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Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'
Sunday, May 14, 2023 |
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Ding Dong, the Green Fee is Dead
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2194 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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... The bill containing the fee proposal, Senate Bill 304, did not survive the conference committee process. ...
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Sunday, May 7, 2023 |
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Tax Relief, RIP
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2104 Views :: Tax Credits
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... every one of the tax credit enhancements has been given only a five-year life. All of them go away on January 1, 2028 ....
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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 |
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Some Winners and Losers in the 2023 Session
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 PM :: 2206 Views :: Tax Credits, Taxes
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... The Tax Relief Shell Game Ends, and Broad-Based Relief Didn’t Make It ....
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Sunday, April 30, 2023 |
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Production Credit Hijinx
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2261 Views :: Ethics, Tax Credits
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... After deferring the measure multiple times, WAM amended the bill to add two new provisions: a section allowing tax credits for building a film studio, and a section making extensive amendments to the administration of the existing production credit. This was done without the benefit of a public hearing ....
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Sunday, April 23, 2023 |
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TANF Hoarding, Continued
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2147 Views :: Hawaii State Government
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... Hawaii was called out by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica in 2022 for letting TANF money gather dust in some dark corner instead of putting it to use helping families and children ....
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Sunday, April 16, 2023 |
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It Isn’t Over Until It’s Over
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2527 Views :: Education K-12, Ethics, Tax Credits
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... In the meantime, lawmakers have been figuring out how to bypass conventional learning about when a bill is dead. Here is one example ....
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Monday, April 10, 2023 |
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Tax Hikes: Where Hawai'i Fits in National Trends
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:42 PM :: 2131 Views :: Taxes
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... Wealth tax, proposed simultaneously in seven states including Hawaii ....
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Sunday, April 9, 2023 |
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Hope for Tax Relief Still Alive
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1916 Views :: Taxes
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... only one Senate committee, Ways & Means, will be entrusted with the fate of all three bills ....
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Sunday, April 2, 2023 |
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Legislative Madness
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1941 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government
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... “It’s just four months of chaos" ....
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Monday, March 27, 2023 |
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Council on State Taxation: Looking Out for Business
By Tom Yamachika @ 12:01 AM :: 1812 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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... the Committee on State Taxation focuses on the impact of state taxes on businesses across the country ....
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Sunday, March 26, 2023 |
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Credit Madness
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1744 Views :: Tax Credits
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... Tax Credits were proposed for, among other things, upgrading technology infrastructure; sequestering carbon; upgrading or conversion of cesspools; being a health care preceptor; manufacturing food; providing childcare to employees; being in a creative district; producing organic food; and just being in the state while everyone else is being hammered by a carbon tax ....
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Sunday, March 19, 2023 |
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Picking Apart the Case for Conveyance Tax Hikes
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1769 Views :: Taxes
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... Senate Bill 362 proposes to double the tax on residential property, selling for at least $2 million ....
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Sunday, March 12, 2023 |
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California’s Surplus to Deficit
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1876 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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... the revenue that did materialize was spent in a flash ....
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Sunday, March 5, 2023 |
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Love-Hate Relationship with Tourism
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2056 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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... We have been taxing the bejeebers out of tourists ....
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Sunday, February 26, 2023 |
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Creative Districts
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1854 Views :: Tax Credits
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... In the Senate bill, creative enterprises in a creative district would be eligible for tax credits. The bill, however, is a little light on details ....
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Sunday, February 19, 2023 |
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PILOT for Real Property Tax
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2757 Views :: Honolulu County, Energy, Agriculture, Tax Credits, Taxes
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... The owner in the previous year paid $30,154 in property tax and got a bill for $835,710, resulting in an extremely unhappy owner ....
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Sunday, February 12, 2023 |
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Get Out, Evil! Stay In, Good Fortune!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1497 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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... Japanese celebrate a festival known as Setsubun. While there are regional variations on how to celebrate it, many of them involve roasted beans and an Oni, or demon ....
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Sunday, February 5, 2023 |
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Did You Meet Your Goals This Year? – Pff, We Don’t Care
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1332 Views :: Hawaii State Government
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... Our Legislature’s 2023 session is definitely cranked up now ....
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Sunday, January 29, 2023 |
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What’s In the Governor’s Bill Package
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1454 Views :: Taxes
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... SB 1347 / HB 1049, designated GOV-01, aims to give broad tax relief to pretty much everyone in Hawaii. It does this by juicing up several credits already on the books, giving a significant boost to the standard deduction, and doubling the personal exemption amount. ...
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Sunday, January 22, 2023 |
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Should We Lower Taxes?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1391 Views :: Taxes
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... convince me that tax cuts are not advisable ....
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Sunday, January 15, 2023 |
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More Temporary Tax Fixes Considered
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1354 Views :: Taxes
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... We need fixes. Not the temporary kind ....
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Sunday, January 8, 2023 |
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Tax Word Find
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1327 Views :: Taxes
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... the New Year is off and running and we are quaking in our boots waiting for our Legislature to reconvene, here are some of the ideas that we have been following ....
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Sunday, January 1, 2023 |
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Lives Matter
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1711 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Hawaii Statistics
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... the important thing isn’t money for the sake of money, but whether it’s being used wisely to make our lives better ....
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Sunday, December 25, 2022 |
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Earning a Procurement Exemption
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1774 Views :: Ethics, Tourism
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“...You’re going to have to earn something like that....”
