Each year, Hawaiʻi Appleseed analyzes the dense budget bill passed by the Legislature and distills it into a short, digestible primer. The FY 2026–27 Budget Primer explains what the state plans to fund and by how much.

The most significant failures of the session all share a root cause. They are reforms that would rebalance power or resources away from those with established political influence, and toward those with unmet needs.

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.

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.

The State Government’s Crucial Role in Countering the Pandemic Recession.

40 Years of Rising Costs & Stagnant Wages.

In the context of COVID-19, correctional facilities are public health disasters waiting to happen.

How We Invest in our State, Communities and People.

Policy and spending decisions to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on Hawaiʻi and its people.

Patients, providers, and administrators alike agree that quality mental health care is hard to come by—there is a catastrophic dearth of services for low-income youth.

Looking back at the Great Recession, 2007–09.

Recommendations on handling Hawaiʻi’s public worker retirement commitments as the Baby Boomer generation prepares to enter retirement.

An overview of how Hawaiʻi invests in our future and our people.