Kent says cut spending, not tax relief
from Grassroot Institute
The state doesn’t have a budget crisis. It has a spending crisis.
That’s what Grassroot Institute of Hawaii Executive Vice President Joe Kent told KHVH News Radio 830 host Rick Hamada during “The Rick Hamada Program” on March 16.
Kent said the state’s latest budget woes are “less about the federal dollars stopping and more about our state spending growing way past what we can afford.”
And if lawmakers would cut spending, there would be no need for two bills, HB2306 and SB3125, that aim to scale back or modify the phase-in of the state’s historic income tax cuts that went into effect back in 2024.
“If the legislators really had a spine, they would just kill both of these bills, keep all of the tax cuts as programmed, and that would force the governor to have to cut back,” Kent said.
Kent explained that the state has two roads it can walk down regarding taxation and spending.
“The first road is reducing taxing and spending, and it allows people to keep more money in their pockets and possibly stay here in Hawaii,” he said. “The other option is the high-tax, high-spend model, where we don’t confront the big issues — the elephant in the room of overspending. And what that does is it makes it harder for people to live here, and it spirals into people leaving the state.”
According to Kent, there are myriad ways to cut the state budget rather than eliminate the remainder of the tax cuts that are scheduled to phase in through 2031. Among them are:
>> Eliminating long-vacant state jobs.
>> Cutting the budgets of state departments that are not performing well and those that are being efficient and under-spending their budgets.
>> Cutting out false increases from COVID spending and getting back to a pre-COVID baseline adjusted for inflation.
Kent also pointed out that walking back the income tax cuts, or even imposing an income tax hike as the current draft of the House bill suggests, would place additional burdens on businesses that actually create jobs.
Further, he suggested that state revenue has already increased due to the tax cuts, and it could continue to do so if they remain in place.
“The Council on Revenues just met … and they were somewhat surprised that the tax revenues are coming in a little hotter than they thought they would,” Kent said. “Well, why is that? You know, it could be because we’ve lowered taxes.”
Kent and Hamada also discussed emergency powers and the Jones Act.
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TRANSCRIPT
3-16-26 Joe Kent with host Rick Hamada on KHVH News Radio 830
Rick Hamada: 7:12 a.m. Rick Hamada Program. Believe it or not, are we on our way to our 32nd year? Just dawned on me. Because Joe Kent is only 30 years of age.
Joe Kent: [Chuckles] No.
Hamada: So that …
Kent: Higher, higher.
Hamada: All up. [Laughs] It’s good to see you, Joe. How are you?
Kent: Good. Good to see you, too. We got rained out over the weekend with, I think we have to throw away our food now in our fridge.
Hamada: See?
Kent: I mean, you know, my wife is like, but it’s so much money. Let’s just try and. … Well, I’d rather not. So, yeah, we were out with about 18 hours of without power, of course.
Hamada: Oh, my gosh.
Kent: But some people are still out, of course. Good, the power — right when we were going to transfer all of our food to my mom’s house, the lights came back on. So we had to put it all back. Yeah.
Hamada: A lot of stuff. I was just sharing that the [Hawaiian Electric Company] makes accommodations for folks that have done exactly that.
Kent: That’s right.
Hamada: Yeah.
Kent: That’s right. I just learned that. You can actually file a claim to HECO and maybe get your money back.
Hamada: Yeah, and if your appliances were damaged, because that can be tough. The on, off, and surge. So I was going to go through and share everything. I’ll just text you what …
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: What I’ve got, what I’ve got. Joe, would you mind remind us, Grassroot Institute, the mission is?
Kent: The mission is to hold the government accountable. So we focus on individual liberty. You should have the right to your property as long as you’re not infringing on the rights of others.
Economic freedom. You should be able to trade and make money and start a business without too much hindrances.
And accountability and a limited government, most importantly. Because that government operates best which is limited by the people. So we try to limit it through education. And we talk to around 40,000 email subscribers every week. And you can get onto our email list at grassrootinstitute.org.
Hamada: Yep. I was talking about Dick Rowland the other day.
Kent: Yes, yes.
