Legislators give Hawaii residents ‘something to cheer about’

from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Lawmakers in Hawaii aren’t known for cutting taxes or reducing regulations. But this year, they gave the people “something to cheer about,” according to Grassroot Institute of Hawaii president and CEO Keli‘i Akina. 

Speaking last Friday on KSSK with Hawaii’s most popular morning radio host, Michael W. Perry of the “Perry & The Posse” program, Akina highlighted several celebration-worthy achievements from this year’s legislative session. 

He praised the Legislature for not only blocking tax hike proposals but also for passing HB2025, a historic state income tax cut that will save taxpayers billions of dollars in coming years. 

Akina also applauded new laws aimed at relaxing homebuilding regulations, including one that allows up to two accessory dwelling units per residential lot and one that will make it easier to convert commercial buildings into residences. 

“I think we need to give kudos to our state Legislature and the governor for this year’s session because they really listened to the people and they did some good things for Hawaii now and for the future,” he said.

TRANSCRIPT

7-12-24 Keli‘i Akina with host Michael W. Perry of “Perry & The Posse” on KSSK radio

Michael W. Perry: Dr. Keli‘i Akina is the guru over at the Grassroot Institute. He runs the place, and he’s in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as well. He is very concerned with freedom.

I think we’re both pleasantly surprised by how this legislative session went with both the governor and the legislators. Am I right? 

Keli‘i Akina: Absolutely, Mike. I think we need to give kudos to our state Legislature and the governor for this year’s session because they really listened to the people and they did some good things for Hawaii now and for the future.

Perry: You know what, I’m thinking Iam Tongi had something to do with that on TV when he said, “Oh, I don’t live in Hawaii anymore, I was priced out of paradise.” I think everybody saw that and everybody was embarrassed by it.

Akina: I think you’re right, Mike. People today are aware that locals are leaving Hawaii — people who’ve lived here for generations are now leaving Hawaii. And I think that does embarrass our government because it shows we’re not doing everything the way it should be done.

Perry: Definitely not. You wrote recently about freedom, freedom to be ourselves. I think you start talking about abstract concepts like liberty and freedom and stuff like that and people kind of tune it out. But it means being yourself as individuals or families or as a community.

And the freedom is what gives us prosperity, and we’ve lost so much of it. And this legislative session, we got a little bit of it back. Let’s talk about a couple of the examples — taxes.

Akina: Well, sometimes our wins happen when the state doesn’t do something. There were numerous tax hike proposals, but every single one of them was killed. Your legislators actually did something good.

They prevented bills that would raise state property taxes, conveyance tax, carbon tax, transit accommodation tax and another green fee. And that’s an exciting thing because this state is really known for raising taxes, but we did the exact opposite this year.

Perry: How about making it easier to build homes?

Akina: Oh, absolutely. One of the biggest problems with homebuilding is the level of regulation we have, and we cut several regulations. One of them was the restriction on building another little accessory dwelling unit, or a cottage, on your property.

Now, the Legislature allows us to have up to two ADUs per lot and that’s going to increase housing by at least 47,000 units over the next several years.

Perry: And it’s a great beginning because if we look into the land use and everything, as we’ve said many times, I don’t know the exact numbers, but it’s something like this: Ninety-five percent of the people live on 5% of the land on Oahu. That’s where we are.

Akina: Well, we actually use only 5% of the land for housing and urban development right now. There’s a lot of land available to build on, but some of the regulations that were cut this year allow us to grow housing without expanding out into the green of Hawaii.

For example, there was a bill that allows adaptive reuse of business buildings. In other words, empty business buildings or buildings that are having vacancies, because people are working at home and so forth, can now be converted into residential units. And that’s going to really help increase the supply of housing.

Perry: Good to see the signs of change in the state of Hawaii. It’s a wonderful thing. 

There’s one thing that the federal government has to do, and I was wondering if you think we’re making any progress on the Jones Act. This involves Hawaii’s congressional delegation. I know Ed Case is on it. I’m not sure about the rest of them. How are we doing with the Jones Act? Because that is one of the major reasons people get priced out of paradise.

Akina: Well, I think one of the things that is starting to move across the country is the recognition that it’s not only Hawaii and Puerto Rico that are impacted by the Jones Act. It’s other states. Throughout the country. There are coastal states like California and Texas that also get impacted by the Jones Act. And any state whatsoever that gets cargo that is sent to the east or west coast and then carted over by train and truck is also impacted by the Jones Act.

And so, we’ve got a great supporter of Jones Act reform in Rep. Ed Case, and he’s trying to get his fellow Democrats to jump on board and partner with Republicans in Jones Act reform up there in D.C. 

So, it’s looking brighter than it ever has before, and at Grassroot Institute, we’re going to continue to research this, and continue to educate our government leaders about the cost of the Jones Act and the need to reform it.

Perry: That’s what they do. The government doesn’t need to do a whole bunch of studies because Keli‘i and the Grassroot Institute have already done them and they’re out there. That’s what they’re doing is telling everybody about it. 

If you want to find out what Keli‘i and the gang are up to, go to grassrootinstitute.org. Grassrootinstitute.org. Thanks, Keli‘i. Appreciate you talking with us.

Akina: Mike, great to be with you. I just want to say one thing: I really want to praise the governor and the Legislature for giving Hawaii the biggest tax cut in its history, and that’s something to cheer about.

Perry: It’s for everybody too. That’s really good.