Telephone 808 586-8420 | 349-5438 Cell | Fax 586-8426 | Business office 396-1724
|
April 18, 2008
Appeals Court Ruling Could State special funds totaling over $1.19 billion may be lost after an Intermediate Court of Appeals ruling was issued this week. The Hawaii Insurers Council started a lawsuit in 2000 regarding fees that were charged by the state-run Insurance Regulation fund. The Intermediate Court of Appeals, agreeing with the Circuit Court, found the special fund violated the Hawaii and federal constitutions and was an "illegal and unconstitutional tax." The state collected far more than necessary to fund the the special fund and instead they collected money for other departments and even transferred excess funds to the state general fund. The costs related to the fees for the special fund bore no relation to the actual services rendered and no attempt was made to refund the difference. Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said "we are going to have to look at the structure and use of all special funds." I have spoken and voted against the creation of new special funds since I was first elected. In yesterday's floor session, I stated, "In the twelve years now that I've been in this state Senate, many of my colleagues have found it humorous or just boring that I spoke against the creation of special funds all of this time. And I especially spoke against certain bills where we used different words to mean different things. A tax is a tax is a tax. And if we don't follow procedures, we're going to pay the price... we've got to be much more careful in our fiscal deliberations, and particularly in the creation of, the deposit of, and the raiding of special funds in this state." The State Attorney General may consider an appeal. Additional Links
Court ruling jeopardizes $1.19B in state funds Is It a Fee or Tax, Hawaii Supreme Court Blog, April 16, 2008
Court Shuts Down Legislative Tax Scam
Senator Slom's Floor Speech on Special Funds Coming soon
 
A blank line of text here.
|