Hawaii Reporter

Conveyance Tax Fright

2026-04-13T08:21:03Z

Hawaii conveyance tax is imposed any time real estate in Hawaii is bought, sold, or leased for a term of five years or more. Goings-on at our legislature give us some conveyance tax fright. The tax dates back to 1967, in the first decade after statehood. (Act 10, Hawaii Session Laws 1966.) At the time […]

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Ending Hawaii’s housing crisis depends on homebuilding feasibility

2026-04-13T18:27:09Z

By Keli‘i Akina A new report from economists at the University of Hawai‘i makes a point that many of us have known all along: If we want to end the housing crisis, we need to build more homes. That’s because each new unit creates a chain of housing openings. A family that moves into a […]

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‘The government should not spend more than it will bring in’

2026-04-08T18:42:19Z

By Keli‘i Akina I have some good news to share with you: All of Hawaii’s county mayors have released their proposed budgets for the next fiscal year, and most appear to be fiscally responsible. Could the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s spending principles finally be taking root with elected officials? Let’s start with Honolulu, which has […]

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Additional Car Tax Dead for Now

2026-04-01T23:23:52Z

In our current legislative session, there had been a couple of bills that would have created brand new taxes for us. One of them, House Bill 2604, would have slapped a new $1 per ticket tax on concert tickets on top of the general excise tax that ticket sellers already pay. The incremental revenue from […]

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Where’s Your Second Tax Return?

2026-04-01T23:24:22Z

Tax season is here. Most of us dread the prospect of filling out and filing our tax returns. We have to bare our souls to the government every year at about this time, telling them intimate details of what we made and what we lost — but at least that information is kept private so […]

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Legislature seems to choose spending over promised tax relief

2026-03-30T15:10:25Z

By Keli‘i Akina The state’s behemoth budget bill is making its way through the Legislature, and I can’t help but notice that taxpayers seem to be the only ones expected to make a sacrifice for the sake of government spending. Gov. Josh Green kicked off this year’s session claiming the state’s budget crunch is so […]

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Could President Trump’s latest waiver lead to Jones Act reform?

2026-03-24T15:45:21Z

By Keli‘i Akina Something has gone very wrong if it becomes necessary during a time of war to waive a law that was intended to strengthen national security. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act for the transport of certain energy products and fertilizer. As you might already know, the […]

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Halftime Report

2026-03-20T20:21:37Z

We’ve just passed the halfway point in our legislative session, where bills in the House need to go to the Senate for consideration, and vice versa. Any bill that hasn’t crossed over is dead for this session, although it is certainly possible for all or part of a dead bill to be resurrected by inserting […]

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Critical housing reform bills come to unfortunate abrupt end at Legislature

2026-03-17T20:43:01Z

By Keli‘i Akina Two important housing reform measures were unexpectedly killed this week as the state House and Senate prepared for “crossover” at the Legislature, during which the chambers exchange all the bills they have so far approved. This is regrettable not just because of what it means for Hawaii’s ongoing housing crisis, but also […]

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FILMFREUDE – 3rd EDITION! April 3-5 @ Doris Duke Theater

2026-03-17T22:00:00Z

FilmFreude is bringing a stunning slice of German cinema to the islands this April 3-5. This year, we’ve selected 4 powerful, moving, and entertaining films from Germany and Switzerland — edgy, daring, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking stories. We think these 2024/25 productions are the best of the year. Venue for the 3rd German Film Festival in Hawai’i, FilmFreude […]

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A Taxing Debate

2026-03-12T07:57:26Z

We have written earlier this year about the Administration’s bill to “pause” (actually, stop) the planned tax cuts that were to happen in years 2027 and beyond. The House and Senate money committees heard that bill independently. Both committees opted to make substantial modifications to it before moving it forward. What will likely follow will […]

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Residents voice their concerns on proposed pause of historic tax cuts

2026-03-10T15:55:22Z

By Keli‘i Akina I wish more of our lawmakers would realize that no government program could do as much to help struggling families in the islands as significant tax cuts. But maybe public reaction to the governor’s effort to “pause” the phase-in of the state’s historic 2024 income tax cuts will help them come to […]

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The Rental Car Loophole

2026-03-05T00:20:44Z

There are a number of bills in this year’s Legislature that seek to raise revenue by closing a “loophole” in our General Excise Tax Law. But is it really a loophole? When a wholesaler sells tangible personal property to a retailer and that retailer resells it, the wholesaler is taxed at 0.5% and the retailer […]

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Pilgrimage to Anzio — Part 1

2026-03-12T01:43:36Z

This is the first in a series of articles by Rob Kay, the author of “Hans & Henri go to War—Exile, Friendship, and the War that Brought Them Home”. He recently spent several months in Europe, researching his father’s service during the Italian Campaign. In the course of his investigation he created the following travelogue. […]

