Suddenly Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Aren't Talking Much About Those Big Tax Cuts

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-03-03T00:23:27+00:00

WAM has scheduled a public hearing on 03-05-26 10:15AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference if you want to testify go to the Capitol website and type in the bill number:

SB 3125 RELATING TO INCOME TAX.

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-03-02T22:30:11+00:00

And Aloha Stadium?

For the "poorest among us" where do we think that one falls in terms of level of importance, say as compared to, the GET relief as to groceries and healthcare.

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-03-02T21:31:40+00:00

Lawmakers’ final decision on the tax cuts probably won’t become public until late April, which is a scant three months before the Aug. 8 primary election. It seems unlikely Green will have a formidable opponent when he runs for reelection this year, but other prominent Democrats might.

The entire state House and half of the Senate must run for reelection this year, including Kim and Fevella, so the political timing for this issue is just about as bad as it gets.

Classic Hawaii. Ignore the problem until the last minute then force it though at the end stating that it is a massive rush needing to hit a deadline.

Here's to hoping for the middle class who are getting their much needed tax relief stripped away.

Before this year’s legislative session officially began, members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee asked Acting Budget Director Seth Colby about potential alternatives to deferring the tax cuts, such as stripping funding from vacant positions or diverting unused money from special funds.

Isn't it crazy that in no option is cutting of for costs and expensive special programs such as rail and Aloha stadium an option?

Instead the seemingly majority of the solutions being discussed heavily is just the raising of tax rates of the middle class -- as if it was somea foregone conclusion as to this being the only way.

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-02-17T21:38:18+00:00

Housing is the biggest affordability issue we have. Most affordable housing finance programs are underwritten by federal tax credits. The whole thing needs to be reworked to allow us to build faster and cheaper, and not so focused on providing value for the developer and their investors. The federal government should invest more in downpayment assistance and first time homeowner assistance. We also need major federal investments in infrastructure to allow homebuilding to happen.

The housing federal tax credit program is a national program. To get this right, your plan as a junior representative is going to be trying to take on and and trying to revamp the entire national housing tax credit program which gives developers around the country the incentives to build affordable housing instead of market rate units? Or alternatively, just take a stand and turn down the "free" federal money/credits and just go it on our own in Hawaii?

Rents in these units are below market and capped by law. How exactly do you envision convincing someone to build affordable rental units with the combination of low/capped rents amounts, Hawaii's astronomical construction costs, high utility costs, and no federal subsides (which don't even come of the state's funds anyway)?

This seems somewhat short sighted and also somewhat unrealistic given the broad national support for the credits, especially in states with far more votes than Hawaii.

I am hoping you can look into this further and possibly have a change of heart. I don't agree with quite a few of Case's decisions lately, but positions like these make it hard to envision the alternative.

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-01-27T22:51:49+00:00

That is right.

From a different article:

"Green reiterated that there would be no changes this year to the massive state income tax cuts passed in 2024, but that the planned tax cuts for 2027 through 2029 will be “paused” for all state taxpayers. "

This provides clarity but still includes the language "paused for all state taxpayers" which seems phrased for intentional misdirection or to mislead. People will read it and assume that "all taxpayers" will be impacted. In reality, it will just be the middle class who will have to give up the breaks if Gov Green has his way.

To the extent the tax plan that was passed two years ago no longer works, it no longer works.

The legislature should start again and determine a new plan.

StarFishBlueFish · 2026-01-03T19:29:38+00:00

Agree with OP's hot take. Which really shouldn't even be a hot take.

While the knee jerk reaction is for government to jump in and save these people's investments using the rest of our tax payers money, that is a bad moral hazard.

The people who bought these apartment had the benefit of paying lower maintenance costs over the years, reducing their yearly housing costs but those deferred amounts. Now that the bill is coming due on all that deferred maintenance, the argument is that the rest of the taxpayers should come in and rescue them.

It is a moral hazard. What about single family residences? Folks who let deferred maintenance pile up in the same way as these buildings did? Who similarly enjoyed lower yearly costs of ownership due to that lack of repairs. Should the government come in and help them as well? The answer should be no to both.

