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Sunday, March 8, 2026

March 8 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:05 PM :: 446 Views

Fighting to save Hawaii’s income tax cuts

The Rental Car ‘Loophole’

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted March 6, 2026

DOTAX Goes After One Uber Driver

Hawaii Family Forum: Legislative Week in Review

VIDEO: Why do we tell you to call Legislators?

Broken promises on tax cuts carry a steep political price

SA: … There’s nothing so sweet for elected officials as giving voters big tax cuts in an election year — and nothing so mortifying as having to take them back before the next election….

Green initially proposed pausing the last five years of income tax cuts promised between 2024-2031. When his formal bill reached the Legislature, the pause seemed more like a repeal, amping up public discontent.

House Finance Chair Chris Todd last week proposed an alternative that would retain some cuts that most benefit the working class while increasing the hit on high earners.

If Todd’s plan passes the House, the Senate will have its own ideas and taxpayers won’t know their fate until secret conferences occur at session’s end….

Some lawmakers had a notion of making up a big part of the loss by scooping for the state the 0.5% county general excise tax for rail and transportation needs when it expires in 2030, worth more than $500 million a year.

County mayors, however, have signaled they’ll fight to extend the tax permanently and keep it for themselves. The Honolulu rail agency and City Council have already started planning for an expanded rail line even as it’s still six years from reaching its Kakaako terminus and likely facing further delays….

Broken promises, especially on taxes, inflame public cynicism….

read … Column: Broken promises on tax cuts carry a steep political price | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

SB2921: Excess in the state’s special funds may help ease budget concerns

SA: … More than 200 special financial accounts at 20 state agencies are being examined by Hawaii lawmakers for excessive holdings that could help pay for general state expenses amid a challenging budgetary environment.

A bill was introduced in January targeting 212 special accounts for potential transfers of “excess” balance amounts to the state’s general fund.

Senate Bill 2921 doesn’t specify how much money is being eyed for transfer but notes that a similar effort in 2021, aimed at shoring up state finances amid economic difficulties stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, swept $95 million from 74 special accounts….

In an audit published in October, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism was found to have not provided the Legislature with required information on as much as $100 million in special accounts.

Audits of special funds grouped by agency often identify accounts with excess or inactive balances, and also identify funds that don’t meet criteria for which they were established.

A 2021 audit of state Department of Health special accounts identified 24 accounts as having excess or inactive balances. Total balances of these funds topped $200 million…

The nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawaii has long criticized special funds, contending that some were created to hide excess general funds, some are improperly used because their fees lack a nexus to their spending, some collect fees far in excess of costs to deliver services, and many should be abolished in favor of using general fund revenue for programs.

Special funds, the organization said in 2008, represent nothing more than “hidden growth” in the size of state government….

SB2921: Text, Status

read … Excess in the state’s special funds may help ease budget concerns | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

As visitors to Hawaii decline, risks abound

SFG: …For years, thousands of Hawaii’s residents have left the Islands for the continental U.S., where better-paying jobs and lower housing costs are easier to find.

While Hawaii’s high cost of living is often blamed, experts say the deeper issue is that there aren’t enough high-paying jobs in industries beyond tourism to keep up with the soaring cost of living, leaving the state struggling to keep up with the rest of the nation.

It’s a striking illustration of why the state must diversify its economy.

“There’s still been growth in visitor numbers but the per person in real inflation-adjusted terms, spending was at its highest actually in 1988, so it means tourists now are spending less than they did individually in 1988,” Steven Bond-Smith, an economist at the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii, told SFGATE by phone.

Bond-Smith said a healthy economy in the US averages about 2% growth over long periods of time, but Hawaii is averaging much lower, at around 0.6%. Because the state hasn’t kept pace with the continent, residents are driven to leave.

“You need higher- and higher-value jobs and activities being done here,” Bond-Smith said. The jobs that tend to offer higher wages are in very large US cities and they’re particularly in tech or biotech, he explained. “The main activity here is obviously tourism, and it hasn’t had that kind of income growth that other places have had.”

