Report challenges inflated economic claims of U.S. military bases in Hawai‘i

Researchers co-authoring “The True Cost of the U.S. Military in Hawai‘i” report that the armed forces’ economic impact on the state is closer to $7.2 billion per year, representing about 6.4 percent of Hawai‘i’s GDP, not the 9.2 percent claimed by the Pentagon and state officials. The study notes that a substantial portion of Pentagon spending bypasses local businesses, with major contracts going to companies headquartered elsewhere and many service members stationed on ships or deployed abroad, limiting local salary retention.

Military personnel receive generous housing allowances that push O‘ahu rents up by 7.1 percent, adding roughly $154 per month to non-military renters’ costs. The report also estimates that the $1-per-acre leases, covering roughly 46,000 acres, represent billions of dollars in lost rental revenue, and that past and future environmental cleanup could exceed $2.7 billion. While the military does create jobs, the analysis finds it generates fewer jobs per dollar than sectors such as health care, education and renewable energy. The authors suggest returning much of the leased land would not jeopardize the military’s operational footprint, which occupies only a fraction of its total holdings in the state.