Tax Credits: Irresponsible Way to Spend Hawaii Taxpayer Dollars

By Lowell L. Kalapa,

..and since credits tend to specify an activity, there is no assurance that the activity will be of a quality that the state would otherwise required.

For example, one of the proposals floated for the past few sessions would have handed out $1,000 to caregivers of elderly family members.

With all that we hear and read about how family members have to give up their jobs and family time to care for elderly relatives, it is easy to empathize with the idea of compensating these caregivers. But is a tax credit the proper response?

The flip side of this concern is that in almost all cases of elder abuse, the perpetrator is a relative. So handing out a tax credit to someone who is providing care to an elderly relative does not assure that the elder is receiving quality care - just because the caregiver is a relative.

If there is no oversight or way of determining the quality of care, taxpayers may be subsidizing a caregiver who is abusive.

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