What made the 2022 Hawaiʻi legislative session a win for working families?
After multiple years with little progress on policy to help working families survive Hawaiʻi’s highest-in-the-nation cost of living, several factors came together to deliver a banner year in 2022.
Honolulu County’s eviction mediation program was a resounding success
Act 57’s pre-litigation eviction mediation program shows a promising pathway forward to greater housing security by preventing evictions and keeping families housed.
How Hawaiʻi is funding its $24 billion FY23 budget
The legislature not only decides where money is spent, but also makes many of the decisions about who pays how much to support the budget.
Hawaiʻi’s missed opportunity to invest in working families
The legislature chose to prioritize protecting businesses from tax increases, rather than investing in working families who were struggling long before the onset of the pandemic.
Federal spending reduced overall poverty last year despite the pandemic-recession
But in Hawaiʻi, tens of thousands of residents below the poverty line still struggled to make ends meet.
Highlights from the 2021–2023 Hawaiʻi budget
Critical federal pandemic relief funds will allow the state avoid damaging cuts and maintain its spending levels on investments in the community.
How COVID-19 shaped Appleseed’s work in 2020
The year 2020 was a turbulent one, but it proved the power of Hawaiʻi’s greatest strength—its people.
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.
Unemployed workers in Hawaiʻi can’t wait for Congress
Hawaiʻi has more than 200,000 unemployed workers and contractors. The state must move now to offer immediate support for these workers and their families.
Hawaiʻi still needs federal relief funds
Without further federal aid to state and local governments, Hawai'i is projected to lose 23,700 private and public jobs by the end of 2021.
Counties may need to fill gaps left in state coronavirus response
Some 35,000 additional households could fall into poverty or financial insecurity by the end of the year unless these gaps in state funding are addressed.
Allocating $100 million in CARES Act relief to housing support is good state policy
To help more than 100,000 Hawaiʻi residents stay in their homes, $100 million in CARES Act housing support is money well spent.
Setting the stage for a crucial June special session
CARES Act funds must be spent by the end of December, and careful decisions need to be made to address critical needs in our community.
Appleseed COVID-19 response will focus on assisting state in managing social safety net programs
During this crisis, Appleseed’s concern lies with the working families and children of Hawaiʻi.
Too many Hawaiʻi seniors are still going hungry
Although Hawaiʻi has made strides to address hunger in recent years, thousands of seniors are still at risk of experiencing hunger across the islands.
Farm bill protects SNAP, other critical nutrition programs
The bill includes provisions that invest in our island’s rural communities, provide funding for farmers and advance sustainable community food systems.