Issue – Tax Relief

Senator Norman Sakamoto
Feburary 12, 2006

In her 2006 State of the State address, Governor Lingle proposed a $285 million tax relief package. However, it will be difficult to both do a tax relief and take care of our school needs at the same time. Although tax relief is more appealing, it is more important to take care of unmet needs first, like public schools. The repair and maintenance backlog is now $525 million. There is a need for equipment, books, and supplies. In addition, we must increase the number of highly qualified teachers in order to improve the level of instruction we give na keiki (our children).

Every taxpayer would like to pay less taxes. However, we pay taxes for a good purpose: public education, public health care and hospitals, prisons, law enforcement, protecting our environment, and so forth. With the current State surplus many have urged returning money to taxpayers, but many others say we should support public education. It would be hard to do both.

Together we must weigh the needs of our community. We can choose to do what will be best for Hawaii and for our future.

For additional information, please view Where Did The Money Go?