Diversifying Hawaii’s economy, and the need to do so, isn’t a new concept. “People have been talking about diversifying the economy for decades,” Kelii Akina, CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, told SFGATE in a phone call.

“The government started talking about that under George Ariyoshi (in the 1970s and ’80s), when it looked as if tourism was disproportionately the leader in the economy,” Akina said. But he said the state has “been very unsuccessful in initiating real diversification,” arguing that its approach is flawed.

Akina said the government often “keeps businesses and industries going long after they have proven to be failed, proven to be noncompetitive in the market.” He pointed to efforts to build a film industry through tax credits and starting a breadfruit industry as examples he considers unsuccessful.

Instead, he said, the best thing the government can do is to get out of the way of business and eliminate regulations….

read … As visitors to Hawaii decline, risks abound

HECO Companies Propose Rate Increases in 2027 and 2028

IM: … HECO and Ulupono Initiative filed a joint proposal with the Commission on March 6, 2026…. HECO and Ulupono are proposing a $170,000,000 increase in revenue that would be recovered through an increase in current effective rates.

HECO 3.5% 2027 + 1.5% 2028 = 5.0% total
HELCO 4.5% 2027 + 1.3% 2028 = 5.8% total
MECO 5.2% 2027 + 1.2% 2028 = 6.4% total
Consolidated 5.3%

read … HECO Companies Propose Rate Increases in 2027 and 2028 | Ililani Media

SB2480 On the Move: Jungle Primary for Hawaii

CB: … Senate Bill 2480 would replace party primaries with a single open primary in which every candidate appears on one ballot and every voter can choose from the full field. This model is already used across much of the West — including Alaska, California, and Washington — and it dominates local elections nationwide, where roughly 85% of American cities use similar systems.

(CLUE: In California, this system removed all Republicans from statewide office. Elections are usually Dem vs Dem.)

Change may not come easily, but it is already happening. A decade ago, the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi went to federal court seeking to close primaries to independents altogether. They lost….

(TRANSLATION: Republican voters pile into the Primary. This is how Ed Case wins.)

read … One Ballot, Real Choice: Why Hawaiʻi Needs Truly Open Primaries - Honolulu Civil Beat

Next Domino? Nervous Dela Cruz Blames Campaign Spending Commission for Luke’s Bribery Problem

CB: … Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke recently confessed that she failed to report two $5,000 political donations four years ago as required by law. But one very powerful lawmaker and longtime Luke ally is blaming the Campaign Spending Commission for the political uproar Luke finds herself in.

That’s the view of Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, who for years worked seamlessly with Luke when she chaired the House Finance Committee.

Dela Cruz went down that oddly tangential path last week during a discussion of Senate Bill 2530, this year’s version of the long-sought pay-to-play bill that Dela Cruz and other legislative leaders killed at the last minute during the 2025 session. The bill would expand the current prohibition on political donations by certain state and county government contractors and grantees to include the contractors’ officers and immediate family members.

Does anyone think leadership will let the pay-to-play bill through this year? The Blog, for one, is doubtful. And cynical since good-government advocates and the Campaign Spending Commission have been working hard to win approval for several years, only to see it crash and burn at the last minute….

read … The Sunshine Blog: Colleen Hanabusa Would Have Loved This Tribute - Honolulu Civil Beat

The Most Influential People At The State Capitol Are Out In The Hallway

CB: … Top lobbyists often have more influence than the lawmakers themselves that pass or reject their bills. …Donating to campaigns remains essential to lobbying, and several of the top-paid lobbyists in 2025 also contributed generously to local candidates last year. …Lobbying is a very profitable profession in the islands. Their combined compensation totaled more than $10.2 million last year, according to the Ethics Commission….

Three of those top-paid lobbyists — Bruce Coppa, Blake Oshiro and Ross Yamasaki, all regular glad-handers at the Capitol — work for Capitol Consultants, which was founded by Morris and Radcliffe. … Yamasaki … chairs the Stadium Authority. …

lobbyist reports for the first two months of this year are due March 31.

