State budget directs $200 million to Maui wildfire recovery

A Hawaiʻi Appleseed report released Thursday details the state’s $20.32 billion executive operating budget and its $4.53 billion for capital improvements, highlighting $200 million for Maui wildfire recovery, including rebuilding King Kamehameha III Elementary.

“This year’s budget was shaped by a perfect storm,” said Hawaiʻi Appleseed Director of Tax and Budget Policy Devin Thomas, noting revenue loss from Act 46, hundreds of millions in federal cuts under federal House Bill 1, and climate disaster costs.

The general excise tax remains the state’s largest revenue source, generating $5.56 billion, or 53.1 percent of total state revenue.

Hawaiʻi Appleseed reported the state maintains a regressive tax structure, where the poorest 20 percent of residents pay 14.1 percent in effective state and local taxes, and the wealthiest 1 percent pay 10.1 percent.