State tax collections are below Council on Revenue projections this year and lawmakers are looking elsewhere to make up the difference. HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.
Wayne Yoshioka is an award-winning journalist who has worked in television, print and radio in Hawaiʻi. He also has been on both sides of politics as a state departmental appointee and political/government reporter. He covered Hurricane Iwa (1982) as a TV reporter; was the State Department of Defense/Civil Defense spokesperson for Hurricane Iniki (1992); and, commanded a public affairs detachment in Afghanistan (2006). He has a master's degree in Communication from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is a decorated combat veteran (Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and 22 other commendation/service medals). He resides in Honolulu.
The state Council on Revenues decreased the state’s projected revenue increase this year from 5% to 4.4%. The slight decrease is mostly due to large corporate refunds over the last three months that have outpaced last year’s data.
Gov. Josh Green signed a law last year aimed at lowering Hawaiʻi's high cost of living through the largest tax cut in state history — about $5 billion over the next six years.