Hamada: You know, and both with Dick and Sam Slom and the crew. To see what was germinated by Dick and others to where we are now. Grassroot has become a very, I don’t want to say influential, although it is, but it’s a destination for those of us that want to learn more.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: And can you share a bit about the machinations behind Grassroot to where you can prepare and respond and share observational and analytical pieces for us?
Kent: Oh yeah. Well, Dick Rowland, our founder, wanted a place for people to go to think about the importance of liberty in Hawaii. Divorced from the party, by the way. From the parties.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: And because there are people who are Democrats or Republicans or Libertarians or what have you that are all interested in some way in, you know, owning their property and keeping the fruits of their labor and so on. And that movement has grown since 2001. So we’re now at the 25-year anniversary.
Hamada: Oh, my.
Kent: And in fact, we have a 25-year anniversary gala on Sept. 4t.
Hamada: Mmm.
Kent: And the featured speaker is Adam Carolla. [Laughs]
Hamada: Oh, my goodness. Oh, that’s tremendous.
Kent: Well, Adam, who was in California and saw the Palisades fire. …
Hamada: Oh, my
Kent: And had all kinds of viral videos about why aren’t they rebuilding here? He saw similarities, of course, in Hawaii, on Maui, where it’s still taking a very long time to rebuild. So we thought there might be some overlap. So we brought him in.
Hamada: I think that’s tremendous. And yes, I’ll emcee and host for you. [Laughter] Yes. I think I was at the, you had a 20th gala. That’s right.
Kent: Right. That’s right.
Hamada: That was remarkable.
Kent: Yeah, that was great. I think we had 200 people. This year we have room for 400 people.
Hamada: Nice.
Kent: So down at the Sheraton Waikiki. So that’s Sept. 4. And if you want more info, then go to our website, grassrootsinstitute.org.
Hamada: Well, we’re going to have to come on together several times.
Kent: Yeah, that’d be great.
Hamada: Because I’ll just say this and we’ll get into … is that when you interact with folks that are, yeah, I would say like-minded, but more like interested and that are compelled to attend. That networking, what it does for me is it bolsters the thought that you’re not alone,
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: Because oftentimes you may have an opinion that differs with the mainstream and you’re like, I’ll just stay over here. But then you’re in a room with hundreds and you get invigorated.
Kent: Yeah, that’s right. Well, I think if you want everyone to agree with you, you’re not going to find anyone who agrees with everything. But at Grassroot, we try to find coalitions and understand, OK, we might have disagreements, but let’s talk. And I think that attitude, you know, brings people together.
So, you know, Keli‵i Akina, our CEO, always talks about, “E hana kākou, let’s work together.” And we really mean it and we try to do it at the state Legislature. And so that’s how we start to get things done.
Hamada: Yeah. Speaking of the Leg, I’m going to go back to 2024. It was the much-vaunted, celebrated, high-fives all around town and the state that the world’s largest tax cut, well, OK, state’s, but largest tax cut was codified.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: And on the record.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: And then fast forward two years and we have debates and discussions about A, B, C and D.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: I’d like to, could you set the table for us, for the perspective of how the tax cuts were passed?
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: And then the incremental retreat …
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: which led us to where we are?
Kent: Well, we all remember the pandemic. And during the pandemic, there was a huge run-up in inflation and federal monies coming into the state. Such that there was so much money, the state Legislature didn’t even know what to do with it.
This is the Hawaiʻi State Legislature who knows, always knows, how to spend money. They didn’t know how to spend the money, and they called it a structural surplus. That’s how much money there was.
In other words, we’re going to have too much money forever. And so what the state did and legislators, and actually, Gov. Josh Green deserves kudos for this, he proposed the bill that would cut taxes dramatically. I think it was by $8 [billion] or $9 billion that these income tax [cuts] originally were scheduled.
And they were scheduled. Every year, they would get higher and higher. So the first year, it’s like $1,000 for the average family. Then the next year, it’s $2,000. Then $3,000. And it keeps going. So this is a tax cut that grows.
Well, now, though, the federal dollars, this siphon, has stopped. And so that’s the argument lawmakers are using to say, “OK, we need that tax money back then.” But wait a minute. I thought that this tax money was based on a structural surplus, not a federal surplus.
