TAX FOUNDATION OF HAWAII

The Tax Foundation of Hawaii is a nonprofit, educational IRC Section 501(c)(3) organization whose main purpose is to educate the public and lawmakers on the impact of the actions taken by government in Hawaii. The Foundation analyzes and examines tax and spending policies at the state and local government levels in Hawaii and keeps track of how state and county governments collect their taxes and how those monies are spent. The Foundation also assesses the impact of these public finance policies as they affect the economic climate and the outlook for Hawaii's future.

The Foundation does not take positions, but analyzes proposed legislation against the principles of tax fairness, equity, accountability, efficiency, simplicity, and competitiveness of the tax structure. The Foundation speaks out when higher taxes are proposed or when government wastes our hard earned tax dollars. It simplifies the complex world of government finance and explains why certain schemes are detrimental to taxpayers.

The Tax Foundation aspires to be a preeminent educational resource to which individuals, companies, and policymakers alike can turn to shape tax policy. To do this, it needs credibility and sustainability. Credibility is accomplished by having clear principles that shape its perspective, by having an easily accessible repository of deep historical knowledge about the tax and public finance systems in Hawaii, and by frequent exposure of our policy ideas to our stakeholders so they can be educated and, in turn, provide feedback to the Foundation so that its message can continue to be refined and relevant to policymakers. Sustainability is accomplished by having this credibility with a stable (and preferably growing) membership base of committed funders that are aligned with the Foundation's mission.

To educate the public as well as lawmakers about government finances in Hawaii and the efficient use of tax revenues, the Foundation analyzes and presents testimony on tax and finance legislation before the state legislature and the county councils. Our findings and comments are the basis for our online publication, the Legislative Tax Bill Service, which is made available to members and to legislators.

The President of the Foundation attends numerous public hearings on tax measures to present our observations and to answer questions from lawmakers. The Foundation has a weekly commentary on tax and finance issues that is distributed to all members, donors and to print and on-line media sources. Weekly commentaries are also archived on our website.

To create more frequent exposure of policy ideas to our stakeholders, our strategy is to increase our exposure through sponsored forums, media releases and appearances, and a website enabled for social media. Presently, the Foundation sponsors Legislative Briefing meetings to members and the general public to inform them of what legislation has been introduced with a summary and status update of such legislation. The President of the
Foundation also speaks before business and community groups to inform the public of the basic workings of government and the current issues before lawmakers, and in addition, appears before television, radio and print media to further inform citizens of government actions.

The Foundation is moving toward having an easily accessible repository of its deep historical knowledge. The Foundation already has a large trove of historical documents. Most are on paper so accessibility is limited. One of our medium-range goals is to digitize these documents and make them electronically available.

The Foundation's hardworking staff is committed to quality analysis at the speed needed to keep up with the often frenetic 60-day legislative session. During session, the staff works numerous hours to research, prepare, submit and attend hearings on multiple legislative issues. We submit our testimony electronically to lawmakers at the state capitol and often to the county councils. We also email our weekly commentary to our members, donors and media outlets.

In the past, the Foundation has called out a practice of sequestering monies in various legislatively created special funds. Monies in special funds are not counted against the state's debt limit and are unavailable to fund essential core programs. After the Foundation exposed this practice of hiding money in special funds, lawmakers now think twice about creating new special funds and have repealed some existing special funds.

The Foundation has also pointed out the dangers of earmarking of general funds for a specific purpose. In one instance, the Foundation raised concerns about a controlled substances bill in 2016 that redirected the fines for illegal use to the department's special fund thereby bypassing the appropriation process; this provision was taken out of the final bill.

While the Foundation has continually recommended that the state tax laws be made easier to comply with, this year it has recommended that the tax laws be adjusted to provide that low-income taxpayers be taken of the tax rolls rather than adopting various tax credits and adjustments which may be difficult to understand and with which to comply.

One of the Foundation's major ongoing hurdles is to establish a stable stream of financing, a plan for sustainability, the creation a group of committed funders along with an increase in the membership base.

In addition, the Foundation has an archive of tax legislation dating back to statehood. One of our goals is to have this information placed in a searchable data base so members and interested parties can peruse this valuable background information.

The work and mission of the Foundation is ongoing and never ending. We will always need to keep a watch on proposed legislation and share our findings with lawmakers and private citizens.