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Legislature needs to rein in governor’s emergency powers

2026-03-03T00:37:34Z

By Keli‘i Akina Hawaii’s emergency management law has some critical flaws. Namely, what constitutes an emergency is up to just one person — the governor — who also has wide latitude to address those declared emergencies by indefinitely suspending whatever laws he or she thinks are getting in the state’s way of responding to them. […]

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The Cruise Fee Quandary

2026-03-12T07:57:40Z

Litigation is still raging over the extension of our Transient Accommodations Tax to cruise ships in what has been called the “Green Fee” bill. And the Legislature is getting involved as well. In last year’s legislative session, as you may recall, the TAT was increased and broadened to include cruise ships. The cruise ship industry […]

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Use That Hoarded Tuition and Fees Now

2026-02-23T07:43:10Z

We have been writing several pieces about money languishing in special funds. This week we will concentrate on one of them. The University of Hawaii has a special fund for tuition and fees. According to Department Communication 100 submitted to this year’s Legislature, that fund built up, as of June 30, 2025, almost $429 million. […]

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Bills at the Legislature ‘a good start’ in addressing Hawaii’s healthcare crisis

2026-02-23T15:35:21Z

By Keli‘i Akina People around the world view Hawaii as a paradise. And in a lot of ways, it is. But for many of us who live here, our islands have become a place where we simply cannot afford to get sick. The statewide physician shortage continues to worsen and is now estimated to be 833 full-time […]

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Support local agriculture by removing barriers to farmworker housing

2026-02-18T02:33:28Z

By Keli‘i Akina When it comes to supporting agricultural production in Hawaii, there seems to be a big difference between rhetoric and reality. State and county officials frequently identify farming as the key to diversifying our economy and making our islands self-sufficient in food production. But what policies have they implemented that would make it […]

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Pause versus Stop

2026-02-11T08:30:24Z

In 2024, we in Hawaii became the beneficiaries of Act 46 (House Bill 2404) which the Governor’s office called the “largest income tax cut for working families in the state’s history.” In odd-numbered years up to 2031, the bill jacked up the standard deduction; in even-numbered years, the bill substantially broadened the existing rate brackets […]

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Julian Marley, Five for Fighting, Foghat, Tower of Power, and Reggie Watts Headline a Genre-Spanning February at Blue Note Hawaii

2026-02-13T02:01:01Z

From Grammy-winning reggae and jazz icons to indie innovators, comedy favorites, and local legends, February delivers soul-stirring performances across genres. HONOLULU (February 3, 2026) – Blue Note Hawaii lights up February with a genre-spanning lineup that blends legendary acts, rising stars, and local icons. Pop-rock hitmaker Five for Fighting brings his timeless catalog of anthems […]

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Makana Lei Kukui Tour – March 2026 Hawai’i

2026-02-13T02:01:02Z

Lei Kukui: a night of music to kindle the flames of culture, resilience and a path forward. Rooted in all things Hawaiian yet ripe with cultural diversity, Makana weaves an intimate evening of uplifting and diverse song, stringing together mele and moʻolelo with newly-invented and handed-down slack key tunings, styles and untold stories. Hawaiian slack […]

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Playbook to make housing in Hawaii ‘more abundant and affordable’

2026-02-09T23:14:51Z

By Keli‘i Akina It’s that time of year again — the Sunday in February when many of us gather with family and friends to eat delicious food and tune in to watch the Super Bowl. This year, the Patriots and Seahawks will take the field, each having made it to the championship game by following […]

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Idle Land and Natural Resource Funds

2026-02-09T07:54:05Z

Earlier this year, we started looking at reports of agencies that have administratively established special funds. We noted some fairly large nest eggs controlled by the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. This week we will turn our attention to the Department of Land and Natural Resources because we wouldn’t want […]

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Family of Spies

2026-04-05T00:55:28Z

Family of Spies—A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor by Christine Kuehn, is a terrific read. It’s the second work I’ve encountered in the last six months in what I’ve dubbed as the “my-German-grandfather-did-odious-things-during-the-war” genre. Both are nonfiction creations from American journalists who uncovered disturbing truths […]

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Audit finds Honolulu OER big on spending, short on accomplishments

2026-02-02T17:40:47Z

By Keli‘i Akina It seems that Honolulu’s Office of Economic Revitalization is very good at spending money, but not particularly effective at revitalizing the county’s economy. That’s not just my opinion. The Honolulu Office of the City Auditor released an audit earlier this month that paints a picture of an agency that has spent hundreds of millions […]