And, and actually, if you look at the numbers, which I did, this is less about the federal dollars stopping and more about our state spending growing way past what we can afford.
And so they want to, they say, pause. If you look at the bill, it’s actually stopping the tax cuts, the future tax cuts. But, you know, on the good side, the tax cuts that have been rolled in so far would be kept.
Now, the bills at the Legislature do different things. The House bill, I think for some reason at the House, they’re more amenable to raising taxes. And in the Senate, they are more objectionable to that. So in the House, they would stop the tax … oh, gee, it’s like even hard. It’s like double negatives here.
Hamada: Right.
Kent: OK, so the tax hikes would be implemented for the wealthier individuals. So people making over $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, they would actually get a tax hike. And that would put the top marginal rate to like 12%, which is the second-highest in the nation for income taxes. So basically, the House side is a tax hike.
On the Senate side, however, they actually keep the tax cut for people making under $200,000. So that’s a good thing. But for those making over $200,000 or so, then it’s still stopping their tax cut in the future. So, but on the whole, it’s better.
I mean, that’s the problem we face at the Grassroot Institute all the time is half measures and full measures. You know, do you want to oppose something that would be halfway good? Or do you want to only say yes to something that would give you the full, you know, the full picture?
And so for us, we weighed and weighed and we’re still weighing it, actually. I think we’re just going to comment on it. But, but everyone needs to think for themselves, do you want a tax cut? And if so, the best thing to do is to tell legislators to keep the tax cuts.
Because actually, this whole budget situation, you shouldn’t balance the budget on a tax cut. You should, you know, if the legislators really had a spine, they would just kill both of these bills, keep all of the tax cuts as programmed, and that would force the governor to have to cut back. And he would have to cut back through, he’s got all these different tools to do so. He could line-item veto. He could use budget restrictions.
These are things he does normally. So I don’t think that there’s really a budget crisis here. It’s just a spending crisis, actually.
Hamada: At the end of the day, and this is what is irksome to many, is that there’s a determination of classism.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: Simply because you have an income that you have worked for, you may have inherited, I don’t care. You’re actually doing very well, and that because you’re excelling, you get the punitive punishment.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: The unfortunate part is that a myriad of organizations have analyzed that in order to live a comfortable life, not one of lavish, is that individuals need to earn over $100,000 per individual.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: You combine that with a couple, and if that’s the case, bada boom, bada bing, you hit that threshold of $200,000. However, if you’re a small business and you do your taxes, and oftentimes small businesses, they will incorporate the revenues generated by their business, they will be taxed on that.
Kent: That’s right.
Hamada: And they receive, already, in a business that has a margin that is so razor thin.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: That part of the discussion about the richest need to pay more is exempted.
Kent: Well, that’s the ironic thing about this is, OK, they say, well, Hawaii’s economy is struggling, therefore we need to raise taxes. But it’s the other way around. These tax hikes in the bill, at least some of the tax hikes spelled out in these bills, are meant to hike taxes on the business and the economy and jobs and job creators in Hawaii. And, so, but what if we did the opposite? What if we reduced spending, reduced taxation?
Hamada: Amen.
Kent: We might actually get more revenues than we thought. The Council on Revenues just met, last week, I think, and they were somewhat surprised that the tax revenues are coming in a little hotter than they thought they would. Well, why is that? You know, it could be because we’ve lowered taxes …
Hamada: Amen.
Kent: And maybe we’re seeing some of the Laffer curve effects, you know.
Hamada: Yes.
Kent: Now, the Laffer curve is, basically says that you can actually increase revenues through a tax cut.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: Sometimes. Only in places where taxes are extremely high. Well, Hawaii, taxes are extremely high. And so we might see a little bit of a boost in the job market and the economy. And that might actually bring some monies back to the state.
Hamada: Yeah. Well, I agree. Laffer curve is ideal for Hawaii because of our cost of living. And instead of the government receiving, put in the hands of people, they have to engage in commerce at a higher rate that has a tax rate associated with a pyramided GET. And bada boom, bada bing. It allows more freedom.
