If the Hawaii state Legislature closes as expected, the theme has to be the struggle of lawmakers to grasp the importance of recognizing and fixing state money problems.

The problems may be many, but one that makes the top 10 list every year is Hawaii’s inescapably high taxes.

Even the state tax department admits on a percentage basis we tax more than almost every other state.

“Hawaii has the second highest tax burden after Oregon, a state with no sales tax. Under current tax law, a family of four living in Hawaii and making the State’s median income would pay $5,086 in individual income taxes per year,” says the state in a tax department comparison of Hawaii taxes.

To make the Hawaii picture worse, the state notes that “the rates increase quickly and at low-income levels.”

This is the second year in a row that the Legislature tried to address the problem.

Last year, it doubled the refundable food and excise tax credit and doubled the state’s refundable earned income tax credit. This year legislators passed what they say will be the biggest tax cut ever, claiming tax cuts of more than $5 billion over the next seven years.

Republican critics have been pointing to Hawaii’s high tax rates for decades, but this is one of the few times that there has been a dedicated bipartisan effort to get serious about the issue.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Senate Ways and Means committee chairman, said in a Star-Advertiser report that “beyond serving our immediate needs, this bill casts a hopeful gaze toward the future, laying the groundwork for future generations to inherit a fairer and more equitable tax system.”

Others said it was “the biggest tax relief for residents in Hawaii history.”

Leading the tax cut supporters is Gov. Josh Green, an early proponent of tax reform.

Last year after the first round of tax measures passed, Green called it “a top priority of mine, and it is thanks to the collaboration between my administration and legislative leaders that our families will receive this relief.”

The governor campaigned on tax relief when he won his first gubernatorial election in 2022 and had made it a big part of his new administration.

Among all the congratulations and back-slapping, however, there remain some unasked questions. The first is how can Hawaii afford such large tax cuts? If the reductions are real, what services are being changed or reduced to pay for them? And if services are not cut, was unneeded money being taken from taxpayers in the first place?

If the Legislature’s figures are correct and it is able to reduce taxes by $5 billion dollars over the next seven years, does that mean the state had budgeted $5 billion unneeded dollars? Cutting not-yet-given tax credits is different from giving tax refunds because it involves money that was projected, but not spent, though still it was on the books.

Even estimated tax cuts need some careful accounting.