The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget on Jan. 13, 2026.
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Jan. 13, 2026, 9 a.m.
Honolulu Hale
To: Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget
Val Okimoto, Chair
Scott Nishimoto, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: Bill 76 (2025) — RELATING TO GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY
Aloha Chair Okimoto, Vice Chair Nishimoto and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 76 (2025), which would require the Honolulu Department of Budget and Fiscal Services to create an online budget database that is free and open to the public.
Currently, members of the public can access county budget information through one of several annual and quarterly reports, but there is no simple way to locate specific expenditures across a range of dates.
An online database as proposed by Bill 76 (2025) would include information on every city expenditure, such as the amount of money spent, where the funds came from, the date of the expenditure, the department or agency that spent the money and the vendor or entity that received the funds.
Grassroot believes such a database would go a long way toward making Honolulu’s government more transparent and accountable. Furthermore, an online database would help the public determine whether county funds were being spent in accordance with their intended purposes.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
