Transformative change meets budget realities—a central lawmaking tension plays out in two new reports
Policy in Perspective 2025 and the Hawaiʻi Budget Primer FY2025–26 provide a compelling—and sometimes sobering—look at how Hawaiʻi invests, and often under-invests, in its communities.
Incoming federal tax cuts will heavily favor Hawaiʻi’s wealthiest residents
The State of Hawaiʻi has an obligation to shore up its revenue through tax policies that make the wealthiest among us pay their fair share.
Hawaiʻi’s 2025 legislature focused on raising tax revenue to prepare for federal cuts
Assessing a proper tax rate on corporations and the wealthy will be necessary to produce a budget that can fund critical safety net programs and investments in our future.
Congress’ budget blueprint leaves Hawaiʻi’s working families behind
In effect, the budget blueprint aims to take food out of the mouths of hungry keiki, so that billionaires can pad their pockets even more on the way to the bank.
Tax credits are more necessary than ever in 2025
Hawaiʻi’s families need urgent help to deal with the high cost of living. This is especially true for parents, who have to balance the cost of child care, rent, and food every month.
Census poverty data for 2023 highlights the importance of government assistance
Promising trends for families across the nation, but many continue to feel the lasting effects of widespread unemployment during the pandemic, a rising cost of living, and inadequate government assistance.
How Hawaiʻi’s hardworking undocumented immigrants support our economy and communities
A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy lifts up the significant tax contributions that undocumented immigrants make to our federal, state and local governments through the taxes they pay each year.
Hawaiʻi’s elected leaders buy-in to costly “trickle-down” myth
Passing an “historic” tax cut that mostly benefits the wealthiest Hawaiʻi residents is not the path to a healthy economy that works for working people.
The big budget trouble with HB2404’s over-broad and sweeping tax cuts
Last minute changes to the bill, made without public scrutiny, will increase its cost by nearly eight-fold, while higher-income households will get a far bigger benefit than those struggling to make ends meet.
Congress considers making the federal Child Tax Credit refundable; Hawaiʻi considers Keiki Credit
H.R. 7024 is a reminder that the Child Tax Credit is a widely popular program with proven anti-poverty benefits.
Keiki poverty more than doubled last year without the expanded Child Tax Credit
Hawaiʻi lawmakers have an obvious solution at their disposal, if they are willing to act on it.
Lawmakers still need to equitably raise revenue to meet Hawaiʻi’s needs
On tax policy, state legislators made progress in 2023 with tax relief, but left smart, revenue-raising policy initiatives on the table for next session.
Legislative agenda 2023: tax reforms to boost incomes and fund investments in our future
Top of the list of immediate challenges for Hawaiʻi is to find a way to prevent our people from being overwhelmed by the high and rising cost of living in the islands.
A Hawaiʻi Child Tax Credit would keep thousands of keiki out of poverty
After the expiration of the expanded federal Child Tax Credit, poverty rates spiked—it’s time for Hawaiʻi lawmakers to step up and fill the gap.
What’s included in the new federal coronavirus aid and what was left out?
The $900 billion COVID relief agreement provides urgently-needed relief to Hawaiʻi’s families, but the short timeline is worrisome and several important items were left out of the final deal.