Legislature & Politics
Lawmakers choose innovation over red tape
What if we had another way to travel interisland? Something cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the usual airport-to-airport grind?No, I’m not talking about resurrecting the Hawaii Superferry. There’s a new option on the horizon, and I’m…
More housing reforms for Hawaii
Now that Hawaii’s 2026 legislative session is over, I’d like to tell you about a few meaningful…
Grassroot’s legislative wins include housing…
The biggest takeaway from the 2026 legislative session is that lawmakers appear to still be focused…
Untangling occupational licensing rules | Grassroot…
This year’s legislative session is winding down, and it has certainly had its highs and lows. One…
Kent, Kefalas tout defeat of tax cuts as major…
Joe Kent, executive president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and Ted Kefalas, Grassroot’s…
The unintended consequences of transfer taxes
Most of the attention this year at the state Legislature has been focused on the status of our historic income tax cuts from 2024 — whether they are going to be modified or repealed, effectively resulting in a tax hike.But there’s another tax-hike…
Tax relief needed to help combat Hawaii’s high…
The following “Island Voices” commentary was first published April 22, 2026, in the Honolulu…
When good bills go bad
As the 2026 legislative session enters its final weeks, I am happy to report that several of the…
How building new homes benefits everyone
A new report from economists at the University of Hawai‘i makes a point that many of us have known…
Raising taxes to fund disaster relief would be ‘a…
Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, had a wide-ranging…
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