “Cease and Desist Order” from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for its Easter and weekly services. Pastor David “Waxer” Tipton, director and president of the chaplaincy since 2021, shares how the organization is handling permitting pitfalls this year.

Community Voices: Supporting Government’s Central Services

Hawai‘i's state Department of Transportation pays the most among all departments in internal fees back to state government for its shared expenses. Here's why it may be stuck with that arrangement.

Community Voices: Turns out you can fight city hall — and win!

Trapped in Hawai‘i County permitting limbo, Shahzaad Ausman could neither live in his home nor renovate it. So he took officials to court. “If the government can wrongfully revoke my permit, it can revoke many other permits. We must hold officials accountable and stand up for our rights,” he said.

Community Voices: Taxing Capital Gains

The Hawai‘i state Legislature wants to change taxes on capital gains by some as yet unstated amount by taxing, for example, the money you gain selling your house at rates comparable to state income taxes. For individuals, this could amount to as much as a 52% increase to the rate someone would pay on capital gains.

Community Voices: We can do more to help Hawai‘i businesses rebound

Hawai‘i’s anemic economic growth — the second slowest in the country — should be a sign that we haven’t done enough to help local business rebound since the Covid-19 lockdowns. If anything, it seems we’re doing the opposite. The major tax hikes that are still alive in the current legislative session all promise to be significant burdens on local businesses.

Community Voices: Lahaina future brighter, but keep pedal to the metal

Community Voices: The new tax cuts website

The Hawaii State Tax Watch Doggie has gone online to check it out and has a few quibbles.

Community Voices: Legislature poised to fix a state wrong?

First, local government shut down restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Then the federal government offered them relief money to partially make up for their losses. Then state government taxed that relief as revenue. A bill in the Hawai‘i state legislature would undo that last step.

Community Voices: Universal vax for Hawai‘i

A new bill would tax health plans so that the state can buy bulk vaccines for people not otherwise entitled to receive free vaccines. It also immunizes the state itself — against lawsuits.

Community Voices: Let’s close the book on school impact fees

It's not just big developers who have to pay these fees, which add to the cost of housing, even individuals adding an ADU have to come up with thousands of dollars.

Community Voices: Taxpayers need a break from old liens

Why the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i drafted a bill to stop the state Department of Taxation from leaving liens on taxpayers on the books past their 15-year statute of limitations.

Community Voices: Kōloa Rum challenge could be what kills the Jones Act

Recently, there has been momentum in Congress to revisit the law, which for more than a hundred years has been limiting shipping competition between U.S. ports and had an outsized negative impact on the residents of Hawai‘i and other U.S. states and territories who rely heavily on waterborne transportation for their imports.

Community Voices: A Stealthy Tax Hike

Employers could be hit with a 42% increase in what they pay in state unemployment insurance taxes under a bill being considered by the Legislature.

Community Voices: Political problems not the same as true emergencies

Hawai‘i is operating under multiple emergency orders from the Governor's office, often extended over years, for pressing problems that can and should be handled by the ordinary democratic process.