We started talking about financial freedom. The constraints that are being put upon people, families, businesses, etc., is antithetical to what the ideal is of being a U.S. citizen.
Kent: And the opposite side of that is the death spiral, which is if you raise taxes in an economy that’s already weak, then people less can afford Hawaii’s cost of living …
Hamada: Amen.
Kent: And then leave. We already have people leaving, by the way. The numbers just came out. And so that could create a spiral which just gets worse and worse. I mean, we’re seeing that right now with, you know, the state jobs right now that people are begging for, even vacant positions, by the way. It’s like, why would you beg for a vacant position?
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: This is, you may not know this, but your tax dollars are going to pay for vacant positions, people who aren’t even there. You know, this is like hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
And that’s an easy place to cut the budget. You know, you would not affect a single job. Yet so many people are still begging for these vacant positions, I guess, because it operates somewhat as a slush fund, you know, just in case money gets tight in a department, then they can just keep, you know, keep the money flowing.
So that’s one place to cut. And we actually have several others. We have 10 places to cut, obviously. Obvious places to cut. We’ve handed that to legislators, and they were surprised.
Hamada: We’re already at 7:28. You have to stop being so interesting. [Laughter]
Kent: Sorry.
Hamada: Because I’d like to go through some of those …
Kent: Oh, yeah. Sure.
Hamada: So folks understand. I will say this. Governor [Honolulu Mayor] Rick [Blandiardi], with his budget …
Kent: Yes.
Hamada: Successfully was able to identify and carve off without an increase of the No. 1 revenue, which is property tax.
Kent: Yes.
Hamada: And his mantra to his team is, “Do more with less.”
Kent: Yes, that’s right. That’s a great philosophy, actually. And that’s the same philosophy the state should learn from the counties on that respect. So because I think at the county level, it’s harder to increase a property tax.
At the same time, a property tax is a lot more stable. So the counties generally have to learn to do more with less.
The state, on the other hand, usually, you know, blows the lid off of spending and just increases taxes regularly. They’re more used to that. So, yeah, learn from the counties.
Hamada: Amen. Remind us how we connect with Grassroot. And, if you don’t mind, remind us about September.
Kent: Yeah. So the Grassroot Institute, you can find us at grassrootsinstitute.org and get on our email list. And you can find our gala, which is coming up on Sept. 4th. We’ve got Adam Carolla joining us for that at the Sheraton Waikiki. That’s Sept. 4th. So go to grassrootsinstitute.org to sign up.
Hamada: Love that. We have a lot to cover with Joe Kent of Grassroot Institute when we return. And we would love for your calls if you’d like to chat. Now, this is just one aspect that Grassroot is exhaustively covering. So, if there’s anything else on your mind, love to hear from you. 521-8383. And by the way, Vince, congratulations. Vince is joining us with three friends in the hall this Wednesday. Another chance to win coming up.
Hamada: We are jammin’. Yah, mon. I’m thoroughly enjoying the conversation with, of course, Joe Kent of Grassroot Institute. I’m going to tell you about PRP in just a moment. But first, talking about the budget, but also the tax cuts, etc. You mentioned before, at Grassroot, you have about 10 or so different ways to effectuate spending cuts.
Kent: Oh, well, we actually had 100.
Hamada: Oh, my.
Kent: But we had to cut it down to 10.
Hamada: Oh, gee, Minellis.
Kent: [Laughter] Yes, we did boil it down to 10.
Hamada: Joe Kent for governor. [Laughter]
Kent: And well, the thing is, very few people actually read the state budget.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: You know, it’s probably maybe five or four people. I’m one of them, you know, I read every single year, all 4,000 pages, you know, plus the variance reports that tell how the departments were actually doing, how they actually performed. Isn’t it crazy that you’ve got departments that are performing and meeting, trying to meet these metrics and failing to meet them, yet almost no one looks at that?
Is the government actually doing what it’s supposed to be doing? That type of thing. And so one thing you could do is to just, well, look at all of the departments that are failing and cut their budgets, right?
But philosophically, the other thing you could do is to look at departments that are overperforming, that are doing a lot with a little and asking, “Well, why do they need a bigger budget,?” you know, and cutting that. It sounds bad to cut people who are performing well. But if you’re like performing well enough, then why should you, like, need so much more money? So just doing those two things could save probably $120 million.