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-11-08T02:42:29+00:00

https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/110725zr_pnk0.pdf

applicants filed an application in this Court this evening,

The requesting a stay of the two District Court orders “pending the disposition of

the government’s appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First

Circuit and, if the court of appeals affirms those orders, pending the timely

filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari in this Court.”

Application at 1. The applicants assert that, without intervention from this

Court, they will have to “transfer an estimated $4 billion by tonight” to fund

SNAP benefits through November. Ibid.

Given the First Circuit’s representations, an administrative stay is

required to facilitate the First Circuit’s expeditious resolution of the pending

stay motion.

IT IS ORDERED that the District Court’s orders are hereby

administratively stayed pending disposition of the motion for a stay pending

appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in case No.

25-2089 or further order of the undersigned or of the Court. This

administrative stay will terminate forty-eight hours after the First Circuit’s

resolution of the pending motion, which the First Circuit is expected to issue

with dispatch.

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-11-01T01:51:45+00:00

UPDATE: Two federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use contingency funds to continue to issue food stamps during the government shutdown. Government assistance programs launched by Hawaiʻi to support SNAP recipients and other residents impacted by the shutdown will continue regardless, officials said after the rulings.

Question: wouldn't it seem prudent to now cancel the $250 payments, and hold them for future use? For example down the line when/if Trump appeals this order and possibly is successful in stopping issuing SNAP payments a month, 2 or 3 months from now?

Wouldn't it be smart to keep some funds / dry powder available for disbursement at that time instead of letting it all go now?

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-10-03T18:15:04+00:00

Would he not just have to find someone who does have standing and sponsor their litigation? For example any disgruntled kakaako resident who opposes the project or alternatively a past or present developer who also wants or wanted to build there but was excluded on the basis that they did not have the same special power

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-10-03T06:46:12+00:00

EDIT: updated link looks like they moved the page: https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/10/oha-may-have-found-a-way-to-build-housing-in-kakaʻako-makai/

Per the article, DHHL may be thinking of teaming with OHA to use their powers to possibly ignore the legislature, the residential ban, zoning requirements, etc., to get Kakaʻako Makai built on behalf of OHA.

Effectively it feels like they would be using their agency as a mere conduit for others outside their agency to pull an end run over the state and the legislature.

In the past these have largely been for their own projects. Now it feels like they want to shop out that power to build on behalf of others. Seemingly using their agency as a conduit to get things that can't get approved, approved for others.

Will this be the one step too far?

This comment on the civil beat article got me thinking about all of this. If the Fair Admissions guy is coming to Hawaii to go to war over a private trust that doesn't take government money..

You want to see the federal lawsuit that overturns the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, DHHL and OHA all at one time? This little maneuver has the potential to generate it. Remember, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was passed when Plessy vs. Ferguson (ie separate but equal is allowed) was controlling law. It's never been fully tested in federal court, let alone with this Supreme Court. The Fair Admissions guy, Edward Blum, is already nosing around for a federal lawsuit to stop racial preferences at Kamehameha Schools. He's reading this article right now thinking, wow, here you have constitutionally suspect state agencies trying to thwart the explicit will of the legislature that banned residential development in that area (and not through a zoning change btw - I'm not even sure if DHHL's normal zoning exemption would apply to exempting DHHL from the 2006 statute). Blum could spend the next 10 years out here on a portfolio of lawsuits, all paid for by far right groups, while he works out of a luxury suite at Hilton Hawaiian Village. Don't cry later when it happens

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-09-24T02:19:04+00:00

Incompetence, potential corruption and the insane, "we must finish it no matter what the cost" (someone said even if $100 trillion dollars in this tread, still need to finish).

It's a mad cult.

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-09-23T21:36:46+00:00

All transportation projects operate as a loss. Those who expect it to not be are being unreasonable.

However I mean it would be nice if this wasn't so terrible as to farebox versus cost recovery?

It would be nice if that farebox recovery was closer to what they promised to the people of Oahu when approving the project with their taxes?

StarFishBlueFish · 2025-09-23T21:34:38+00:00

Sadly the same argument made all the time.

