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When the governor in his State of the State address described the tax hikes he was proposing, his focus was on how they would increase state revenues to help balance the budget.

To his credit, he acknowledged that the changes would impact individuals and took steps to protect those who could least handle the tax hikes.

At Civil Beat, our job is different. We’re committed to analyzing what government officials say to explain how their proposals will affect you in real terms.

This week Money reporter-host Nanea Kalani’s article, How Much Will Gov. Abercrombie’s Proposed Tax Hikes Cost You?, explored the impact of Abercrombie’s proposals on four individuals to show the actual dollar amounts they might have to pay the state if his ideas were implemented. The goal was to give readers a range of impacts, so they might have a better sense of what might happen to them.

One thing that struck me was how inequitable our state tax structure is.

• Why is it that we think it’s OK to charge the General Excise Tax on food, even milk and rice? The poor are hit disproportionately.
• Why are our vehicle taxes structured in such a way that the value of a vehicle and the relative newness of a vehicle aren’t factors? That approach again hits lower-income people disproportionately.
• Why is it that we exempt pension income from all other income for tax purposes? What about a small business person who saved for retirement without the benefit of a pension?
• Why are property taxes here so low and income taxes so high? Such a structure is a boon for wealthy second-home owners. But is it fair?

Nanea’s article is an example of the digging you can expect to find at Civil Beat.

Other examples of our questioning approach from this week include:

• Health Department: EPA Approved Release of Landfill Water, a Fact Check revealing that what the state Health Department said about who made the decision to discharge stormwater from the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill wasn’t true, although his version of events made him look more responsible. (Fact Checks are back. Now that Honolulu Hale and the Capitol are in full swing, there’s plenty to check out. If there’s something you think we should explore, e-mail your suggestion to news@civilbeat.com.
• As a Matter of Fact: Don’t Believe Claim About Hawaii Pension System and A Danger Demanding Sunshine — The Consequences of Hawaii’s Public Pension Shortfall by George Berish, a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, exposing the myths about the problems with the state retirement system.
• Lobbyist Violations in Hawaii? Who Knows, revealing how little detail you can find in Hawaii lobbyist reports and how there’s essentially no independent oversight. He gave an example in The Big Fat Gray Area of Lobbying Laws.
• Our coverage of the problems at the landfill, Landfill Manager Grilled on Spill, New Violation and January Garbage Spill Was Second In A Month, by Adrienne LaFrance and Michael Levine, respectively.
• Kicking God Out of the Hawaii Senate and First Amendment Scholar: Invocations Satisfy No One by Chad Blair, exploring how the Senate came to its decision to end invocations.

These all came in a week where I hope you noticed that our news service’s home page changed, making more news and contributions from readers visible.

It should be easier for you to scan what’s new on the site and to catch up with items you might have missed. And now, when you discover something you think others should know about, it’s easy for you to share it with them, whether you’re a member or not. Civil Beat is free for occasional users, so you’ll always be able to share our articles with friends on Facebook and Twitter and through your e-mail.