Quarterly Report
Dear Members
Thank you again for your support of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. In this year’s first quarter, we accomplished quite a few things. We were striving to improve our reach and increase the amount of our research and publication efforts after having seen deficiencies in both of these areas in the last quarter. We believe we have made progress towards achieving both of the goals and have included a summary of our activities so you can judge for yourself. Before you take a look at the rest of the report, we highlighted our greatest success for this quarter.
Ronald Reagan Day in Hawaii
Thanks to our request, Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 6th “Ronald Reagan Day in Hawaii”. As part of a national initiative coordinated by Americans for Tax Reform, the Governor’s proclamation shows that the legacy of Reagan lives on. This is but one of the successes we have had; what follows are the best of the rest.
Picture: Governor Neil Abercrombie’s signed proclamation
Special Event with the Heritage Foundation
Picture: GRIH President, Dick Rowland at the Heritage Foundation Event in Hawaii
On February 1st,we and other liberty-associated groups based in Hawaii collaborated with the Heritage Foundation on an panel discussion on school choice and a dinner honoring Dinesh D’Souza.
At the panel discussion, Jennifer Marshall, the Heritage Foundation’s Director of Domestic Studies, briefed us on the challenges and triumphs in the school choice movement, with particular emphasis on the popularized DC school vouchers issue. After Jennifer’s presentation, Sen. Sam Slom identified some of the eccentricities of Hawaii’s educational system and reiterated his commitment to bringing about reform to the public schools (or the “government schools” as he called them) that would put the family and the community at the forefront of educational decisions.
During the dinner, Capt. Gerald Coffee and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Dick Rowland framed the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation with stories and ideas that will not easily be forgotten. All this was prologue to the main attraction: Dinesh D’Souza. D’Souza, president of the King’s College and noted author-scholar, walked the assembled audience through the thesis of his 2010 best seller, The Roots of Obama’s Rage. D’Souza’s premise, that President Obama’s guiding ideology most closely resembles anti-colonialism, provoked deep contemplation and a number of probing questions from the audience. Unlike many speakers, D’Souza directly engaged each of the questions presented to him and seemed to genuinely enjoy applying his thesis to a variety of hypothetical and real situations.
Citizens Equal Rights Alliance Annual Conference
Picture: GRIH Director of Policy, Cody Hensarling at the CERA Conference in Washington DC
In March, our Director of Policy, Cody Hensarling, represented Hawaii at the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) annual conference in Washingon DC. CERA is a national non-profit organization which mission is to change federal Indian policies to ensure the equal protection of the law as guaranteed to all citizens by the Constitution of the United States of America.
Cody was tasked with presenting an update on the status of the Akaka Bill and a case that could potentially be heard by the Supreme Court: Corboy v. Louie. To summarize what was included in the briefing, it should be noted that the Akaka Bill (in no small part due to the action of GRIH and our Washington allies) was defeated for another year in Congress, even after Sen. Inouye attempted to sneak it into a number of different bills, including the December Omnibus Spending Bill and the November Department of the Interior Budget Bill. However, those pushing for the Akaka Bill have committed to a new tactic, going through the Department of the Interior to get the “Native Hawaiian Tribe” federally “reaffirmed” to create a separate government. By listening to stories and tactics of people who have been fighting similar fights over the years at the conference, we were able to understand this tactic better and help enlist other allies in the fight against the expansion of government dependency through the Akaka Bill.
During the trip, Cody was also able to meet with scholars at the CATO Institute to discuss future collaborations. In addition, thanks to our network of Washington allies, he also presented a briefing on the state of affairs in Hawaii in Grover Norquist’s Wednesday Meeting at Americans for Tax Reform,
Overall, we were able to foster continuing relationships in Washington DC and even make some new ones with people who have the potential to help advance the message and mission of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.
Talk Radio, Talk Story
Thanks to a partnership with the University of Hawaii Richardson Law School Chapter of the Federalist Society, we had access to a number of nationally recognized speakers.
On Thursday, February 16th, CATO scholar and member of the our Board of Scholars Ilya Shapiro came to town and held an informal town hall meeting style event designed to help educate Grassroot Institute of Hawaii members on the pending legal challenges to Obamacare.
On March 13th and 14th, we were fortunate enough to have George Mason Professor of Law Michael Krauss headline two events designed to give the public a view into a unique legal mind. Krauss, who was raised in Canada, and has years of experience in International law, covered topics such as his impressions of America gained through his tours on a motorcycle, the comparisons between Barack Obama and Canadian politicians, and the unique nature of the international boundary disputes regarding the nation of Israel.
Publications
Throughout the first three months of the year, we have been diligent in ensuring that the publication of our research and commentary has been regular and uninterrupted.
In Pursuit Series - The “In Pursuit” series is authored by our Policy Analyst Malia Hill and is released once a month. The series focuses on local issues as well as national issues that have the potential to significantly impact Hawaii. The first two (editions #3 and #4) were a two-part backgrounder on the issues surrounding the Akaka Bill and its implementation. The most recent edition (#5) put forward 65 questions designed to help the average Hawaii voter make critical decisions in the upcoming elections.
All of the In Pursuits are available on our website: www.grassrootinstitute.org.
Grassroot Perspective Digest- Another one of the initiatives we launched this quarter was the Grassroot Perspective Digest. The digest is designed to provide quick and timely commentary on the pressing local and national news stories of the day. Released every Monday morning, the Digest has over eight editions, and more than 500 loyal readers.
To sign up for the Grassroot Perspective Digest, email or sign up on our website.
Getting Our Message Out
We have been fortunate to have a number of articles and commentary pieces picked up by other media outlets for publication.
· Dick Rowland’s article “Knowledge: Use It or Lose It”, was featured in the March edition of the Pono Press
· In Pursuit #2- a Citizen’s Checklist for Government Policy will be reprinted and featured in the upcoming edition of the Heritage Foundation’s publication The Insider.
· Summaries from the Grassroot Perspective Digest have been posted in the Hawaii Free Press.
· Our senior policy analyst Malia Hill posts a regular column called Grassroot Perspective on Hawaii Reporter.
We have been blessed to see a lot of outside interest in our publications and commentary. However, we recognize that we have much more work to do in this area, but we were able to ensure to lay the groundwork for future media exposure.
Coming Attractions
These are just a few activities we have been working on lately. Going forward, after having an emphasis on events, we will now be turning our focus to what many would consider our more traditional focus: the publication of research. As part of our effort to provide a consistent and persistent voice for the cause of liberty by researching and promoting public policy initiatives that protect individual rights, the free market system, and smaller, more efficient government, we have scheduled the following releases for this upcoming quarter.
2011 Hawaii Pork Report: The Book Hawaii’s Government Doesn’t Want You to Read - The fourth edition of the immensely popular Hawaii Pork Report will this year not just focus on exposing wasteful spending, but also propose bold, free-market supporting solutions to said waste.
In Pursuit – The next upcoming editions will cover topics of critical importance to Hawaii, such as the Jones Act and the effects of the Compact of Free Association on Hawaii.
Hawaii Journal of Public Policy – A quarterly publication of review articles and commentaries designed to provide an institutional framework for development of a free-market research agenda in the field of Hawaii state politics and policy.
Additionally we are also planning to release two special publications:
· Hawaii’s Relative Position – a compendium that provides a fact-based look at how Hawaii compares to other states.
· Hawaii State Transparency Report – a report that provides a comparative assessment of the current transparency initiatives taken by the State of Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu.
Thank you for taking the time to keep up with and support our work. We are excited about our planned initiatives this upcoming quarter and hope that we can count on your renewed support.