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With the Hawaii legislature days away from a potential adjournment without a budget, Roth speaks with two critics of the Governor's Economic Revitalization Task Force. Bob Bonar, whose Community Revitalization Coalition gathered views from 350 people across 49 community groups, argues the ERTF was captured by big business, big labor, and big government from the start, ignoring women, counties, and social services. Sam Slom, one of only two Republicans in the state Senate, calls the ERTF's closed meetings and selective community hearings a display of "arrogance personified," noting the Task Force's lead proposal was a tax increase on lower-income earners. Both men agree that Hawaii's economic slump is structural rather than cyclical, that the state must diversify beyond government-subsidized tourism, and that a genuine community process—not a top-down plan—is what is needed. Slom calls for cutting taxes and regulations while Bonar prioritizes progressive tax relief and protecting social services. The two find unexpected common ground on the need for transparent decision-making and a bottom-up review. Callers raise the general excise tax, military spending exemptions, federal tax conformity, and a proposed $23 million mental health appropriation lacking a spending plan.
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Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
