April 28, 2017 — Update

Aloha   In this edition:
  1. Update;
  2. Please take action today;
  3. Legislator Contact Info
Update

So, as you know, I have always said that Hawaiian politics is crazy and unpredictable.  This year has been the craziest and the most unpredictable in all the years I have been involved.   Today was a topper.   Today, without any prior notice, without any consultation, without any discussion with parties affected, the wise legislators in Hawaii decided to raise the TAT.   Currently it is 9.25%.   They decided to raise to 12%.    Why?  To pay for the construction of the rail system in Honolulu that is running massively over budget.   The normally reasonable Representative Luke, Chair of the House Finance Committee commented that it was more fair for tourists to pay for the rail than for seniors and working poor to pay for the rail.   Now, I only go to Honolulu when I absolutely have to and I don’t have full perspective on where this rail line is running from and to, but if it is like most cities, it is being built to move people from their homes to their work and back again.  Yes, it includes Honolulu airport, Pearl Harbor and Waikiki, but it goes far beyond Pearl Harbor into residential areas.  It doesn’t go anywhere near the outer islands.   The Hawaii constitution has laid out processes for setting tax increases and the State legislators did even begin to follow the process.    Perhaps this is seen as a compromise for killing the property tax bill, but in any case, it is outrageous.   By the way – at this late hour, the legislators are still meeting on the tax collector – advertising platform – AirBnB bill.

Please take action today

We need every member to write, email and phone every member of the House of Representatives and every member of the Senate to let them know you are opposed to this tax hike.   The contact information for the Representatives and Senators is at the bottom of this email.   Remember:

  • A 33% tax will seriously impair tourism, Hawaii’s number one economic driver.
  • The tax increase was not subject to normal review and scrutiny and industry participants have not been consulted,
  • Hawaii already “exports” a significant portion of its tax burden by having non-residents pay an unusually high proportion of the State’s taxes.
Legislator Contact Info

Senators:  This table lists the contact information for all Senators.  Below the list is a summary of all email addresses which you should be able to copy and paste into your email To: field.  [Note: Some members have had issues with the emails and email addresses provided below, while others have had no issues.  Apologies to those who have had challenges – I don’t know why!]

Baker ,  Rosalyn H. (D) 808-586-6070 senbaker@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Chang ,  Stanley (D) 808-586-8420 senchang@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Dela Cruz ,  Donovan M.(D) 808-586-6090 sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov
English ,  J. Kalani (D) 808-587-7225 senenglish@capitol.hawaii.gov
Espero ,  Will (D) 808-586-6360 senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov
Gabbard ,  Mike (D) 808-586-6830 sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov
Galuteria ,  Brickwood (D) 808-586-6740 sengaluteria@capitol.hawaii.gov
Green ,  Josh (D) 808-586-9385 sengreen@capitol.hawaii.gov
Harimoto ,  Breene (D) 808-586-6230 senharimoto@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ihara ,  Les Jr. (D) 808-586-6250 senihara@capitol.hawaii.gov
Inouye ,  Lorraine R. (D) 808-586-7335 seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov
Kahele ,  Kaiali‘i (D) 808-586-6760 senkahele@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Keith-Agaran ,  Gilbert S.C. (D) 808-586-7344 senkeithagaran@capitol.hawaii.gov
Kidani ,  Michelle N. (D) 808-586-7100 senkidani@capitol.hawaii.gov
Kim ,  Donna Mercado (D) 808-587-7200 senkim@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Kouchi ,  Ronald D. (D) 808-586-6030 senkouchi@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Nishihara ,  Clarence K. (D) 808-586-6970 sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov
Rhoads ,  Karl (D) 808-586-6130 senrhoads@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Riviere ,  Gil (D) 808-586-7330 senriviere@capitol.hawaii.gov
Ruderman ,  Russell E. (D) 808-586-6890 senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov
Shimabukuro ,  Maile S.L.(D) 808-586-7793 senshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov
Taniguchi ,  Brian T. (D) 808-586-6460 sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov
Thielen ,  Laura H. (D) 808-587-8388 senthielen@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Tokuda ,  Jill N. (D) 808-587-7215 sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov
Wakai ,  Glenn (D) 808-586-8585 senwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov

senbaker@Capitol.hawaii.gov; senchang@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  sendelacruz@capitol.hawaii.gov; senenglish@capitol.hawaii.gov; senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov; sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov; sengaluteria@capitol.hawaii.gov; sengreen@capitol.hawaii.gov; senharimoto@capitol.hawaii.gov; senihara@capitol.hawaii.gov; seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov; senkahele@Capitol.hawaii.gov; senkeithagaran@capitol.hawaii.gov; senkidani@capitol.hawaii.gov; senkim@Capitol.hawaii.gov; senkouchi@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov; senrhoads@Capitol.hawaii.gov; senriviere@capitol.hawaii.gov; senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov; senshimabukuro@capitol.hawaii.gov; sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov; senthielen@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  sentokuda@capitol.hawaii.gov;  senwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov ;

Representatives:  This table lists all the members of the House of Representatives.  Below the list is a summary of all email addresses which you should be able to copy and paste into your email To: field.

Aquino ,  Henry J.C. (D) 808-586-6520 repaquino@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Belatti ,  Della Au (D) 808-586-9425 repbelatti@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Brower ,  Tom (D) 808-586-8520 repbrower@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Cachola ,  Romy M. (D) 808-586-6010 repcachola@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Choy ,  Isaac W. (D) 808-586-8475 repchoy@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Creagan ,  Richard P. (D) 808-586-9605 repcreagan@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Cullen ,  Ty J.K. (D) 808-586-8490 repcullen@Capitol.hawaii.gov
DeCoite ,  Lynn (D) 808-586-6790 repdecoite@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Evans ,  Cindy (D) 808-586-8510 repevans@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Fukumoto ,  Beth (R) 808-586-9460 repfukumoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Gates ,  Cedric Asuega (D) 808-586-8460 repgates@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Har ,  Sharon E. (D) 808-586-8500 rephar@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Hashem ,  Mark J. (D) 808-586-6510 rephashem@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Holt ,  Daniel (D) 808-586-6180 repholt@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Ichiyama ,  Linda (D) 808-586-6220 repichiyama@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Ing ,  Kaniela (D) 808-586-8525 reping@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Ito ,  Ken (D) 808-586-8470 repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Johanson ,  Aaron Ling (D) 808-586-9470 repjohanson@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Keohokalole ,  Jarrett (D) 808-586-8540 repkeohokalole@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Kobayashi ,  Bertrand (D) 808-586-6310 repkobayashi@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Kong ,  Sam Satoru (D) 808-586-8455 repkong@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Lee ,  Chris (D) 808-586-9450 replee@Capitol.hawaii.gov
LoPresti ,  Matthew S. (D) 808-586-6080 replopresti@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Lowen ,  Nicole E. (D) 808-586-8400 replowen@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Luke ,  Sylvia (D) 808-586-6200 repluke@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Matsumoto ,  Lauren Kealohilani (R) 808-586-9490 repmatsumoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov
McDermott ,  Bob (R) 808-586-9730 repmcdermott@Capitol.hawaii.gov
McKelvey ,  Angus L.K. (D) 808-586-6160 repmckelvey@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Mizuno ,  John M. (D) 808-586-6050 repmizuno@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Morikawa ,  Dee (D) 808-586-6280 repmorikawa@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Nakamura ,  Nadine K. (D) 808-586-8435 repnakamura@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Nakashima ,  Mark M. (D) 808-586-6680 repnakashima@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Nishimoto ,  Scott Y. (D) 808-586-8515 repnishimoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Ohno ,  Takashi (D) 808-586-9415 repohno@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Onishi ,  Richard H.K. (D) 808-586-6120 reponishi@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Oshiro ,  Marcus R. (D) 808-586-6700 repmoshiro@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Quinlan ,  Sean (D) 808-586-6380 repquinlan@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Saiki ,  Scott K. (D) 808-586-8485 repsaiki@Capitol.hawaii.gov
San Buenaventura , Joy A. (D) 808-586-6530 repsanbuenaventura@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Say ,  Calvin K.Y. (D) 808-586-6900 repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Souki ,  Joseph M. (D) 808-586-6100 repsouki@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Takayama ,  Gregg (D) 808-586-6340 reptakayama@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Takumi ,  Roy M. (D) 808-586-6170 reptakumi@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Thielen ,  Cynthia (R) 808-586-6480 repthielen@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Todd ,  Chris (D) 808-586-8480 reptodd@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Tokioka ,  James Kunane(D) 808-586-6270 reptokioka@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Tupola ,  Andria P.L. (R) 808-586-8465 reptupola@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Ward ,  Gene (R) 808-586-6420 repward@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Woodson ,  Justin H. (D) 808-586-6210 repwoodson@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamane ,  Ryan I. (D) 808-586-6150 repyamane@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Yamashita ,  Kyle T. (D) 808-586-6330 repyamashita@Capitol.hawaii.gov

repaquino@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repbelatti@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repbrower@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repcachola@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repchoy@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repcreagan@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repcullen@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repdecoite@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repevans@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repfukumoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repgates@Capitol.hawaii.gov; rephar@Capitol.hawaii.gov; rephashem@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repholt@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  repichiyama@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reping@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repjohanson@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repkeohokalole@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repkobayashi@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repkong@Capitol.hawaii.gov; replopresti@Capitol.hawaii.gov; replowen@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repluke@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmatsumoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmcdermott@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmckelvey@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmizuno@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmorikawa@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repnakamura@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repnakashima@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repnishimoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repohno@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reponishi@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repmoshiro@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repquinlan@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repsaiki@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repsanbuenaventura@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repsouki@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reptakayama@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reptakumi@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  repthielen@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reptodd@Capitol.hawaii.gov;  reptokioka@Capitol.hawaii.gov; reptupola@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repward@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repwoodson@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repyamane@Capitol.hawaii.gov; repyamashita@Capitol.hawaii.gov;

Thank you for your continued support.  

Mahalo,

Neal