Hawaiʻi Appleseed releases 2024 report exploring an Empty Homes Tax to address Honolulu’s housing crisis
Honolulu's severe housing crisis is being exacerbated by a growing trend of vacant homes purchased as investments by non-residents. To reverse this trend, Hawaiʻi Appleseed recommends a flat tax of 3–5 percent on empty homes.
Hawaiʻi’s conveyance tax can be an effective tool to address our housing crisis
Hawaiʻi lawmakers have an opportunity to tailor the sales tax on real property so that it reinvests nonresident wealth into our island communities through affordable housing development.
Hawaiʻi’s low wages relative to its cost of living put a serious strain on society, local economy
In a new report, Hawaiʻi Appleseed researchers demonstrate how chronically low wages have prevented Hawaiʻi’s working families from thriving, and outline the significant cost that poverty exacts from these families, from future generations, and from all of us.
Hawaiʻi's tenant-landlord mediation program kept hundreds housed amid pandemic fallout
Study aims to ascertain whether or not there are ways to increase housing stability by examining the temporary measures Hawaiʻi put into place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hawaiʻi Appleseed and PHOCUSED join forces
The merger of these social justice organizations is meant to forge a stronger connection between data-driven policy and impacted communities.
Official poverty data obscures reality faced by Hawaiʻi residents
The more accurate Supplemental Poverty Measure ranks Hawaiʻi at 13th highest for poverty in the nation.
Hawaiʻi Appleseed announces Victor Geminiani’s retirement
The 50-year advocate for the low-income community and founder of Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice will retire on August 31, 2019.
Honolulu passes most progressive vacation rental regulation in the U.S.
After three decades of proliferation of illegal short-term rentals on Oʻahu, county administrators finally have—in Bill 89—the comprehensive tool kit needed to balance the needs of the tourism industry with the needs of the community.
Charting a path toward balance between tourism and the needs of residents
A new report provides solutions for lawmakers to solve Hawaiʻi’s vacation rental problem.
Hawaiʻi’s ‘housing wage’ is highest in the nation
Renters need to work a total of 143 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
Report documents the impacts of vacation rentals on Hawaiʻi’s housing supply and economy
Vacation rentals offer the possibility of extra income for some residents and additional tax revenue for the state, but many of the benefits go to nonresident investors.
Report examines the state of poverty in Hawaiʻi since the Great Recession
The state’s high cost of living and low wages has made recovery slow and painful for many families.
Half of Hawaiʻi’s residents are living paycheck-to-paycheck
An Appleseed-commissioned poll highlights the extent to which working families are now struggling to get by in Hawaiʻi.
Hawaiʻi families, businesses and economy would benefit greatly from state Earned Income Tax Credit
Now is the time for Hawaiʻi to invest in its residents and businesses by creating a state refundable EITC that puts dollars back into workers’ pockets and into the cash registers of local business.
Hawaiʻi’s affordable housing crisis is getting worse
Recommendations for policymakers on how to address our highest-in-the-nation housing costs and associated socioeconomic problems.