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Sunday, December 18, 2022 |
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What It Takes to Spend $600M on Housing in Three Years
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1878 Views :: DHHL, Development
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... Otherwise, the money goes back to the general fund ....
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Sunday, December 11, 2022 |
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New Administration’s Tax Priorities
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2199 Views :: Taxes
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... Green's top priorities for his first 100 days in office ....
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Sunday, December 4, 2022 |
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Ridicule, Violent Opposition, Acceptance: OHA and DLNR
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:33 PM :: 2526 Views :: Ethics, OHA
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... Truth Goes Through Three Stages ....
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Sunday, December 4, 2022 |
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Want to Fight Corruption? Follow the Money
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2774 Views :: Education K-12, Ethics, OHA
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... We, as taxpayers who are supplying the money, have the right to see where it goes. In real time, not several years later as seen in one nonprofit’s recent fight with the Department of Education ....
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Sunday, November 27, 2022 |
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No, Boosting the Affordable Housing Fund Isn’t the Answer
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1874 Views :: Honolulu County, Development, Taxes
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"... it is essentially a budgeting gimmick ...."
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Sunday, November 20, 2022 |
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Cleaning House at OHA
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3088 Views :: Ethics, OHA
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... One thing we all need to remember is how we got to this point ....
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Sunday, November 13, 2022 |
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Getting Permitting Out of Home Maintenance
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2143 Views :: Honolulu County, Development, Small Business
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... a typical residential building permit application took 108 days to process, while one for a commercial project took 432 days ....
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Sunday, November 6, 2022 |
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The Empty Homes Tax
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 2258 Views :: Development, Taxes, Tourism
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... The idea seems to be gaining steam now since our federal court has struck down Honolulu’s recent ordinance clamping down on transient vacation rentals ....
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Sunday, October 30, 2022 |
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“Dedicated Funding Source”? Nah
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1620 Views :: Hawaii State Government
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... the “dedication” of the funding source is often porous ....
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Sunday, October 23, 2022 |
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Yes, People Move Because of Taxes
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1978 Views :: Taxes
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... we gained a few high-income individuals but lost more of those folks scraping to make ends meet ....
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Sunday, October 16, 2022 |
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State Financial Condition Still Dismal
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1762 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Hawaii Statistics
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... $37,000 of shortfall per taxpayer ....
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Sunday, October 9, 2022 |
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Love-Hate Relationship with P3
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1835 Views :: Ethics, Development, Hawaii State Government
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... The most recent and visible example is our iconic Aloha Stadium ....
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Sunday, October 2, 2022 |
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Three Years to Spend $600 Million
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1777 Views :: DHHL, Development
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... On June 30, 2025, any of this money not contractually committed will drop back into our state general fund ....
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Sunday, September 25, 2022 |
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Road Usage Charge Versus Carbon Tax
By Tom Yamachika @ 8:16 PM :: 1761 Views :: Environment, Taxes
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... Hawaii Department of Transportation has been studying implementation of a Road Usage Charge ....
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Sunday, September 25, 2022 |
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Our Kids Are Going Away
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1879 Views :: Education K-12, Hawaii Statistics, Cost of Living
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... Not considering charter schools, enrollment dropped from 168,152 in 2018-19 to 156,518 in 2022-23, and it is projected to decrease further to 148,096 by 2027-28 ....
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Sunday, September 18, 2022 |
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Rolling With a Road Usage Charge
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1809 Views :: Taxes
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... support grew when rental cars are charged a higher rate than residents ....
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Sunday, September 11, 2022 |
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Blame for the Housing Crisis
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1563 Views :: Honolulu County, Development
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... the average time to process a residential building permit application was 108 days, while a commercial project took 432 days ....
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Sunday, September 4, 2022 |
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No. 1 In the World – In Tourist Taxes
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3622 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Taxes, Tourism
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... Honolulu is 75% higher in taxes than the second most tourist-taxed city in the world ....
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Sunday, August 28, 2022 |
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Dept. of Education Welcomes Two New $190K Hires
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2077 Views :: Education K-12, Ethics, Labor
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... in excess of $579,000 once fringe benefits are factored in ....
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Sunday, August 21, 2022 |
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Can We Sack the GET?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1563 Views :: Taxes
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... Why don’t we just get rid of it? ....
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Sunday, August 14, 2022 |
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A GE Tax Exemption for Food
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:39 AM :: 1867 Views :: Taxes, Cost of Living
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... The three Democratic candidates for governor all support it ....
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Sunday, August 7, 2022 |
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Addressing the Tax Crisis in Health Care
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1711 Views :: Health Care, Taxes
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... According to the Hawaii Physician Shortage Crisis Task Force, taxes are one of the reason for the shortage ....
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Sunday, July 31, 2022 |
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We Need an Emergency Declaration for Health Care
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1744 Views :: Health Care, COVID-19
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... with the current licensing requirements in place the workers won’t be able to work here until they get through a bunch of bureaucratic red tape. The state of emergency could be used to bypass the licensing requirements ....
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Sunday, July 24, 2022 |
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With Long COVID Comes Long Emergency Powers
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1484 Views :: COVID-19
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... In a case named For Our Rights vs. Ige, the Intermediate Court of Appeals held that there was nothing wrong with what the Administration did ....
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Sunday, July 17, 2022 |
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It’s Tourism, Mooooo
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1783 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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... folks who seem to rank high on the milking list: tourists....
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Sunday, July 10, 2022 |
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Can the State Tax Itself?
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1845 Views :: Higher Education, Taxes
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... Tax Department wanted get a piece of the UH research grants ....
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