Hamada: It’s astounding just to accentuate that.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: Of the sheer cost of personnel. And when we hear about salaries, that’s just one thing.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: The other is time off, 21 days minimum that’s guaranteed. And then we get into pensions.
Kent: The pension problem.
Hamada: And healthcare.
Kent: Yes, that’s right.
Hamada: It’s astounding.
Kent: We’ve got huge debt for pensions and healthcare benefits for public employees. You know, it’s billions and billions of dollars. And, you know, it’s growing too. Every time an emergency is declared, just like this past weekend, by the way. We had a big emergency.
And yes, we need emergency workers, but that nonetheless spikes the pension calculations. And so we dole out more there.
But remember, we also had emergencies during the COVID lockdowns. And that has spiked spending dramatically, probably by almost a billion dollars out of the state budget. And actually, I’d say that’s the biggest reason for these tax hikes.
It’s the main reason, actually, that’s behind the scenes that no one will talk about for why they supposedly need these tax hike[s] is because the public union workers got enormous hazard pay during that time. And not only that, but again, that spikes the pension. Every year, it was, you know, several hundred million dollars extra that we taxpayers would have to pay.
But it’s not over yet. Even into the future, there are still more, you know, hazard pays that still need to be paid out for that pandemic. Because it’s all in the courts, you see.
Hamada: Yeah. How was your hazard pay? [Laughter]
Kent: I never got hazard pay
Hamada: I was gonna say, how’s that calculate for you?
Kent: That’s right, yes. And private sector workers never got hazard pay. This is like a foreign concept. So you’re taxing people who had to work during the pandemic, who did not get a special bonus, to pay for those who do get a special bonus.
And, you know, that’s why people are leaving the state and fed up with this and so on.
So, now I think the Hawaii state teacher’s union also wants hazard pay. But I don’t think it was in their contract.
Hamada: Well, and how can you justify it? Because you were home.
Kent: That’s right. They were …
Hamada: You were home, teaching.
Kent: Many of them were home teaching.
Hamada: I know. I saw that, and I just shook my incredibly shaggy head that that was even proposed.
Kent: Yes. So that’s a big one. And, of course, there’s other ways to cut the budget, too. Well, if you look at the spikes in spending since the pandemic. For some reason, after the pandemic, there were these mysterious spikes that happened across in different departments, randomly it seems.
And, you know, when a spike happens, everyone says, “Oh, don’t worry, this is just for one year and we’ll bring it down the next year.” Well, then you look the next year. It’s still spiked.
Hamada: That’s right.
Kent: And it keeps going up and up because every year what they do, they just add a percentage to whatever the last year’s spending was. And so, you know, I’m asking the question, is anyone looking at this? And if you just got rid of all of the spikes and got it to the baseline and, you know, plus inflation, that would save another $120 million.
So right there, you know, that would save all of the supposed need for these tax hikes. So I guess that’s just two ways. But, you know, we could go on down the list, of course. So …
Hamada: If you can stay with us until 2 p.m., that’d be great. [Laughter] We’re already at 7:41 in the morning with Joe Kent, and thankful that you’re with us.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: I had congressman Ed Case on the program this past Wednesday, and our conversation focused on his role in trying to either exempt or eliminate the Jones Act from here, those of us here at home. And this is for ages. This isn’t a new issue for him. One of the first topics we ever discussed on this program 32 years ago, No. 1 was fireworks.
Kent: Yes.
Hamada: Too much. Too much. The other was Jones Act.
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: So for three decades, this incredible inertia was something that is so obvious. It has such a grave effect on our state. It’s still there.
Kent: Well, it’s more than three decades. It’s over 100 years, of course. But you’re right, though. In the last three decades, that’s when people have actually been aware and talking about it.
And actually, we got news last week that [President] Donald Trump is considering waiving, exempting, the Jones Act for oil shipments. He says that the Strait of Hormuz need[s] to be reopened. And in the meantime, that he’s considering waiving the Jones Act.
