Grassroot Institute
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The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation engaging in issues research and education of voters and political representatives. The Institute is based in Honolulu. It was founded in 2000 by Richard O. Rowland. Since March 2008, the Institute has been headed by President Jamie Story, formerly an education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and an associate consultant at Bain & Company.[1]
The Institute is advised by an eight-member Board of Directors and nine-member Board of Advisors. Currently, there are 2 full-time staff.[2]
The stated purpose of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is to improve the relationship between the government and the people with the objective of improving the effectiveness of the government, the business climate, and in some cases, tradition, to foster an atmosphere in Hawaii that results in maximum personal freedom for every individual.The mission of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is to promote individual liberty, the free market, and limited, accountable government. Through research papers, policy briefings, commentaries and conferences, the Institute seeks to educate and inform Hawaii's policymakers, news media and the general public.
Funding of the Institute's educational activities is supplied by donor/members. In addition, the "think tank" Institute applies for grants and does research for organizations on Hawaii State matters.
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[edit] Economics
The Grassroot Institute conducts research and analysis of various issues from a free market perspective. Academic works are inspired by the writings of scholars such as Frederic Bastiat, Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Adam Smith, and others. Generally, the Institute opposes tax increases, such as Hawaii's General Excise Tax. The Institute found that the 0.5% GET increase of 2008 would result in nearly 6,000 private sector jobs lost, a decrease in investment of $125.4 million, a decrease in statewide personal income of $303 million, and a loss in disposable income by $646 million.[3]
[edit] Education
The Grassroot Institute supports school choice. Hawaii is unique in that it is the only state with a single unified school system. The Institute has pointed out that despite the state Department of Education's expanding budget of $2.4 billion per year (an increase from $972 million eight years previously), public school students continue to perform at the bottom of the nation on NAEP assessments and enrollment in the system has decreased.[4]
[edit] Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project
The Grassroot Institute was featured extensively in the media due to its opposition to Mayor Mufi Hannemann's proposed steel-on-steel rail system.
In June 2008, President Jamie Story authored a commentary that refuted many of Hannemann's claims as to what the rail would accomplish in terms of traffic congestion and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, pointing out that the rail system itself would consume more energy and produce more emissions than the marginal number of cars it would replace. Shortly thereafter, Hannemann released a series of ads in Hawaii's major dailies, The Honolulu Advertiser and The Star-Bulletin, called "Getting Real on Rail" using $20,000 of his own campaign funds. "Getting Real on Rail" branded the Grassroot Institute as a coalition of mainlanders bankrolled by oil corporations to prevent the rail from being built in Honolulu. Hawaii's Grassroot Institute is closely associated with other conservative think tanks such as the Reason Foundation, Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute; and regularly collaborates with their nationally active anti-rail advocates such as Wendell Cox and Randal O'Toole. Conservative (or Libertarian") think tanks are heavily supported by major petroleum interests like Exxon, Shell and the Koch Charitable Trusts.
Jamie Story is no longer connected with the Grassroot Institute and has returned to Austin, Texas.
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