The forecast also said Hawaii is gradually recovering from the tourism slump triggered by last year’s Maui wildfires, while the construction industry is booming.
The state will collect about $125 million less this fiscal year than lawmakers expected when they approved the state budget last spring, mostly because of a massive state income tax cut legislators approved in the final days of the last session.
The state Council on Revenues, a panel of experts tasked with projecting state tax collections each year, concluded Thursday that Hawaii is gradually recovering from the tourism slump triggered by the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires, while the construction industry is booming.
But the council maintained that state general fund tax collections will grow by a modest 3.5% this fiscal year and 2.2% next year because of the unprecedented tax cuts lawmakers approved in May.
Advertisement
New projections made public by the state Tax Department Thursday show the income tax cut in Act 46 will reduce state tax collections by more than $240 million in the fiscal year that began July 1, and will reduce collections by nearly $597 million the following year.
Tax cuts included in the state budget approved by Hawaii lawmakers earlier this year were widely praised, but may make it more difficult for lawmakers to balance the budget in the future. (Chad Blair/Civil Beat/2024)
Another tax measure approved in the spring, Act 47, will reduce excise tax collections by an additional $33 million next year. That new law eliminates the state excise tax on medical and dental care services provided under Medicare, Medicaid and the military’s TRICARE.
The bottom line is that while the council projected in March the state general fund would collect $10.027 billion in taxes this fiscal year, the experts now expect actual collections to be slightly more than $9.902 billion.
The tax cut won praise from council Chairman Kurt Kawafuchi, who said it is a “really good policy of the administration and the Legislature to pass the tax relief.” He cited the increasing cost of essentials such as food and gasoline.
But the impact on tax collections may make it more difficult for Gov. Josh Green and state lawmakers to balance the state budget when the Legislature reconvenes in January. The amounts the state will forgo because of those tax cuts are scheduled to increase each year.
That may be creating a new normal for state government, experts said.
Advertisement
“Essentially, to make all of this pencil out, the state government spending — actual spending — needs to remain relatively flat for the next decade,” said economist Carl Bonham, also a member of the council.
He suggested that can be done in part by eliminating funding for vacant jobs in state government, an idea that Green has said he plans to pursue. But the council also briefly noted some hefty expenses that state government will have to pay in the near future.
Data provided by the Tax Department suggested the state must pay $537 million in hazard pay to unionized public employees who were required to work during the Covid pandemic, and the state faces major costs in the future to resolve lawsuits and help Maui recover from the wildfire.
Almost all of the public worker union contracts expire next year, and the unions certainly will be pressing for wage increases to offset the impact of inflation, Bonham said.
Green has said state budgets in the years ahead may be tight, but he expects the state will be able to pay its bills without raising taxes.
Advertisement
However, he has said he plans to once again ask lawmakers to impose a so-called “Green Fee” on visitors to help finance state efforts to cope with climate change.
Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.
Each week before Cal plays a football game, we ask someone who covers Cal’s next opponent five questions about that opponent.
Advertisement
To answer questions about Cal’s Hawaii Bowl opponent Hawaii this week we enlisted the services of Stephen Tsai, who covers Hawaii football for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and has been named Hawaii sports writer of the year seven times.
Advertisement
We were particularly intrigued by his answer to Question No. 5, where Tsai noted that there would portably be no Hawaii Bowl without Rolovich, a former Hawaii head coach and Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl.
—1. Every team has a home-field advantage, but it seems Hawaii has been even better than most teams at home. Is that true, and if so, why?
There are several obstacles for visiting teams. There’s the time difference. Hawaii games usually kick off at 6 p.m., which is midnight on the East Coast during daylight savings time, 11 p.m. for standard time. Because the Ching Complex is a temporary home venue, there are open areas in the corners, allowing for cross winds that affect field-goal attempts. The so-called “Manoa Mist” also impacts the ball-handling positions.