It’s always considering, though. I’m hoping it happens because then we could actually see what it costs. Now, if you look at the Jones Act proponents, they never want the Jones Act waived or anything. In fact, it used to be easier to waive it during an emergency. Let’s say a hurricane comes or just like in Puerto Rico a long time ago, they waived it for that and so on.
Hamada: Yes, they did.
Kent: But it’s a little embarrassing, I think, for the shipping companies because then everyone can kind of see under the covers, so to speak, at what’s really going on.
And so if they do waive it, you know, then that would actually be a good thing because we would actually be able to calculate, look, how much prices have gone down. Now, there’s estimates at the gas pump of how much your price at the pump would actually fluctuate. It could be, you know, 3 cents or 5 cents or 10 cents, or whatever it is. But, you know, all of that stuff adds up.
And so if it was that for a long time, we could talk about billions of dollars. And certainly in Hawaii, it costs more than a billion dollars to our state every single year, the Jones Act.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: And so, and we’ve done a study on that, if you’d like to read it, at grassrootsinstitute.org. So …
Hamada: Very nice. Definitely do. I remember the late, great Colleen Hanabusa, when she was in studio, stating that it was a national security issue. And I had to wait until the laughter subsided from my listeners, because …
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: Any type of justifiable argument that harps upon the emotions is going to be employed on Jones Act.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: I was a Z-card holder, you know. I was in the passenger cruise business here at home …
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: And we had to comply and did it, OK. But the punitive assessment on our cost of living is inexcusable. Is there that much power with Matson and Young Brothers? I mean, they really possess, and how do they exert it?
Kent: Oh, yes. Well, if you look at how much money the shipping companies as a whole have given to elections and politicians and so on, it’s, you know, well into the tens of millions of dollars, of course.
And every year, every politician, almost every politician in office in the state Legislature, gets a little something, a little pittance from the shipping unions. But the biggest ones who get it are in Congress, though.
And, of course, that’s the president and the congressional representatives for Hawaii. It seems so backwards that people representing Hawaii would be for the Jones Act. I don’t think they’re confused. I think this is calculated. So …
Hamada: Oh, I could use a couple more phrases. [Laughter] That would get me into trouble. But it’s already 7:46. So before we move on, any hope? Any hope? A waiver? Any hope? If we’re looking at President Trump to effectuate that, perhaps?
Kent: Yes, I think so. I mean, he does crazy things all the time. Here’s one more, but it’s actually a good crazy idea.
Hamada: Yeah.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: We’re going to stand by. Joe, how do we connect with you?
Kent: Well, you can connect with us at grassrootsinstitute.org and sign up for our newsletter at grassrootsinstitute.org.
Hamada: By the way, I’ve been remiss in monitoring and encouraging folks to give us a call. If there are issues facing our state along the lines that we’re discussing now or something completely different, give us a call. 521-8383, and we’ll return in just a moment, 7:47.
Hamada: Again, very grateful that Joe Kent of Grassroot Institute is in studio. Great way to start the week. By the way, if you want to give us a call, 521-8383.
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Emergency powers, Mr. Joe Kent. We hear it federally, but here in our state, a lot of swirl. Can you help us understand?
Kent: Well, emergency powers should be thought about when there’s not an emergency. Because when there is an emergency, it’s too easy to say, “Oh, we need emergency powers” and so on. Well, for government types anyways.
And we remember back during the pandemic years that emergency power just went on seemingly forever. Then the governor learned that he can almost declare an emergency for anything, for housing or for homelessness or for what have you, deer access and so on.
And so this, there’s a bill at the Legislature that would try to limit that power. Now, of course, it wouldn’t get rid of it totally, but it would put a check on the power. The Legislature, legislators could vote to end the governor’s emergency powers. And that’s how you do it.
Now, the problem, though, is some people have kind of misread the bill, I think. They read it in a way where they were shocked at the powers that he does have.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: And, of course, those should be ended, too. But, you know, that’s very difficult to do. This is like one step in the right direction. So it goes back to that half-measures vs. full measures type of thing. The half-measure would be better than nothing. Of course, we want the full measure and we talk about it and we advocate for it, too. But that doesn’t mean that the half-measure should end as well. So this bill is HB2236 and SB2151 at the Legislature. And I think it’s the best hope that we have, at least this year, for putting a check on the governor’s emergency powers.
