Hawaii’s Fiscal Picture Is Looking Up. So Why Do Lawmakers Still Want To Raise Taxes? House leaders say they will consider increasing capital gains and state income taxes on high earners in an effort to restore targeted cuts.
For months Gov. David Ige talked about Hawaii’s $1.4 billion-per-year state budget shortfall, a catastrophic number that acquired a kind of doomsday feel to it. Yet when Ige presented his new financial plan to reporters earlier this month, he never once mentioned that number.
When a reporter asked earlier this month about the size of the shortfall, Ige replied he didn’t have that amount handy, a tacit acknowledgement the infamous estimate of $1.4 billion is outdated.
And that is another sign that, from the perspective of state government, things are looking up.
