Opinion

Community Voices: Constitutional expenditure controls

Over the past 50 years, the Hawai‘i state Legislature has steadily whittled away at constitutional controls over its spending.

Community Voices: New cottage food rules can unleash innovation in Hawai‘i

The state Department of Health is about to release new rules to make it easier for cottage food entrepreneurs to sell their products.

Community Voices: Career Connections launches Hawai‘i high school students into the trades

Interns make $15 an hour while learning essential skills to become carpenters.

Community Voices: Pay for no work

In Hawai‘i's broken civil service system, hundreds of state workers are getting paid to do nothing while investigations into their job performance linger.

Community Voices: Hawai‘i climate policy going overboard on cruise ships

The new climate roadmap from the state Department of Transportation calls for reducing cruise ship visitors to Hawai‘i by 2030 and possibly eliminating them completely by 2040.

Community Voices: Nonprofit Blankety Blank bill

In a rush to help nonprofits that are losing federal funding, the Hawai‘i state Legislature pulled together Senate Bill 933, now Act 310 of 2025, putting $50 million in the hands of a four-person committee that will meet in secret. And the Legislature could not have known what it was voting for — this was yet another Blankety Blank bill devoid of financial details.

Community Voices: Permitting progress prevails

Starting in 2026, new laws signed by Gov. Josh Green go into place to expedite home construction throughout the Islands.

Community Voices: SNAP cliffs are coming

The federal government will have fully funded the cost of food for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through 2027. But now that the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act is law, that is going to change — potentially putting Hawaiʻi at least $36 million in the hole.

Community Voices: Built through brotherhood and meaningful moments

A personal essay by Makawao Eagle Scout Noah Kalehuawehe, who recently received the 2025 John Henry Felix Leadership Through Service Award.

Community Voices: Why I think the governor and Legislature deserve praise

The Hawaiʻi State Legislature has concluded the 2025 regular session, still more work to be done

Community Voices: Ending 'the turf war' around building schools

Until HB422 gets passed into law, the Hawai'i Department of Education has been urging lawmakers to spend general fund money on building new local schools.

Community Voices: Twenty years of nickels

You buy your bottled beverage. You pay your five cent deposit. What happens next is a mess, and has been for decades.

Community Voices: ʻRespect and teamworkʻ drives these Hawaiʻi auto technicians

Find out why these three Servco Pacific Inc. employees got into the automotive industry and what keeps them servicing some of Hawaiʻi’s most popular car brands.

Community Voices: That Dam Special Fund

With the help of the Hawai‘i state legislature, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources turned an appropriation into a seemingly permanent special fund. It may be for a good cause, but it's not how special funds are supposed to work under the state constitution.

Community Voices: A blue wave is helping rock the boat on Jones Act reform

Bipartisan support is growing in Washington and among different states to update the Jones Act and reduce the cost of shipping.

Community Voices: How local nonprofits can practically support each other's mission

Have you ever thought about hiring a nonprofit for professional services? Maybe it's time to, especially if you're a nonprofit reliant on donations. Here's one way we're turning business expenses into "a built-in impact multiplier."

Community Voices: Intent to Veto

Among the 19 bills on Gov. Josh Green's veto list are two concerning taxation. Did you know that Hawai‘i still offers certain tax credits for sugar cane — and that in 2025, there are still people interested in them? A bill to eliminate such credits is among the possible vetos.

Community Voices: ‘Diversified ag’ rhetoric often doesn’t match reality

Hawai‘i's farmers often feel like their crops have to fight their way through a thick blanket of regulations, but there's some good news on that front from Maui County.

Community Voices: The Unseen Stopper Committees

The recently concluded Legislative session highlighted an undemocratic trend at the Legislature — finance committees gaining power over legislation of all kinds, whether there's a financial impact or not.

Community Voices: Bills from the 2025 legislative session that will most impact Native Hawaiians

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs aims to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians through advocacy, research, funding and more. Here is a breakdown of the measures that would advance its mission, if approved by Gov. Josh Green.

Community Voices: Light at the End

While previous laws put a 15-year statute of limitations on uncollected tax debt, the state Department of Taxation had been finding legal workarounds to chase the money past that point. Act 68, recently signed into law by Gov. Josh Green, requires the state Department of Taxation to release tax debt that it hasn't been able to collect.

Community Voices: No, we don’t have low property taxes

Property tax bills are based on assessed values, and Hawai‘i has extremely high property values. So when you calculate the actual money owed, we’re closer to the middle of the pack. In addition, Hawai‘i is the only state that does not use property taxes to fund public education, so of course you would expect its county property tax rates to be relatively low.

Community Voices: Legislators ignore rules for special funds

The state Office of the Auditor analyzed 86 proposed special and revolving funds proposed by the Legislature in this past session. Not a single one of them met the legal criteria for establishing such funds.

Community Voices: Cleaning up Hawai‘i’s permitting mess

A new report from the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization shows that Hawai‘i permit delays in 2024 were at some of the worst levels ever. But I’m glad to report policy changes at the state and county levels that could make a real dent in these delays.

Community Voices: Economic prosperity rises from the bottom up

Special for ASD, the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice looks at the recent Legislative sessionʻs hits and misses.

Community Voices: 2025 Legislative Also-Rans

This week, we will be looking at a few bills that passed both houses of the legislature, but did not make it through conference. Those bills may come back to haunt us next year, including capital gains taxes, "green fees" on Hawai‘i visitors and more.

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.