HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – This New Year’s Eve episode of “Spotlight Now” takes a look at the big headlines of 2024 and what to expect in 2025.
Economic forecasts
Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), provided insight into how he thinks the state will perform economically by 2025.
He also gave his predictions and how he thinks lawmakers will govern this upcoming legislative session, saying that because of recent tax credits and tax breaks that have been extended into 2024, lawmakers may take a more conservative approach.
“Going into this session, I really don’t think there will be a sense of extreme urgency to address potential future deficits due to last year’s tax cuts. At its last meeting, the board made a forecast that leaves us with positive revenue growth for each fiscal year going forward, even with the tax cuts.
Political predictions
Hawaii News Now political analyst Colin Moore gave us a recap of this latest 2024 election. He talked about the success of the GOP nationally, but also here in Hawaii.
“It’s been a fantastic year for Republicans. Of course, you know, it’s still a heavily Democratic state, but they’re in the best position they’ve been in in 20 years,” Moore said.
“They have three seats in the Senate and nine seats in the House. They won some pretty tough races. They took out some starters, even some pretty important starters. And you can really see that their support base on the Leeward Coast and Ewa Beach has grown,” Moore said.
Moore says this is the year he thinks recreational marijuana could pass the legislature.
On the other hand, Honolulu Civil Beat editor Chad Blair says he’s not so sure.
“As liberal and blue states as we think we are, there is a very strong conservative streak here in Hawaii. This is partly due to the strong religious elements that are present here in many ways. A lot of these Democrats are really conservative, and there’s a reason why recreational marijuana is being killed off year after year,” Blair said.
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