HONOLULU -- It was a noisy morning at the state Capitol Tuesday as about 100 people held a rally against a proposed tax increase moving through the Legislature.

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The demonstrators held signs and waved at fellow taxpayers.

The proposal to raise the general excise tax from 4 to 5 percent to fund a rail-transit system sparked the rally.

"I'm concerned about the high cost of living and the increase in the general excise tax goes on every product and service that you buy. We're out here to let more people know how bad this tax is," demonstrator Karen Iwamoto said.

Fellow protester Barry Wong said a light rail is a bad idea anyway.

"The amount of people it's going to help is very, very little. It's not worth what we're going to be spending," Wong said.

"Traffic congestion on Oahu is a big problem," Sen. Will Espero said.

Espero said a rail system is the best way to relieve the congested highways and roads. It's something he said his constituents from Ewa Beach and Waipahu deal with everyday. And Espero said, the problem is only going to get worse.

"One percent is a good figure that we could look at a 10- to 20-year window. We could finance the rail system," Espero said.

Lawmakers are expected to pass some sort of increase.