Maui knows what a crisis looks like: families doubled up in tiny apartments; workers sleeping in cars; teachers leaving the island because they can’t find a home. Beneath the housing emergency lies a safety net crisis. Neighbors are skipping meals, cutting meds or pulling kids from childcare because they can’t afford to stay afloat.

That’s why Maui Indivisible is urging our legislators to pass SB3125 and SB3028 — two bills that would deliver tax relief to those who truly need it, while asking the wealthy and luxury landowners to invest in solutions.

SB3125 responsibly addresses the budget shortfall caused by federal tax cuts for the rich and Act 46, which hands an average additional $12,800 annual break to the top 1% by 2031.

Instead of slashing Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, the House draft of this bill raises $367 million in fiscal year 2027 from top earners, rising to $650 million in fiscal year 29.

The bill would also strengthen the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit — a lifeline for working parents who pay an average of $13,000 a year or more for childcare. On Maui, where service jobs dominate and childcare is scarce, this is an issue not only of economic stability and quality of life, but of survival.

Pair this reality with the critical tenets of SB3028. The bill modernizes the conveyance tax to ensure that, when multimillion-dollar luxury real estate sells, our full-time, local community gets a fair share. Under a marginal rate structure, an average working family selling a home would pay less, while wealthy mansion owners, most of whom live on Maui part time, would pay more when they sell.

The result: tax relief for working families, plus an estimated $68.5 million annually, funneled directly into affordable rentals, housing infrastructure, land conservation, and the fulfillment of long-overdue trust obligations through the Department of Hawaiian Homelands.

Maui Indivisible is committed to fighting authoritarianism in all its forms, including the shockingly incompetent regime occupying the White House. It’s not enough to fixate on the clownish wanna-be Dictator-in-Chief, however. The conditions that brought us Trump Inc. exist right here in Hawaii, and Maui workers feel the pain most acutely.

Over 52% of Maui residents are “ALICE” (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). In tandem, SB3125 and SB3028 put money into the pockets of middle-class working families and replenish critical funding for the basic needs of our struggling workers, along with their keiki and kupuna. Just as Trump and his billionaire friends continue the shameless grift of the American people, luxury landowners get richer on the backs of the struggling working people of Maui County. It’s time to put workers before billionaires right here at home.

Maui can’t wait. Pass SB3125 and SB3028. Give working families relief, fund housing, and stop balancing the budget on the backs of those already struggling.

Marnie Masuda is a leader for Maui Indivisible. For more information about Maui Indivisible, go to indivisiblehawaii.org/chapters/maui/.