Priorities
The main issues affecting District 20 are issues felt statewide. Fifty nine years of single-party government has resulted in Hawai'i having the highest cost of living in the nation, the second highest overall tax burden, highest per capita number of homeless individuals, and a lack of economic freedom that has resulted in an environment where it is extremely difficult for small businesses to flourish.
We are over taxed and over regulated.
We cannot fix the issues facing the people of Hawai'i overnight, but by changing leadership hopefully we can bring forth a brighter future for our keiki, one where they won't have to leave Hawai'i because they cannot afford to live here.
Cost of Living
Hawai'i has the highest cost of living in the nation. Unsurprisingly, outmigration of Hawai'i residents to the US continent is at an all time high. Our state population is declining due to the decades long cumulative impact of too much regulation, too much taxation, mismanagement of resources, and corruption.
How do we lower the cost of living? We need to elect new leaders that understand that the government is the problem. We need to reduce regulations, cut taxes, reduce government spending, eliminate the GET entirely for food and medical services, and make it easier and less expensive to build housing.
Homelessness
Hawai'i has the highest per capita number of homeless people in the nation. Every day when I'm driving in my district I see homeless camps on Diamond Head Road, in the parks, and on the streets. Despite increased government spending on homelessness, the problem is getting worse. Why is that?
There is no simple solution to solving the homelessness crisis in Hawai'i.
Solutions often run deeper than just throwing money at the problem; until we lower the cost of living, people will continue to be one paycheck away from homelessness. Until we have more robust mental health services, homeless individuals with mental health issues will remain untreated. We cannot recruit more mental health workers if their salaries aren't enough to cover their living costs. We cannot build more affordable housing for residents if the regulations and costs involved with construction are not reduced. It will take a paradigm shift in leadership to affect the long term changes needed for the people to not only survive, but prosper.
Government Transparency and Accountability
Hawai'i is infamous for corruption and political scandals.
How do we fix this? Improvements can certainly be made through legislative efforts including term limits, improvements to our Sunshine and public records laws (Hawai'i has some of the highest public records fees in the nation), and amending the legislature's rules on how Legislative Conference Committees are run to address questionable practices that allow good legislation to be throttled.
It is up to our Legislators to advocate for these changes.
In order to make these changes a reality, we need a more balanced Legislature; the one-party system is not working.