Report: Hawaii Third Worst When It Comes to Taxing Poor
Hawaii Democrat legislators give speeches and raid special funds to finance their the pet social programs.
They have boosted the state’s spending on the Department of Human Services to “help the poor.”
The total annual funding for DHS is now the highest of any state agency at $2.8 billion from all sources. It has surpassed annual funding for public education at $2.5 billion from all sources.
But a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes Hawaii taxes poor almost more so than any other state.
From the report, Hawaii comes in at number 3 worst:
3. Hawaii
> Income tax on working-poor: $331/yr.
> Lowest taxable income: $17,800 (77% of poverty line)
> Poverty rate: 10.0% (6th lowest)
> Median household income: $63,030 (5th highest)
The report also notes: “Hawaii has a particularly low poverty rate of 10%. It also has one of the highest median household incomes in the country. The state continues to tax families at the poverty line at one of the highest rates in the country. However, the amount a family of four at the poverty line pays in income tax has decreased since 1994. That year, the amount was $406. Today, it is $331. The state also taxes families making 77% of the poverty line or more.”
Read more in a related article: The States Taxing the Poor Most – 24/7 Wall St. https://247wallst.com/2012/04/12/the-states-taxing-the-poor-most/#ixzz1sFD5RBrK
Some Hawaii lawmakers suggest if the legislature removes its tax on the poor, fewer social services will be needed.
Hawaiian Airlines’ New Service to Fukuoka Provides $156 Million a Year in Visitor Spending
Mike McCartney, President and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority said his agency charged with marketing Hawaii as a tourism destination is pleased with the launch of Hawaiian Airlines’ new service from Fukuoka to Honolulu.
“Japan is the largest international market to the Hawaiian Islands and we estimate this new route will provide $156 million in visitor spending and $17 million in tax revenue annually,” McCartney said.
As an island state, he said airlift is vital to the sustainability of our tourism economy, and this new route demonstrates the continued demand for travel to the Hawaiian Islands.
“We look forward to welcoming more visitors from Japan to our state through this flight, and wish Hawaiian Airlines success on their new route,” McCartney said.
Missing Child – Now Grown – Has Ties to Hawaii
The London Daily Mail reports on the bizarre story of Steve Carter, 35, who was born in Hau’ula, Hawaii, and abandoned by his mother, Charlotte Moriarty, when he was 6 months old. His mother had dropped him off with a stranger, giving police a fake name and birth date for her child. She was then committed to a psychiatric hospital and disappeared.
Steve tracked down his own disturbing history after finding his photo under the name Marx Panama Barnes on missingkids.com.
His father, Mark Barnes, told the paper he looked everywhere for them on Oahu for a year and a half for his girlfriend and son since they disappeared on June 21, 1977, but never found them. Mark Barnes, now 61, told People magazine he spent “about a year and a half going crazy driving around the island.”
With his mother missing and a fake name stunting any investigation, Carter became a ward of the state and he was placed in an orphanage 30 miles from where he had lived with his parents.
Steve was and adopted at age four by a nice couple who raised him in New Jersey. In February, DNA tests confirmed his identity.