Why housing affordability progress stalls out in Hawaiʻi
What is missing is not knowledge, evidence, or available policy options. What is missing is honesty about whom these reforms actually threaten and why bills with broad public support keep dying for reasons that rarely get named.
Luxury home tax pitch to fund Hawaiian Homes flopped. Now what?
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands came away with some funds but will need to look for other revenue sources.
Free school meals are popular. Hawaiʻi isn’t sold.
Three years after lawmakers first considered making school meals free for all kids, students and teachers are still pushing for change.
Tax fairness promoted in bills would implement major changes
The Hawaii Tax Fairness Coalition is advocating for bills that would make major changes to the state’s income tax, capital gains tax, real estate sales tax and a tax on income for real estate investment trusts.
From free meals to teacher safety, an array of bills for Hawaiʻi schools
Proposals have made it halfway through the legislative session, and some advocates are cautiously optimistic that legislation that failed in past years will make it this year.
Free bus rides for keiki? So much for that
One supporter said she hopes the effort will come up again in a future year.
Creating a Hawaiʻi we can afford
For decades, we’ve lived with the highest cost of living in the country, in a service oriented economy where wage growth lags far behind rising prices. What can we do about it? We come together and find solutions.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers debate scaling back promised tax cuts
In 2024, lawmakers passed sweeping tax relief under Act 46, promising phased income tax reductions for Hawaiʻi residents over several years. But the state’s financial outlook has changed.
Balancing the state budget could require pauses to income tax cut plan
With federal funding cuts on the horizon, state lawmakers are advancing measures proposed by Gov. Josh Green that would pause some of the “historic” state tax cuts passed in 2024.
Transportation: a cost-of-living burden but also an opportunity
Reframe the conversation by investing in multimodal services and infrastructure.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers debate Gov. Green’s freeze on income tax cut
Because lower tax rates through this year will continue at the 2026 level beyond this year, Green’s office said Hawaiʻi families will save $5.4 billion over the next five years after $1.5 billion this year under his proposal.
Hawaiʻi’s hunger crisis is here, and urgent
We find ourselves in the midst of a hunger crisis driven by sky-high living costs, cuts to essential nutrition supports, and food systems that don’t work for all of us.
What pushes locals out of Hawaiʻi? Low wages
The Honolulu Charter Commission has a once-in-a-decade opportunity to address the county’s crisis.
Keiki Ride Free measure on buses and rail advances
A proposal moving through the state Legislature would make riding the bus free for Hawaiʻi’s children, aiming to ease family transportation costs while helping the state meet its ambitious climate goals.
Scrutinize pause of tax cuts for all
Freezing progression of at least some of the state’s planned tax cuts is the clearest, cleanest path to preserving financial balance—at least until the effect of federal spending cuts is fully determined.
Annual passes for TheBus are set to increase by $110
Those in opposition argued that public transit is generally used by those from lower-income households, and that increasing bus fares would add to the struggles of Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living.
Honolulu City Council votes to raise public transit fares
The Council voted 6-3 — with Radiant Cordero, Matt Weyer, and Dos Santos-Tam dissenting — to adopt the new transit fares.
Honolulu bus, rail fares set to go up this summer
Council members voted Wednesday to boost the cost of an adult bus pass by $10 a month, along with other price hikes.
Hawaiʻi coalition calls for tax fairness for local needs
As Hawaiʻi struggles to meet growing needs in housing, education, health care and climate resilience, a broad coalition of community groups, labor unions and nonprofit advocates is pushing lawmakers to confront a long-standing question: how to pay for it.
New online tool shows disparities between communities on basic needs
Annalisa Burgos asks Hawaiʻi Appleseed how its Economic Justice Data Dashboard can help focus government spending.