Friday, March 29, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, February 7, 2021
What Are They Thinking?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2944 Views :: Economy, Taxes

What Are They Thinking?

by Tom Yamachika, President, Tax Foundation Hawaii

In the beginning of February each year, the Japanese celebrate the Setsubun festival. The festivities typically include roasted beans. Family members throw them out the door, or start pelting one of their own members who is dressed up like a demon, to represent driving out the bad luck and welcoming in the good luck.

At the Legislature, we’re not throwing the beans, we’re counting them. And there’s a lot of counting to do because there is so much less money available this year to fund the things that government is used to doing. (I didn’t say that government “needs to be doing” or “must do” them. That remains to be seen.)

At the Legislature, committee hearings have begun in earnest and it doesn’t seem at all like we are in an economic crisis. Committee after committee is hearing all manner of bills expanding or extending tax exemptions, credits, and other incentives. These revenue cuts, sometimes known as tax expenditures, will need to be paid for somehow, but perhaps the legislators on those committees are leaving that decision to the money committees, the Ways and Means Committee in the Senate and the Finance Committee in the House, to make those tough calls.

Perhaps the goal for the legislators in the non-money committees is to mollify their respective constituencies, thinking that the overall effect of their little bills will be minimal compared with the huge problem that we’re all facing. In other words, creating little islands of happiness adrift in the sea of pain.

Some of the bills getting current hearings include HB 359 / SB 1321, which would grant a casino license to one lucky party who will be able to run their casino on Hawaiian home lands. It won’t be cheap, however. Just applying for the license will cost at least $1 million. Getting the license will set the winner back another $5 million. There will be a 45 percent tax on gross gaming revenues. And lease rent to be paid to DHHL is extra.

HB 433 would create a “Climate Change Mitigation Surcharge” of an unspecified amount on the rental of a motor vehicle. But, although this surcharge looks suspiciously like the rental motor vehicle tax we already have, the bill drafters carefully put the surcharge provisions in a statutory chapter that the Department of Land and Natural Resources administers. So, does that mean DLNR is going to need to start hiring and training tax collectors. Why don’t we just come out and say it’s a hike in the rental motor vehicle tax?

HB 1174 / SB 921 require our tax folks to get greedier. It changes the motion picture and TV production credit so that if a single production wants tax credits aggregating more than $15 million in two taxable years, it needs to give the State a quarter percent of worldwide gross revenues of the production. Forever.

And meow! There’s a turf war heating up over the motion picture and TV production credit. SB 932 would boot DBEDT’s Creative Industries Division out of its role administering the production credit, and it would substitute the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority. Why? According to the bill, HGIA “has better financial expertise than the Hawaii film office to evaluate the paperwork submitted for the motion picture, digital media, and film production income tax credit.” We hope their expertise with feature films and TV productions doesn’t just come from watching them.

And our legislative session has just begun! More interesting and creative ideas are bound to come up, and we will be here to share them with you!

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT