Hawaii residents are going to have to do something we’re not accustomed to doing: We need to thank our legislators and let them know they did a good job this year. Most especially, we need to let them know we’re grateful that they passed the biggest income tax cut in state history.

These cuts will amount to at least $5 billion in savings for Hawaii taxpayers. What’s more, they are designed to help lower- and middle-income taxpayers the most. By 2031, Hawaii will go from being the second-most expensive tax state for working families to the fourth best.

The average family of four making $88,005 a year is going to see their tax bill decrease by 71% over the next several years. Instead of having to pay $5,086 in state income taxes, that family will only have to pay only $1,473 by 2031.

That’s definitely worth a “thank you” to your local House and Senate legislators.

And it’s not hard to identify who voted for the cut because it was every single one of them. Then Gov. Josh Green followed up by enthusiastically signing the measure into law.

Just as important, we need to make sure our legislators don’t decide to take back the cuts in the future. At the moment, there’s no reason to worry about the state budget, even with the cuts. Currently, the state is projected to run a surplus and reserve of more than $6 billion by 2031.

Some critics of the tax cut have expressed concerns about future funding for various government programs. As a general rule, however, there is little to fear from any attempt to trim the budget, especially since it has an unfortunate tendency to grow year after year. Since 2022, the budget has grown by 26% — far faster than the private sector or the rate of inflation.

In short, we won’t need dramatic budget reductions to afford the new income tax cuts. All we need is for legislators to show restraint in future budgeting.

Restraint is the key. If spending increases, it would be easy for legislators to reach back into our pockets to make up the difference. Every new project, every new dollar of increased spending makes it more likely that our $5 billion in tax savings could get whittled down to a measly, symbolic tax break.

On the chance state lawmakers do decide to go on a spending spree in the future, Gov. Green already has shown a willingness to use his line-item veto power to trim the budget.

As a news release from the governor’s office earlier this month stated, the governor last year issued line-item budget reductions and adjustments totaling $1 billion dollars, and this year he issued more than $500 million in adjustments “to balance the financial plan and ensure a strong carryover balance while maintaining a $1.5 billion rainy day fund.”

So there are many reasons to be optimistic that we can have tax cuts and a balanced budget without reducing services, as long as we contain spending and practice smart budgeting.

If you’d like to calculate exactly how much the tax cuts will save you and your family, you can go to grassrootinstitute.org/taxcalculator.

And if you were on the fence before about thanking your legislators for the tax cut, you will definitely want to say “thanks” once you calculate your savings.

Joe Kent is executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.