Senator Ige Can't Be Trusted To Protect Taxpayers

David Ige Once Promised Hawaii Taxpayers He Wouldn't Raise Their Taxes, Then Promptly Broke It

News Release from Hawaii Republican Party

HONOLULU (October 30, 2014) -- Throughout the campaign, Senator Ige has tried to convince taxpayers that he would represent their interests, but his record tells a different story. In fact, Senator Ige once signed a pledge to Hawaii taxpayers to oppose all tax increases, and has since become a champion of proposing and passing tax and fee hikes.

"Senator Ige's campaign rhetoric simply doesn't match his long record of raising taxes and fees on Hawaii families and small businesses that already have to deal with the worst cost of living in the country. After breaking his written pledge not to raise taxes, it's pretty clear Senator Ige's election year promises can't be trusted." --Hawaii Republican Party Communications Advisor Ted Kwong

BACKGROUND:

Senator Ige Admits He Considered Huge Tax Hikes On Hawaii Families As Chairman Of Ways And Means. "I take responsibility for the fact -- when I became chair, the deficit was 200 million. Within three months it had grown to $1.2 billion in a $5 billion budget. It was clear to me that we had to look at all options. So yes I did look at the pension tax as an option. I did look at raising the GET tax." (Senator David Ige, Hawaii News Now Debate, 10/15/14)

Senator Ige Voted For And Governor Abercrombie Signed Over $833 Million Of Tax And Fee Increases Into Law Since 2011, Including Taxes And Fees On Car Ownership. (Jorge Martin and Max Velthoven, "Tax Increases Enacted by Democrat Governors Since 2011," Americans for Tax Reform, 5/9/14)

But Senator Ige Took A Written Pledge To Taxpayers He Would Oppose Efforts To Raise Taxes. "The curious question in this partisan scuffle is not whether Ige broke the pledge or not -- he has voted for tax increases over the past decade -- but why he would sign the pledge at all."(Derrick DePledge, "The Pledge," Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10/29/14)

Senator Ige Has Failed To Explain The Flip-Flop. "Ige told Hawaii News Now: 'I do not have explicit memory of signing it (the pledge). I have to admit that.' Ige said he did not sign the anti-tax pledge in the last four years but probably signed it about ten years ago. The Americans for Tax Reform said politicians who sign the pledge are bound to it as long as they remain in office."(Keoki Kerr, "Republicans say Ige broke pledge on taxes," Hawaii News Now, 10/8/14)

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