Grassroot 'legislative wrap-up' tour starts May 13

from Grassroot Institute

We now know the dates, times and locations of this year's Grassroot "legislative wrap-up tour," during which Grassroot staffers Malia Hill and Ted Kefalas will share their insights regarding the results of this year's 2025 state legislative session.

The fun will start on Tuesday, May 13, on Kauai. From there, the forums will go to Oahu on Wednesday, May 14; Hawaii Island's Hilo side on Thursday, May 15; and finally Maui on Friday, May 16.

Hill is Grassroot's policy director; Kefalas, officially titled director of strategic campaigns, is Grassroot's man on the ground at the Legislature.

Grassroot President Keli‘i Akina will moderate the Kauai, Maui and Oahu presentations, and Grassroot finance director Sean Mitsui will moderate the Hawaii Island event.

Official reservation information will be shared soon. For more information, email info@grassrootinstitute.org. or call 808-864-1776.

See more Grassroot state and county testimonies

To see more Grassroot testimonies submitted for consideration by our lawmakers at both the county and state levels, please go here. The state testimonies concern bills that were still alive during the past two weeks of the current legislative session.

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Mayor Blangiardi signs bill supported by Grassroot to help local restaurants

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has signed into law a bill approved by the City Council and supported by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii that makes permanent a city program launched in 2022 as a way to help local restaurants recover from COVID-19 lockdowns.

The pilot program allowed Oahu restaurants to expand their seating onto sidewalks, parklets and other designated public spaces. As Grassroot said in its March 19 testimony to the City Council, the program "provided restaurants flexibility and the opportunity to innovate with new seating arrangements that take advantage of Oahu’s beautiful weather and scenery."

Mayor Blangiardi said making the program permanent was "a no-brainer."

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It's never too late to highlight a good letter to the editor

Belated kudos to Kaneohe resident Bob Gould for his letter to the editor that was published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Jan. 31. Gould wrote against the proposed Honolulu empty homes tax, which was deferred for the time being but likely will be back before too long to haunt Oahu homeowners and taxpayers some more. Gould wrote:

"I have come to the conclusion that Bill 46 regarding a so-called empty-homes tax has nothing at all to do with increasing available housing. It is simply designed to raise tax revenue for the city, preferably on the backs of foreign investors. All the talk about increasing housing is just a smokescreen to try to get support and hide the true intent of the bill.

"If it were really about increasing housing, all of the revenue would go to that and none would go elsewhere. … The bill says at least 20% of revenues 'may be deposited into the housing development special fund' to be used for affordable housing. Not 100%. It is a fraudulent money grab."

Perhaps Gould's concern will be addressed when the tax proposal is taken up again by the City Council. But no matter how it turns out, the proposed empty homes tax should be deferred again, and this time permanently. The true "solution" to Hawaii's housing crisis is not to punish existing homeowners and taxpayers, but simply to get out of the way and let homebuilders build more homes.

For a refresher course on why an empty homes tax would be a less-than-desirable policy, see Grassroot's May 2023 report "The 'empty homes' theory of Hawaii's housing crisis: A tax on empty homes might increase rental occupancies and generate tax revenues, but there is no evidence showing it would increase the state’s housing supply or reduce housing or rental prices."