Major issues of interest to lobbyists this session include adjusting the green fee on visitors, gambling and tobacco proposals, short-term rentals and a proposed working relationship between the Hawaiʻi Medical Services Association, the state’s largest health insurer, and Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, one of its biggest hospital companies….

read … The Most Influential People At The State Capitol Are Out In The Hallway - Honolulu Civil Beat

Grand Wailea’s expansion plans advancing after years of debate

MN: … One of Maui’s largest resorts is one step closer to adding 137 rooms after seven years of deferred votes and disputes over protecting iwi kūpuna (Native Hawaiian ancestral remains) and managing water usage, traffic and more visitors.

(CLUE: TVRs are being crushed to feed this hotel.)

The Maui Planning Commission voted 5-2 earlier this week to give The Grand Wailea’s expansion project the green light, but with more than 30 conditions that include limits on how much water the hotel can use and requirements to ~~work with~~ (give money to) Native Hawaiian lineal and cultural descendants….

The Grand Wailea, which opened in 1991, has 844 total accommodations, with 737 guest rooms, 57 suites and 50 villas across a property of nearly 40 acres. It’s slated to get even bigger with the proposed addition of the guest rooms, as well as new pool amenities, landscaping enhancements and 30 new public beach parking stalls. The new rooms will be added to the Wailea and Haleakalā wings, which will stay the same height, while two new floors will be added to the existing Chapel and Lagoon wings, according to the resort.

“Large hotels and existing hotels who have been here for 30 years have to stay up to date and stay relevant if they are going to be part of the global tourism economy,” said Ashley Lindsey, vice chair of the Planning Commission. “I’m not saying that I support the tourism economy as our primary, but until we shift over to something that could sustain us, we need to keep our hotels relevant.”

Lindsey voted in favor, along with Chairperson Kimberly Thayer and commissioners Joshua Circle-Woodburn, Christopher Elizares and Brian Ward. Commissioners Mark Deakos and Crichton Lind voted in opposition. …

read … Grand Wailea’s expansion plans advancing after years of debate over ancestral remains, tourism impacts : Maui Now

Pie in Sky: Hawaii Seaglider Wing Hit Water In Testing

BH: … In October 2025, a prototype seaglider built by REGENT, the company behind the much-discussed Hawaii Seaglider Initiative, was undergoing hydrofoil testing in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, when the craft’s wing struck the water and sustained structural damage. Two licensed captains were on board during the test run, and although no one was injured, the prototype had to be pulled from testing while engineers examined what happened and evaluated whether the design might need to change….

VIDEO: REGENT Seaglider prototype damaged during hydrofoiling testing - YouTube

read … Hawaii Seaglider Wing Hit Water In Testing. Military Moves Ahead.

Meth Camp moored along Keehi Stream poses knotty challenges

SA: … Some of the waterborne shelters have been in the stream since 2017,… occupants are dumping urine, human feces and garbage into the stream ….

Ahead of a June 2024 DLNR sweep of the state-controlled side of Keehi Stream, Aiu told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the department had warned 55 people living in the floating shelters and on land.

During the sweep, DLNR said that several of “the floating camps” simply crossed to the city side of the stream where Kahauiki Village is located “before the state cleanup crew could reach them.” …

“At Ke‘ehi Stream,” Aiu said in a statement, “the real issue is not the two-story houseboat. Dogs are left to run free and they chase people, theft is affecting adjacent businesses, and there are various sanitation issues ongoing. It is difficult to identify specific individuals who may be causing the problems, so the entire encampment needs to be addressed.” ….

People who live aboard the shelters in Keehi Stream have run into Nimitz Highway traffic to get to the other side and been chased by police into Kahauiki Village, which is home to over 300 children and another 200 or so adults who live in the village’s 138 units….

While Kahauiki Village emphasizes the importance of maintaining itself as a safe community, “We always have to tell the kids, ‘Don’t go down there because it isn’t safe.’”…

Some women, notably, built their own single-person structures into the support beams of the viaduct itself, where they could then pull up makeshift ladders to prevent ~~anyone~~ (rapists) from climbing in….

read … Homeless encampment moored along Keehi Stream poses knotty challenges | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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