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Tax versus Judiciary

2026-02-02T07:47:00Z

While our Legislature is busily considering changes to our tax laws, the courts are also helping us work through the laws we already have. There are two Hawaii Supreme Court cases pending that involve fights over the extent to which courts can get involved at all. In Booking.com BV vs. Suganuma, the taxpayer sued under […]

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Offense and defense needed as legislative session begins

2026-01-26T16:02:21Z

By Keli‘i Akina The Hawai‘i Legislature kicked off its 2026 session this week, and it sure feels like it could be another year for big, positive changes. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, of which I am president, stands ready to make that happen by supporting initiatives that promise to move our state forward, while opposing […]

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New Year, New Variance

2026-01-23T07:22:01Z

Budget hearings already have begun at our Legislature. Our legislators make sure that the tax money we entrust to them is being spent wisely and efficiently. Or at least that’s what they are supposed to do. To help them do this, our state law, HRS section 37-75, requires agencies to come up a “variance report” that […]

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Healthy Aging Tips from Longevity Expert Dr. Bradley Willcox

2026-01-23T21:49:32Z

As the new year begins, many of us find ourselves reflecting on how we want to live in the years ahead. Resolutions often focus on eating better, exercising more, or managing stress, but underlying all of these goals is a deeper aspiration: to live not just longer, but healthier. To better understand what actually supports […]

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Instead of pausing historic tax cuts, reallocate current state funding

2026-01-21T20:30:06Z

By Keli‘i Akina Remember that historically big tax cut passed in 2024 that was supposed to save Hawaii taxpayers more than $7 billion through 2031? Well, I hope you didn’t count your chickens before they hatched because now it appears those phased-in cuts are already in danger. I had been hearing rumblings that Gov. Josh […]

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Idle Agriculture Funds

2026-01-14T08:10:30Z

Last week, we started looking at reports of agencies that have administratively established special funds. These funds are pots of money that are not created by statute so that only the expending agency, and not necessarily the Legislature (which is supposed to be overseeing all state expenditures), knows the details. We examined some Department of […]

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Easing regulations to build ag-worker housing ‘would be a win-win-win’

2026-01-21T20:28:27Z

By Keli‘i Akina What if we could help farmers, ease the housing crisis and improve Hawaii’s economy all at the same time? A series of simple reforms could do that. The starting point would be to make it easier to build farmworker housing on agricultural land. That would enable farm and ranch workers to find […]

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Idle DOE Funds

2026-01-12T08:12:26Z

This year, much of our legislative session is going to be about finding enough money to counter massive cuts in federal funding that we used to depend on. New credits and incentives are going to be a tough sell. We will be fighting hard against new “revenue raisers,” i.e., taxes, that are certain to be […]

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Three things our state legislators could do to make 2026 a great year

2026-01-05T21:34:23Z

By Keli‘i Akina The first day of 2026 was two days ago, but it’s never too late to make resolutions about how we can improve ourselves. This applies as well to our state lawmakers, who will gather later this month for another legislative session that, for good or bad, will affect all of us who […]

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Tax Word Find

2026-01-05T07:16:58Z

Happy New Year! Aloha to the departed 2025 and the 2026 before us! We start our year with a recap of the year behind us and give you a Word Find puzzle with 26 key words and phrases. The new Administration in Washington D.C. dominated news early in the year, with EXECUTIVE ORDERS flowing like […]

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Charitable Giving This Year?

2026-01-03T05:43:29Z

I’m sometimes asked about what the tax laws are with regard to charitable deductions. Do our governments allow a tax benefit for donations to charitable organizations such as the Tax Foundation of Hawaii (shameless plug there)? Well, they do, and then they don’t. This year, both the federal and state governments allow an itemized deduction […]

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Ring in new year with ideas promoting freedom, opportunity, prosperity

2026-01-02T21:08:14Z

By Keli‘i Akina At the dawn of a new year, it’s always nice to take stock of where we have been and where we are going. It’s also a good time to identify harmful old ideas that have done nothing to help and should be sent to the scrapyard. One of those is that more […]

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Post-Pandemic Pandemonium: The Reason for our Crazy Times

2025-12-31T14:47:51Z

For anyone who still looks at the news, the world seems on the brink. Many nations are experiencing internal conflict between increasingly alienated political parties, with free speech being limited and violence surging. Ethnic unrest is challenging the social fabric of many western societies, as nationalists clash with immigrants. At the same time, there is […]

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Gaming This Year?

2025-12-23T21:21:12Z

The revenue news that has been put out recently has been less than encouraging. Federal support is dropping. Prices of things are rising. Tourism numbers are getting softer. At recent events, our Governor said that he wanted to tap into the Rainy Day Fund to help balance the budget, and that the historic tax cuts […]

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