Tom Yamachika
Tom Yamachika is president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi.
Latest from Tom Yamachika
Community Voices: Education Freedom Tax Credits
Hawaiʻi is hesitant to participate in the new federal program wrought by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would give a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 for individual donations to school scholarship groups.
Tom YamachikaSeptember 03, 2026
Community Voices: When do judges have free speech?
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justices must follow federal interpretations of federal laws and the U.S. Constitution, but are in no way subordinate to the U.S. Supreme Court on issues of state law or the state constitution. That is part of the way our government was set up.
Tom YamachikaSeptember 01, 2026
Community Voices: Clean energy schizophrenia
Our state does a lot of giving and taking when it comes to energy use; when all the giving and taking is considered together, legitimate questions can be asked about who is benefiting and who is paying the price.
Tom YamachikaAugust 25, 2026
Community Voices: Honolulu Special Funds
Agencies that can spend money from special funds tend to spend them with little or no legislative oversight, and it becomes harder for the Legislature and the public to keep track of the money the more special funds there are, according to Tom Yamachika, president of Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi.
Tom YamachikaAugust 18, 2026
Community Voices: Taxation of Envy
Local media points to the recent enactment of the millionaires’ 13% tax bracket as evidence of lawmakers making “the wealthy” pay their “fair share.” It may be a millionaire’s tax today, Tom Yamachika argues; however, next year and beyond, it could change to a tax on half a million because those people are “wealthy.”
Tom YamachikaAugust 13, 2026
Community Voices: The one-dollar solution
Under the state constitution, surpluses are supposed to be returned to Hawai‘i's taxpayers. Here are some of the games lawmakers and governors play so that the amount returned is always, somehow, just a dollar.
Tom YamachikaJuly 28, 2026
Community Voices: Why care about the Dam Special Fund
Special funds have proliferated in Hawai‘i state government, to now more than 1,800. It's to the point that the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i says it's impossible to know how much money state government actually has. The foundation sued over one of these funds for failing to follow state constitutional limits. Here's what happened to that case.
Tom YamachikaJuly 22, 2026
Community Voices: Empty homes tax won’t go away
Legislative attempts to pass the tax have failed, so proponents have a new idea — make an empty homes tax a charter amendment that people can vote on in the next election. The proposal is making headway, even as the draft amendment contains all the same conundrums as the failed bills.
Tom YamachikaJuly 14, 2026
Community Voices: SNAP disaster imminent
The good news is that we don’t have the worst error rate, and Hawaiʻi was just slightly above the national average. The bad news is that our error rate was 10.92% in 2025. Double digits mean triple penalties, and don’t expect anyone to cut us some slack when they take effect.
Tom YamachikaJuly 08, 2026
Community Voices: Now you see it, now you don’t
There’s no magic involved here, only taxes. Taxes you can see, and taxes you can’t. Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi revisits the barrel tax.
Tom YamachikaJuly 03, 2026
Community Voices: The art of the tax deal
We, the people, have an interest in the deals that our government is making. Especially if tax money, or government resources paid for by tax money, is part of the deal.
Tom YamachikaJune 24, 2026
Community Voices: Medicaid Fraud Control
Hawaiʻi's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was recently called a “complete disgrace" by Vice President J.D. Vance and was decertified. In response, Gov. Josh Green announced that he would create an “independent Medicaid Fraud Strike Force” whose mission is "to help identify waste, fraud and abuse, recommend corrective actions, assist in the recovery of taxpayer dollars where appropriate and strengthen systems designed to protect Medicaid recipients and public funds.” Let's hope this action catches the bad actors.
Tom YamachikaJune 16, 2026