“Proposed pay hikes for state leaders spark outrage.”
Views expressed in this Hawaii News update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 22 February 2025, 0014 UTC.
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Proposed Pay Hikes for State Leaders Spark Outrage
State legislators meet once a year for 60 business days from mid-January to late April or early May. Right now, each lawmaker makes $74,160 a year. The commission is proposing a 40% raise in 2027, the first year they are allowed an increase, to $103,824.
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Hawaiʻi Homeowners Could Be Paid to Carve Out Workforce Housing
The state Legislature is considering a new approach that would allow homeowners to sell a deed restriction on their property to a county, provided they only allow occupants who work at least 30 hours in that county.
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This Program for Homeless People to Get Back to the Continent Needs Permanent Funding
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A Rare Conviction for Selling Illegal Fireworks Ends With Supervised Release
A Kapolei man avoided jail time but was given a $5,000 fine on Wednesday for the distribution of illegal fireworks, representing a rare win in the state’s crackdown on unlicensed pyrotechnics.
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Kaua‘i Headlines
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My opinion for what it’s worth.
It appears some of us are upset that the Hawaii State Legislature is proposing a 40% pay raise for state leaders. The pay hike would boost some annual pay rates to over $103,000. Although most state lawmakers feel they are doing a good job of spending taxpayer money on a variety of projects, I disagree. As a Hawaii State resident for over 66 years, I feel there are several worthwhile ideas that never seem to bear fruit. Among them are strict fireworks controls-do we really need more people killed by illegal fireworks?
Another area of contention is the myth of affordable housing. Granted, the state is now making more land available for homes. but at what price? What family can afford the almost a $1 million needed to live in a house these days?
What are we going to do about food sustainability? Hawaii imports a staggering amount (estimated by some experts to be 80-90 percent) of our food stocks. How do we feed ourselves with the limited land available? What happens when shipping to the islands is interrupted by an entire spectrum of disasters–some human-made, others by natural causes?
And, finally, there is the disposition of funds from OHA. The wait list for Native Hawaiians is embarrassing and inexcusable.
I would be in favor of a pay increase for state leaders, if they paid attention to the basic shelter, food, and social issues besetting many of us. Forget formal proclamations for nearly everything under the sun, and get to work on making our communities livable.
Very soon the policies of the current administration in Washington, D.C. will impact Hawaii. Are we prepared to live without federal programs? What are we doing to make us sustainable? Just look at what the UH system has to do to keep the $400 million in federal funds needed to run a wide educational spectrum. Recent articles in the “Honolulu Star-Advertiser” can bring you up to date on this and other issues.
Even if my comments offend you, please sit down, think the problems through, and contact your state legislators with your concerns.
Aloha, Russ Roberts (site administrator).
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