ACUF’s 2017 Hawaii Ratings Show the State Remains Radically Overregulated, Zero Legislators Receiving Awards
News Release from American Conservative Union, December 15, 2017
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) has just released its ratings for the 2017 meeting of the Hawaii State Legislature. These ratings, a portion of the comprehensive and nationwide ratings released by the ACUF, are designed to reflect how elected officials view the role of government and are helpful in illustrating how both chambers of the legislature as well as individual members’ prioritize a wide variety of issue areas that directly affect Hawaiians.
The ACUF has reviewed each piece of legislation voted on in both the Senate and House of Representatives to produce average scores for each chamber as well as individual scores for each sitting member.
Hawaii legislators took pen to paper on various issues during the 2017 legislative session including physician assisted suicide, Obamacare implementation, income tax increases, and corporate subsidies. One or both chambers voted to:
- Allow doctors to prescribe medication that will end the life of a patient diagnosed with a terminal disease;
- Implement most of the elements of Obamacare, even if the law is repealed on the federal level;
- Dramatically increase the top rate of the state income tax from 8.25% to 11%; and
- Allot a total of $63 million in taxpayer funds to go toward special interests and specific corporations.
With a grand total of zero members of Hawaii’s House and Senate receiving an award from the ACUF this year, the state continues its downward spiral into government dependency, overregulation, high taxes, and a struggling economy and furthers its unfortunate reputation as one of the country’s most radically liberal states.
Legislation passed in Hawaii’s 2017 session sadly strengthens the role of big government in a state that continues to struggle against the negative effects of government overreach for many years. Scores from both chambers decreased from last year’s ratings, suggesting that the legislative body has a lot of room for improvement. Hawaii’s Senate average score decreased by 2% this year – from 27% in 2016 to 25% in 2017 – and the House’s score decreased by 3% - from 27% in 2016 to 24% this year.
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Related:
News Release 2016: Conservative Rankings of Hawaii Legislators—2016 Session
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