The following are among the organizations who signed on to the Governor's original Economic Revitalization Tax Force (ERTF)--and its 34% General Excise Tax increase for all small businesses. Pressure to do so came from public labor unions, banks, majority party political leaders (financed by big business donations) and big business organizations such as the Hawaii Business Round Table. In the end, these organizations must accept the responsibility for their decision to side with special political interests in opposition to small business and meaningful changes in Hawaii.

Despite their knowledge of the harm that would be done to ALL small businesses--those on commissions, retirees and the poor--if the ERTF were enacted without change (as they advocated); despite the knowledge that some of their own special interests would benefit at the expense and subsidy by small, independent business; despite the awareness of alternative "revitalization" plans and options (from the Task Force Work Groups, Tax Review Commission, SBH, NFIB, the Hawaii Small Business Congress, the Bipartisan Legislative Small Business Caucus, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, among others), these organizations ignored the pleas of small business women and men--and common sense-- by embracing a political, rather than economic, agenda, designed to keep the same people and same public unions in office and in power. They do Hawaii a disservice by their support of the status quo.

Bookmark or download this page for future reference when they seek your support:

SUPPORTS ERTF PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE GENERAL EXCISE TAX*





Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.
Aloha Airlines
Bank of Hawaii
BHP Hawaii
Building Association of Hawaii (BIA)
C. Brewer & Co., Ltd.
Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii
DFS Hawaii
The Estate of James Campbell
First Hawaiian Bank
Hawaii Business Roundtable
Hawaiian Airlines
HERE Local 5; HGEA / AFSCME Local 152
HMSA
Kaiser Permanente
Pacific Resource Partnership
Retail Merchants of HawaII
United Public Workers (UPW)

DOES NOT SUPPORT INCREASE IN GENERAL EXCISE TAX*

American Association of Retired Persons
American Friends Services Committee	
City and County of Honolulu
County of Hawaii
County of Kauai
County of Maui
Democratic Party of Hawaii
Economic Justice for All
Hawaii Association of Realtors
Hawaii Food Industry Association
Hawaii State Commission/Status of Women
Internatıl Longshore Workers Union #142
Kalihi Business Association
League of Women Voters
Libertarian Party of Hawaii
National Federation of Ind. Business (NFIB)
Paychecks Hawaii
Republican Party of Hawaii
Small Business Legislative Coalition	
Small Business Hawaii
Tax Foundation of Hawaii
Welfare & Employment Rights Council

+ Signees to the Stop the GET Tax Increase petition.

* Partial listing only.

SIGNEES TO THE 1998
SMALL BUSINESS LEGSILATIVE PACKAGE

STATE SENATE ­ YES

Anderson, Whitney (R)
Bunda, Robert (D)
Sakamoto, Norman (D)
Slom, Sam (R)
Tam, Rod (D)

STATE SENATE ­ YES with Reservations

Baker, Rosalyn (D)
Chumbley, Avery (D)	
Chun Oakland, Suzanne (D)
Fukunaga,Carol A. (D)
Iwase, Randall (D)
Kawamoto, Cal (D)
Matsunaga, Matt (D)
Solomon, Malama (D)
Tanaka, Joseph (D)

STATE SENATE ­ Did Not Support

Aki, James (D)
Fernandes Salling, Lehua (D)
Ige, David (D)
Ige, Marshall (D)
Ihara, Jr. Les (D)
Kanno, Brian (D)
Levin, Andrew (D)
McCartney, Mike (D)
Metcalf, Wayne (D)
Mizuguchi, Norman (D)
Taniguchi, Brian (D)

STATE HOUSE ­ YES

Abinsay, Felipe ³Jun² (D)
Ahu Isa, Lei (D)
Aiona, Sam (R)
Arakaki, Dennis A. (D)
Case, Ed (D)
Chang, Jerry L. (D)
Fox, Galen (R)
Halford, Chris (R)
Ito, Ken (D)
Kanoho, Ezra R. (D)
Kawananakoa, Quentin (R)
Marumoto, Barbara C. (R)
Meyer, Colleen (R)
Morihara, David M. (D)
Moses, Mark (R)
Pendleton, David A. (R)
Stegmaier, David D. (D)
Tarnas, David (D)
Thielen, Cynthia (R)
Ward, Gene (R)
Whalen, Paul (R)

STATE HOUSE ­ YES with reservations

Cachola, Romy M. (D)
Menor, Ron (D)
Morita, Hermina (D)
Takai, K. Mark (D)

STATE HOUSE ­­ Did Not support

Garcia, Nestor (D)
Goodenow, Kenny (D)
Hamakawa, Eric (D)
Herkes, Robert N. (D)
Hiraki, Kenneth T. (D)
Jones, Merwyn (D)
Kahikina, Michael (D)
Kawakami, Bertha C. (D)
Lee, Marilyn B. (D)
McDermott, Bob (R)
Nakasone, Bob (D)
Okamura, Tom (D)
Oshiro, Marcus (D)
Oshiro, Paul T. (D)
Saiki, Scott (D)
Santiago, Alexander C. (D)
Say, Calvin K.Y. (D)
Souki, Joseph M. (D)
Suzuki, Nathan (D)	Takamine, Dwight Y. (D)
Takumi, Roy M. (D)
Tom, Terrance W.H. (D)
White, Michael B. (D)
Yamane, Brian (D)
Yonamine, Noboru (D)
Yoshinaga, Terry (D)

Return to March 1993 SB News Legislature Article

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