...we are exporting around 15%-20% of our general excise tax....

SB 473, SD1, proposing carry permit issue rules under the Federal retired Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), has a hearing, Tuesday, 02-24 at 9:15AM....

The Hawaii State Legislature opened on January 21, 2015 and today, February 20, 2015, is DECKING.  What that means is that all bills that have been assigned to multiple committees, must have moved to their final committees....

Incorporating the precautionary principle into public policy is itself “an activity [that] raises threats of harm to human health or the environment.”....

In the past nine years, Utah has decreased the number of homeless by 72 percent—largely by finding and building apartments where they can live, permanently, with no strings attached....

The 2015 Neighborhood Board elections will be held in April and May of this year. At stake are 437 seats on Oahu’s 33 Neighborhood Boards....

... According to ITEP, payment of sales and excise taxes takes up an average of 11% of family income for the poorest 20% of earners ....

The fasted growing type of pass-through business is the S corporation....

We have good news to share about our fights against unfair taxes and regulation....

The best part of the hearing was hearing Dustin Barca go on about toxins and the horrible corporations. He even talked about how the cigarette companies and their evils. It’s weird because I just saw him smoking some corporate grown tobacco and inhaling toxins....

...the effect of this bill is to burden the compliant small businesses and owner/operator establishments by creating a system that favors larger rental companies and hotels....

The Hawaii state legislature committed three more waivers of notice....

...bills that might have negative impacts on families or communities....

The deadline to submit completed candidate and voter registration forms for Neighborhood Board elections is this Friday, February 20, 2015....

Church attendance provides ties that bind members to their communities, and research shows that at the individual level, those who are most religious have higher well-being than those who are less religious....

House Republicans speak out on the floor of the legislature....

“With Hawaii’s all-Democrat Congressional delegation taking a back seat in the Republican controlled congress, we’re honored to give the people of Hawaii a chance to hear from a sitting United States Senator in the majority Party."

Honolulu Ranks 42nd Overall (tied with Irving, TX): 77th for 'Income Diversity' and 101st for 'Educational Diversity'....

Senator Slom said, "I am very pleased to see that Rep. Fukumoto Chang has taken a more proactive, pragmatic approach as House Minority leader than her predecessor...."

...anti-gun Senate Bills 783 and 462 were deferred indefinitely....

Babes Against Biotech opposed DeCoite....

Hawaii and Colorado are the only states to finish in the top 10 every year since 2008....

Read their testimony below....

Wednesday March 11th at 10 AM in room 229....

Refineries would have access to cheaper domestically-produced crude oil, which would lower the cost of gasoline, diesel and fuel oil. And there would be less need for imported oil....

...Judicial Watch and former Hawaii Attorney General Michael Lilly are filing suit to compel the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission to release the list to the public....

Local, democratic control over the island’s energy infrastructure....

The deadline to submit completed candidate and voter registration forms for Neighborhood Board elections is this Friday, February 20, 2015....

Requires PUC to establish community-based renewable energy tariff or tariffs by no later than January 1, 2016....

...Healthcare.gov failed customers on the last hours of open enrollment this past weekend and now anyone who had problems signing up is getting an extension....

1,515 bills were introduced in the House of Representatives and 1,379 bills were introduced in the Senate – over 400 more bills than were introduced in 2014....

...HB631 will be granted a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18th....

• Senate: Child Pornography Victims Restitution - Passage
• House: Keystone XL Pipeline – Passage
• House: Small Business Tax Extenders – Passage

Liabilities everywhere: The rail project, the failing state hospital system, overdue maintenance on state buildings and campuses, underfunded public worker pensions and health insurance, and so much more....

...a brood of unethical government contractors and incapable government enforcers....

I Mua Manoa proposes the following seven (7) steps to address the issue of transparency and to make the budget sustainable....

...to be heard by the Committees this week....

The language in the bill about non-resident aliens is just "housekeeping" to clarify terminology in statute passed years ago....

...If HCR33 gets a hearing, it will first be in the House of Representatives Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs committee chaired by Rep. Kaniela Ing....

...Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement will soon be requesting funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs....

The House District 13 Council Nominating Committee has completed its selection process and has forwarded three names to the governor....

Sales taxes in most states leave rent alone, but our General Excise Tax (GET) taxes it....

Patrick Novak v. USA, in which plaintiffs appeal the Hawaii district court’s dismissal for lack of standing of their action brought against the United States, seeking a declaration that the Jones Act was invalid as it applied to interstate commerce involving the State of Hawaii....

Consumers should be especially aware of the difficulty that continues to exist in trying to get straight information....

...Joseph Kim has been nominated to be the Deputy Director at the Department of Taxation where he will redeploy his extensive experience in training and commanding U.S. Air Force....