This budget primer is intended to help readers understand how our state budget works and to encourage budget and policy decisions that improve the lives of Hawaiʻi’s people.

The 2025 legislative session convened under twin existential threats: Hawaiʻi’s worsening affordability crisis, and an impending fiscal tsunami of federal budget cuts.

How tax credits can reduce poverty, stimulate the economy and keep local residents thriving in Hawaiʻi.

Looking forward from the 2024 state legislative session.

Exploring an Empty Homes Tax for Honolulu.

The state budget is a plan for spending based on available resources. It's also a statement of our values. It’s where we invest in programs that increase fairness, opportunity and wellbeing for all.

The impacts of House Bill 2653 on inequality and economic security in Hawaiʻi.

How the State Conveyance Tax Can Re-Invest Nonresident Wealth Into Our Island Communities.

Options for raising taxes on wealthy residents and corporations, so that they contribute their fair share towards the public good.

Looking forward from the 2023 state legislative session.

The budget is the blueprint that describes how public funds are to be allocated, and it is a concrete demonstration of what we, as a society, value—and by how much.

A refundable state child tax credit would help Hawaiʻi’s families meet the unique challenges associated with raising a family in Hawaiʻi.

By taxing capital gains at the same rate as regular income, Hawaiʻi can make its tax code more fair while funding critical investments in education, housing, healthcare, and support for working families.

The 2022 Hawaiʻi legislative session included extraordinary examples of the types of actions policymakers can take to rewrite the economic rulebook.

A guide to understanding the basics of the Hawaiʻi state budget and its importance to society.

Investing in our children, and in the future of Hawaiʻi.

How expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit to make it refundable can boost the economy and provide opportunity to Hawaiʻi’s working families.

Tax credits can fine-tune the tax system to promote social welfare and encourage economic activity by delivering targeted tax relief.

Policymakers have shaped an economy that relies far too much on extractive tourism that provides little to residents in return. To reverse these trends, we need a dramatic shift in our public policy. 

Improving Hawaiʻi’s data policy to better serve Native Hawaiians.