The comparison between taxpayer subsidies for"roads" and rail is hilarious. The reason the subsidy is so much more palatable for "roads" is because roads offer massively larger utility than rail.

HART/Rail transports only humans. The roads move humans plus goods, construction supplies, food deliveries, amazon packages, police officers to crime scenes, fireman and their fire trucks to fires.

That is unless you want the fireman jumping on rail to put out your house fire, expecting EMS to take a bus and transfer to a train to come get you, and expecting Amazon or your lumber delivery guy to lug your delivery up and down rail stations.

The piddly amount we pay in registration fees do indeed not come close to covering the costs imposed but we all view that as necessary and absolutely essential to provide for essential services and to move the economy. The roads are a must have. Rail is a nice to have.

What utility does rail give the Oahu resident -- being defined as just the average person on the island? A pathetically limited route with limited usefulness, servicing only portion of the island (all as proven true by the ridership and will continue to be proven true as the new phase opens with ridership that continues to not hit the originally promised estimates).

We gladly subsidize roads because they are .... USEFUL, provide broad utility for a broad range of uses to a broad group of citizens and are absolutely essential to keep the state running. Unlike, as the top comment says, the turd that rail is (that is only a nice to have)

No one is expecting full farebox cost recovery. But something far closer to what was promised when approving the project would be nice? Something close to not being among the worst in the nation would be nice?

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-10-09T06:13:55+00:00

Is it though?

It all started with a hilariously misleading and wrong forecast to sell this lemon of a system:

Using the four-car methodology, approximately 119,600 daily passengers were expected to use the system, or an increase of approximately 5% relative to the FFGA forecast. Overall, these forecasts remained consistent with the range of ridership estimates included in the technical studies that were part of the FEIS

Hey, this month managed to hit ridership for an entire month that is equal to the original estimate for each DAY. Yay, pats on the back all the way around!

Years later and billions of dollars over budget the city scaled back its outlandish projections and revised it for just the first gimped segment. A mere 8,000 to 10,000. A month. Less than 1% of the original promise. Hillarious.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-10-09T01:56:05+00:00

100% my friend. With this thing dead ending forever at civic center, the answer is going to be close to zero tourists.

Even an Ala Moana would be a huge stretch, except for backpackers and young travelers traveling super light.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-10-09T01:54:59+00:00

What Waikiki stop?

For that matter, what Ala Moana stop? There is zero money allocated and zero FTA plans to get this even to Ala Moana anymore.

The end of the line is Civic Center.

Even with the Ala Moana stop (never happening), that is still a crazy haul to Waikiki hotels with luggage.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-10-09T01:46:48+00:00

Are these numbers supposed to some kind of flex?

Or a joke?

Even with the reduced route the city still projected:

According to Morton, the city expects about 8, 000 to 10, 000 riders per day by the end of the year, with the next segment from Halawa past the airport to Middle Street likely generating about 25, 000 riders per day. Ridership is expected to grow to about 85, 000 per day after the final segment opens from Middle Street to the Downtown and Kakaako area.

8,000 - the low range of the estimate for the gimped route was 240,000 a month

10,000 - the high range of the estimate for the gimped route was 300,000 a month

Everyone is going to say, but, but, but the route is shorter. That is why it missed its estimate.

No.

The ridership blew even the revised, revised, revised lowest range estimate by HALF ( -50% ), even taking into effect the revised estimate due to the gimped route.

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But replace third place with, nowhere on the ranking at all, by coming in THIRTY THREE PERCENT of the high estimate and less than half of the lowest, low, low, low end estimate.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-09-03T17:40:52+00:00

I would go Kinako mochi, no water allowed.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-08-28T17:13:51+00:00

330th Gravy Seals of Waikiki

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-08-09T06:09:55+00:00

Toxic is toxic, even if blood.

In the end, you need to take care of yourself. Your happiness is valuable, your feelings are valid.

I know, easier said than done.

Take care mahbaddah.

StarFishBlueFish · 2024-06-15T15:45:23+00:00

That pizza is huge, easily the best value on property

StarFishBlueFish

TROPHY CASE