Richard Borreca

4 days ago | staradvertiser.com | Richard Borreca

Even in the quiet, before the closing-day speeches in the first days of May, this year’s state Legislature is significant. The promise is that they will be back for a special session. The Legislature last convened a special session in 2017 to address rail project funding. Now the new dates for the special session being considered are August, September or November. Legislative leaders think by then more information could be available.

3 weeks ago | staradvertiser.com | Richard Borreca

Here are some questions that many folks across the USA should be able to answer: When is tax day? As in when are your taxes due? Or, what does April 15th mean to you? Yes, April 15 is coming right up. As you can imagine, there is nothing simple or uncomplicated when talking about taxes. Surprisingly, the simplest information about the bad news about taxes in Hawaii comes from the state Tax Department (https://tax. hawaii.gov/blog/blog14-comparing-hawaii-income-taxes).

1 month ago | staradvertiser.com | Richard Borreca

Rick Blangiardi, the former local and national broadcast executive, is starting his second term in his new career as one of Honolulu’s major political and government leaders. After a series of successful positions running network TV stations in Seattle and San Francisco, the former University of Hawaii football player and assistant coach took on local politics and is starting his second four-year term as Honolulu’s mayor.

1 month ago | staradvertiser.com | Richard Borreca

It must be a first: This is not the time to worry because of a disagreement — instead, we should worry because of an agreement. First up, the agreement is that we should collectively worry about how lousy the economy appears to be. There is serious consensus that Hawaii is likely to follow the nation into a recession triggered by three things. First there are changes in the economy, then a change in the national power structure, and finally the always controversial issue of political tax policy.

1 month ago | staradvertiser.com | Richard Borreca

Hawaii’s economy, rarely the master of its own fate, heads into the usually blustery month of March and is expected to be tossed by that heavy hitter, the federal government. The independent group of local economists at the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, UHERO, are predicting a local economy that’s about to be pushed around by forces it can neither control nor even predict. All that amounts to worry and fear.