Entries for 'Grassroot Institute'

Roger Epstein, senior partner of Cades Schutte Law Firm, talks with Dr. Keli’i Akina about Hawaii as a center for global transformation....

...new study from State Budget Solutions on the funded status of public employee pension plans....

On paper it may appear Hawaii has a "low sales tax," but that is not the case....

...a special edition of “Hawaii Tomorrow” to discuss education in our islands....

An average Hawaii welfare recipient would need to earn $60,590 in pre-tax wages in order to earn the equivalent of his or her welfare benefits....

Grassroot Institute President Akina calls for strengthening system to improve employment incentive....

Dr. Keli’i Akina, Grassroot Institute president, asks former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann about his controversial decision to empty sewage from a failed pump directly into the Ala Wai Canal....

Musto discusses with Grassroot Institute’s president Keli’i Akina the similarities and differences between Detroit and Hawaii in light of Detroit’s recent declaration of bankruptcy....

Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, will speak on "Let's Work Together: Building Coalitions to Expand School Choice"....

Joe Trippi – heralded on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning” – is widely recognized as one of America’s leading and most influential political strategists....

CNN/ORC poll showed a dramatic 17-point decline in the President’s approval rating among 18-34 year-olds....

ALEC-Laffer study measures the impact of state policies in 15 key areas....

...it makes it necessary for Jacksonville, Florida, to bring in coal from Colombia rather than from American mines; it requires Maryland and Virginia to bring in road salt from Chile rather than Ohio; and it makes it cheaper for livestock farmers to buy feed from grain farmers in Argentina and Canada....

Access, in this case is defined as, “the number of destinations reachable within a given travel time.”....

 ... 2013 Hawaii Prayer Breakfast, held on April 12 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village ....

After nearly a year of efforts the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission claim a mere 9,300 signatures....

...the fairest and most equitable solution to the Hawaiian people cannot come from creating a new system of Federally administered funding and recognition....

In the 2012 Legislative Session alone, the Grassroot Institute discovered that approximately three dozen bills had been given the “gut and replace” treatment....

The Tax Foundation of Hawaii cautions that this tax money is not "free money" and would come directly out of the pockets of Hawaii consumers....

Clark's topic of discussion is: "IJ Case Stories and How and Why They Take These No Fee Cases". Nicole will discuss the "History of Women in the Liberty Movement in America and How Government Hurts Women".

How conservative are Hawaii’s Senators and Congresswomen?

The time has come for parents to think about their children’s future plans and decide if the university system is a viable option.

Today, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii announced the publication of the 2011 Pork Report, an examination of state spending that reveals the depth of government waste and inefficiency that has contributed so much to the State’s economic woes.

Hawaii’s per pupil expenditure climbed to $12,399 in 2009, ranking it as the 11^th highest in the nation, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. This new rate marks a 12% increase compared to the previous year.

These $600 million in increased taxes come even while state legislators might be finagling a pay raise for themselves—if House Bill 575 is vetoed on constitutionality grounds, legislators would get 12 percent pay raises, administrators 17 percent, and judges a 28.5 percent increase in salary.

Governor Abercrombie promised “A New Day in Hawaii”. Seems like business is same old, same old.

in the first quarter of the year, government agencies in Hawaii spent more money lobbying in Washington, D.C. than private business did....  Hawaii state and local government spent about $185,000 on D.C. lobbying, compared to about $122,500 from Hawaii's private businesses over the same period.... the biggest state spenders were the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (which continues to push for the Akaka Bill) and InfraConsult, Inc. (which lobbies on behalf of Honolulu's rapid transit project). 

Honolulu City Council has got to have more important things to focus on than regulating and restricting yet another aspect of our lives.

In Senate Bill 120, it states that there are many special funds “in excess of the requirements” of those funds. The director of finance has up until June 30, 2011, to raid all of that “excess” money, amounting to more than $17 million, and put it into the general fund. 

The best that can be said about this session is what bills did NOT survive, such as: a 1 percent increase in the general excise tax; a 10-cent fee for a plastic or paper bag to carry consumer purchases; tax-free pensions that will now remain untaxed; Lanai and Molokai will not be covered with windmills to produce power for Oahu, saving Hawaii taxpayers an estimated $3 billion on an intra-island, under-water cable; and competition for shipping services that did not get eliminated as was included in a Public Utilities Commission clarification bill.

On Thursday, May 5, the last votes will be taken and the regular 2011 session will come to a close.

How can the people, or even legislators really know what is currently going on financially with the state when the Department of Accounting and General Services takes nearly 2 years to release its comprehensive annual fiscal reports?

PUC--"This bill would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for companies to gain entry into the water carrier market in Hawaii….”

After the second crossover this week, 393 bills are still alive at the Legislature as lawmakers are trying to find every means possible to come up with a balanced budget, even ways that stand a good chance of being challenged in court....

Senate Bill 1329 in its current form will increase the cost to register an average car, which weighs up to 4,000 pounds, from $30 to $70 per year.

The HGEA contract, which will not be made available to the public until long after it is passed, does not reduce the state budget, but based on what the union representatives and the governor have reported thus far, it will increase the cost of government by more than $100 million.

At 4 p.m., the House Finance Committee will be hearing testimony on Senate Bill 1363....

The public will be able to testify on HB793 SD 1 (Proposed) in a scheduled hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wed. April 6, 2011, 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room 211 at the State Capitol.

 If the moneys in the hurricane reserve fund are insufficient to pay claims and other obligations when an event occurs, the fund “shall levy a surcharge not to exceed seven and one-half percent a year on premiums charged for all property and casualty insurance policies issued for risks insured in this State.”

Ninety-six. That is the number of days one must work each year in Hawaii to pay Uncle Sam before taking home their hard-earned dollars. That means the first three months of the year you work not for yourself, but for the government. This number includes federal, state, and local taxes, for a grand total of 26.3% of your income.

To address an estimated state budget shortfall of more than $1.3 billion over the current fiscal biennium, the Department of Education (DOE) is in the process of closing down schools, explaining to the public that such steps will save a few hundred thousand dollars per school....

In the meantime, I will take over as acting president and keep the GRIH ship on course. - Dick Rowland

”While Act 196 achieved one of its purposes–-to generate a one-time windfall of revenue to the state–-the long-term effect has been to hinder Hawaii's economic recovery by placing an undue burden on the business sector.”

The good news is with the first crossover of bills in the state Legislature, the number of bills remaining alive has been reduced from 3,224 to 710 bills....

House Bill 1529 seems to give hope to the idea that there should be an overall plan for state government. Unfortunately, the idea is to set up a task force to be convened by the governor and made up of mostly lawmakers to review and report on what is going on with the state.