“There are a lot of reasons why Hawaiʻi families are just a step away from financial disaster. Unfair and overly burdensome state taxes shouldn’t be one of them.”

“I was able to get help when I needed it, which allowed us to be employers in our community today. I am happy to pay it forward, to help someone who needs a little help now .”

“Tax credits—the ones he gets now from the federal government—help them keep body and soul together. They need additional help.”

“I hope our elected representatives will support the tax credits that can help students like me graduate on time and become the leaders of the future that the community needs.”

“The wealthiest get state tax deductions at higher federal rates… In effect, the feds absorb some of the cost of the increased state tax on the wealthiest.”

“Tax breaks in Hawaiʻi go to the wealthy, who pay only 8 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while low-income earners pay 13 percent. This is totally unfair.”

“It’s as plain as day that the inequity between the highest one percent and the bottom—working poor people—is much too large of a gap, and we need to do something about that.