Hamada: I recall even pre-COVID conversations about this. I hearken back to some even saying it was [Gov.] David Ige using emergency powers for flooding on the Valley Isle because he was really faltering. And then he had the opportunity, he had the face time, trying to help a grievous situation. So the conversation became exactly what can be under an emergency power proclamation. I understood that proclamations either monthly or bimonthly would expire. I …
Kent: Mmhmm.
Hamada: I don’t recall what the length is there.
Kent: 30 days or 60 days?
Hamada: Yeah.
Kent: Yes.
Hamada: And that the Legislature does possess the authority to vote on a particular, before it expires, whether or not it ends or continues.
Kent: Yes.
Hamada: But it seems to me that our Legislature has forgotten their role and has abandoned …
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: For whatever reason.
Kent: That’s right.
Hamada: So these bills are really designed to put that boost in there.
Kent: Yes. Well, and in the statute, it was a little ambiguous about, you know, can legislators do this? And even though it seemed to say that they could.
Hamada: Constitutionally.
Kent: Right. So what this bill does is it makes it, like, clear as day. You know, no one can wiggle out of the wording here.
Hamada: Mmhmm.
Kent: And so legislators can never say again, would never be able to say again, “Oh, it’s not us. You have to go to the governor.” And I think they kind of enjoyed saying that, by the way, because it got them out of the headlights. But we want them in the headlights here.
Hamada: They should be, absolutely. What are the impacts, by the way, 7:56, goodness. Wow. In your experience, for instance, the tax bill, governor giving an exemption to allow it to continue for one year, just so happens, an election year. And the dynamics of election-year politics on policy.
Kent: Yeah.
Hamada: I was always prayerful that we’d have an election every year. Because that seems when people stand up and say, we’re going to right the wrong.
Kent: Right.
Hamada: But, that notwithstanding, election year politics and policy.
Kent: Well, everyone says things can’t change, but things are getting so bad. And when things get really bad, that’s when changes happen, actually. Only a crisis can drive people to change, someone once said.
And there is a crisis right now. It’s a tax-hike crisis, and any legislator that votes for a bigger tax hike should be challenged. And any challenger should seize on this opportunity to talk about this.
At the same time, this is also an opportunity for people in office to show that they’re responsive to the public by, you know, prioritizing tax cuts. And that could be a great way, you know, let’s say I saved the tax cuts, vote for me, that type of, wait a second, I’m not running. I’m not running, just to be clear. [Laughter]
Hamada: He’s running as a tenor.
Kent: Yes, that’s right. So, but, you know, things could change if things get bad or good. And, you know, I’d encourage even the governor, by the way, to run on tax cuts, on saving the tax cuts, because there are so many ways to do so.
Hamada: Yeah. We have just literally a couple minutes remaining. I’d like you to, turn it over to you. Final thoughts, what you’d like to leave us with today.
Kent: Well, there are two roads. Hawaii has two roads into the future. The first road is reducing taxing and spending, and it allows people to keep more money in their pockets and possibly stay here in Hawaii. And I think about my daughter, you know, she’s 5 years old, her name is Crystal, and I want her to stay here in Hawaii. I want her to afford Hawaii’s cost of living eventually and get a job. And I don’t want to move back to cold, snowy Minnesota. I want to stay here.
Hamada: Right.
Kent: So that’s one option. The other option is the high-tax, high-spend model, where we don’t confront the big issues, the elephant in the room of overspending. And what that does is it makes it harder for people to live here, and it spirals into people leaving the state, as we’re seeing, by the way. Last year, the numbers came out even worse. So I hope for the best in our economy, and let’s save those tax cuts.
Hamada: Amen. I’m losing 50% of my children to the mainland. Zachary, he’s an island boy. Zoe has already plotted her course. And I would love them to do well here at home. I’m just not that confident. But trying to change and turn it around is key. Joe Kent, thank you for taking the time.
Kent: Thank you.
Hamada: Yeah. We’ll see you very soon.
Kent: Yep, aloha.