The visiting team is assigned a makeshift locker room combining the neighboring baseball stadium’s locker room and part of the concourse. Before the walls were built, the concourse area was cordoned off with curtains. Nothing like being near concession stands while preparing for a football game. Because of the time difference, a team can depart the West Coast in the morning and practice in Hawaii that afternoon. In contrast, teams lose preparation time for the next game when traveling back to the mainland.
Advertisement
.
Advertisement
—2. How much will the absence of all-conference wide receiver Jackson Harris affect Hawaii’s offense?
Aside from the deep threat — he had four TDs of 70-plus yards — Harris was sure-handed (three drops in 74 targets), clutch on scramble plays (37 of his 49 receptions resulted in first downs), and used his height and reach to attack 50-50 balls. As the left wideout, Harris benefited from left-handed QB Micah Alejado’s rollouts and left slotback Pofele Ashlock’s decoy routes.
Hawaii has experienced wideouts in Karsyn Pupunu and Brandon White, but the Warriors will have to be creative to make up for Harris’ deep-pass threat.
.
Advertisement
—3. Assess the abilities of Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado.
Advertisement
Alejado is accurate and has a coach’s knowledge of the Warriors’ read-and-attack, four-wide offense. He’s quick to decipher schemes with pre-snap reads. At 5-10, Alejado is like the detective behind a one-way mirror. He can find receivers yet it is a challenge for defenders to see him behind a taller offensive line.
.
—4. Who are the top two or three players on Hawaii’s offense and defense?
Alejado, running back Landon Sims and left guard and Zhen Sotelo are the impact players on offense. Jalen Smith, who can play both linebacker spots, and De’Jon Benton, who lines up as 3-tech tackle or end, provide defensive versatility. An opposing coach mused that UH could run a 1-10 formation with Benton.
Advertisement
.
Advertisement
—5. Do Hawaii fans still remember Nick Rolovich, who is Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl?
Without Rolo, there probably would not be a Hawaii Bowl. He threw eight touchdown passes to help the Warriors stomp then-unbeaten BYU in the 2001 regular-season finale. But with no postseason bowl invitation for the 9-3 Warriors, the leaders of UH, WAC and ESPN created the Hawaii Bowl the next year.
Rolo was innovative as a UH offensive coordinator and play-calling head coach. He ran his variation of June Jones’ run-and-shoot offense. He also provided entertainment, bringing an Elvis impersonator to media day; awarding a scholarship at a wrestling match and another in a koala cage at an Australian zoo; and designing a rivalry trophy for the matchup against UNLV.
On the road, he once conducted a quarterbacks’ meeting in the hotel jacuzzi. He also coined the popular phrase: Live aloha, play Warrior.
Advertisement
Recent articles:
Advertisement
Bucs’ Todd Bowles approves of Cal’s hire for offensive coordinator
Former Cal and NFL star named head football coach at JSerra Catholic High School
Cal reportedly expected to hire Oakland native as running backs coach
Cal QB Caminong plans to enter the transfer portal
Advertisement
Cal WR Jacob De Jesus on the doorstep of 100 receptions
Advertisement
Cal adds an ACC game to its 2026 home schedule
Buccaneers assistant coach reportedly will be Cal’s offensive coordinator
Mike White, who was the head coach of Cal’s powerful 1975 football team, dies
ESPN names Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele as one of 15 candidates for 2026 Heisman
Honolulu police opened a murder investigation today after finding the body of a 60-year-old woman while doing a welfare check at a Hawaii Kai home.
Police said officers arrested the victim’s 29-year-old son and a 27-year-old woman who were inside the residence and identified as suspects.
After receiving a 10:25 a.m. welfare check call, HPD officers responded to a home on the 6200 block of Upolo Place and found a woman dead on the floor inside the residence.
“Preliminary investigation revealed the woman sustained fatal injuries,” HPD said.
Advertisement
The two suspects were arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and the investigation is ongoing, according to police.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.
Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.
“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.
Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.
Advertisement
“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.
“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.
“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”
“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”
To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.
Advertisement
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
