Op-Ed: Maui Indivisible leader urges passage of tax relief bills

Maui Indivisible leader urges passage of tax relief bills: SB3125 & SB3028
By: Marnie Masuda, leader Maui Indivisible

“Maui knows what crisis looks like: Families doubled up in tiny apartments; workers sleeping in cars; teachers leaving because they can’t find a home. Beneath the housing emergency lies a safety net crisis: neighbors skipping meals, cutting meds, or pulling kids from child care because they can’t afford to stay afloat.

That’s why Maui Indivisible is urging our legislators to pass SB3125 and SB3028—two bills that deliver tax relief to those who truly need it, while asking the wealthy and luxury landowners to invest in solutions.

SB3125 responsibly addresses the budget shortfall caused by federal tax cuts for the rich and Act 46, which hands an average additional $12,800 annual break to the top 1% by 2031. 

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Instead of slashing Medicaid or SNAP, the House draft of this bill raises $367 million in FY2027 from top earners, rising to $650 million in FY29. It also strengthens the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit—a lifeline for working parents who pay an average of $13,000 a year or more for childcare. On Maui, where service jobs dominate and childcare is scarce, this is an issue not only of economic stability and quality of life, but of survival.

Pair this reality with the critical tenets of SB3028. The bill modernizes the conveyance tax to ensure that, when multimillion-dollar luxury real estate sells, our full-time, local community gets a fair share. Under a marginal rate structure, an average working family selling a home would pay less, while wealthy mansion owners, most of whom live on Maui part time, would pay more when they sell.

The result: tax relief for working families plus an estimated $68.5 million annually, funneled directly into affordable rentals, housing infrastructure, land conservation, and the fulfillment of long-overdue trust obligations through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Maui can’t wait. Pass SB3125 and SB3028. Give working families relief, fund housing, and stop balancing the budget on the backs of those already struggling.”

*****Views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author’s alone and do not reflect or represent the opinions, policies or positions of Maui Now.*****