Tom Yamachika
Tom Yamachika is president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi.
Latest from Tom Yamachika
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.
Tom YamachikaJuly 15, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJuly 07, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJune 30, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJune 23, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJune 16, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJune 09, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaJune 02, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaMay 26, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaMay 19, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaMay 05, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaApril 28, 2025
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.
Tom YamachikaApril 21, 2025