Hawaii finishes last in CNBC’s annual business competitiveness rankings as the state tries to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and last year’s Maui wildfires.Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
"That's the only link to the rest of the island from the area where the wildfires were," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who It will be at least 2027 before the improvements are complete, transportation planners say. Add the many other roads and bridges needing help, and it begins to explain why Hawaii's infrastructure ranks No. 47 in this year's Top States study.Hawaii is also America's most expensive state to do business in, with the third-highest cost of living. Residents and businesses pay the nation's highest utility costs, and corporate and individual taxes are high.
It is not that Hawaii isn't still a paradise. But even in a paradise, working families need child care.