6+ hour, 9+ min ago   (512+ words) When it became apparent earlier this month that the Honolulu Charter Commission was seriously considering approving a ballot measure asking Honolulu voters whether the City Council should be required to tax so-called empty homes, my colleagues at the Grassroot Institute…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago   (459+ words) The Honolulu City Council’s Budget Committee has recommended that the city increase the value of its homeowner property tax exemption by $20,000 starting July 1, 2028 — but will the relief be enough? Honolulu currently has the lowest homeowner exemption in the state. Last…...

2+ day, 13+ hour ago   (501+ words) The Hawaiʻi Legislature passed a bill this year that now allows folks across the state to install rainwater catchment systems. HB1728, which took effect July 1, is a victory for anyone who is interested in building new housing but unable to connect…...

2+ day, 17+ hour ago   (344+ words) Nearly three years after wildfires engulfed Lahaina, Hawaii, rebuilding continues to move at a glacial pace. The blazes claimed more than 100 lives and left thousands of people without homes and livelihoods. More than 2,200 structures were destroyed. So far, only 220 houses…...

4+ day, 20+ hour ago   (511+ words) For the first time in the 20 years that national news outlet CNBC has been ranking America’s top states for business, Hawaii came in dead last. In particular, the Aloha State finished 50th in terms of infrastructure and the cost-of-doing-business, and landed…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago   (394+ words) Like many local business owners, Hawaii’s farmers and ranchers have to deal with rules and regulations that often make it harder to run a successful enterprise. They also share the same concerns about the high cost of housing and how…...

3+ week, 9+ hour ago   (355+ words) But this year isn’t just like any other — today we celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Two-and-a-half centuries ago, the 13 British colonies along North America’s Atlantic coast unified to declare their freedom from Great Britain and create a revolutionary form of government based…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago   (362+ words) I always enjoy the opportunity to close out the legislative session talking with the people that we at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii are really working for — the men and women who are trying to live, work and flourish in…...

1+ mon, 13+ hour ago   (550+ words) Maui County has more than three dozen boards and commissions that are supposed to advise the county on matters of policy — from housing to conservation to fire protection. Unfortunately, many of these volunteer-led boards do not have clear missions, have…...

1+ mon, 3+ day ago   (459+ words) This is a year of celebration — both for our country and the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Almost 250 years ago, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. That revolutionary document gave birth to the United States of America,…...