Housing bill not fully developed
For the sake of community buy-in, and because this will impose changes statewide, it’s best to table the bill until counties have more opportunity to consider its value and collaborate with the state on shaping its requirements, argues the Star-Advertiser.
Mediating rent disputes
The mediation program’s principles are sound. Lawmakers now have many months to refine this bill and get right its final form and funding amounts; they cannot let a worthwhile program die because they can’t get their act together.
Leasehold condo plan could work
The idea, branded as ALOHA Homes (Affordable Locally Owned Homes for All), is to build and sell the leasehold condos at no long-term cost to Hawaiʻi taxpayers.
Move ahead with care on tax relief
Legislators must ensure that the relief package makes the most of state resources, finding the right balance of lower taxes and the services that Hawaiʻi’s people need most.
Off the News: Keeping renters in their homes
Act 57 diverted as many as 1,201 eviction cases in 2021, benefiting tenants and landlords, according to a Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice study.
Editorial: Hope on horizon for more housing
Might this be the year that Hawaiʻi truly moves forward in providing affordable housing to its residents? With as much as $1 billion in overall funding for housing under discussion as the state legislature reaches its home stretch, it’s possible.
Pursue ALOHA housing strategy
Bold moves are needed to tackle Hawaiʻi’s entrenched affordable housing problem.
Minimum wage hike up to timing
Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living, makes a minimum wage increase vital for low-income workers, including many who have been on the pandemic’s front lines.
Hawaiʻi’s food insecurity an urgent problem
Lawmakers and others should be taking a hard look at short-term fixes as well as long-term solutions for food insecurity.
Aim higher for Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage
Job losses have not been linked to past raises. The EITC has not sufficiently offset poverty levels. Nearly half the population barely gets by.
Working families need more relief
The statistics about how many of Hawaiʻi’s people struggle look worse with each passing year, so plainly the safety net needs reinforcement.
State must lead on housing crisis
The failure to deal with the housing shortage in any meaningful way has led to Hawaiʻi’s highest per-capita homelessness rate in the nation.
Right moves on vacation rentals
It’s encouraging that the Honolulu City Council Planning Committee put forward a bill that aims to rein in the vacation rental industry’s presence here.
Council must be forceful to reduce illegal short-term rentals
The Honolulu City Council must push forward for the sake of establishing a balance between collecting taxes owed and deterring further illegal vacation rentals.
Affordable Hawaiʻi starts with housing
While the official poverty average from 2015–2017 makes Hawaiʻi look like an economic paradise, the supplemental measure puts Hawaiʻi at the 10th-highest rate.
Gradually raise minimum wage
The call for a minimum wage that keeps pace with cost-of-living price tags will never go away.
Safety net must be strengthened
Should the ax fall hard, local and state government must be prepared to quickly and efficiently assess need and absorb some of the lost funding.
Give low-income workers tax break
After years of putting it off, the legislature finally approved an important measure to help Hawaiʻi’s working poor—a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), based on the federal credit.
Property values soar, depleting lower-cost options
Clearly, there’s a gap in what the housing market alone will provide. And time is running out for government to build bridges.