Daisy Balais Hartsfield
Office: House District 36
Party: Democrat
My commitment to public service is deeply rooted in the personal experiences that shaped my understanding of the challenges facing our families. Like many in our community, I grew up relying on our public school reduced-lunch program. Decades later, while pursuing my law degree as a full-time student, I relied on the same assistance to provide for my son while he was in elemetary school and I was still a law student.
My early adulthood was defined by the struggle to achieve financial stability while balancing the rising cost of living. My husband and I worked while completing our respective master's degrees, only to then manage the long-term burden of student debt.
Today, I do not own a home; I continue to reside in my childhood home with my multi-generational family. I assist in the care of my elderly father, helping to manage his bills and his rising medical costs. Additionally, like many parents in Hawaii, I have felt the impact of our limited economic opportunities—my son, now an adult, had to relocate to Los Angeles because the professional opportunities he needed were not available to him here at home.
These experiences instilled in me the resilience and determination necessary to advocate for those currently navigating their own paths toward a better life. They are the driving force behind my commitment to building an economy where our families can remain in Hawaii and truly thrive here.
To secure a viable future for our keiki, we must make life in Hawaii attainable again. I propose a 'Commitment to Hawaii' program, offering tuition-free college education for students who pledge to live and work in the islands for at least five years after graduation. Furthermore, I will champion initiatives that provide low-interest financing to help first-time local homebuyers put down permanent roots in their communities. I will also support programs that support Native Hawaiians to become homeowners as well as the beneficiaries of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Beyond housing and education, we must reward the loyalty of our residents. I support strengthening private-sector partnerships to expand kamaʻāina benefits, ensuring that local families can enjoy the full advantages of our home. Finally, I am committed to a robust economic strategy that diversifies our workforce and creates high-quality career pathways, allowing our young professionals to build successful, lifelong careers right here in Hawaii.
To address the economic challenges facing our local families, we must shift our focus from a tourism-reliant model to a diversified economy that supports living wages and sustainable career pathways. I would champion aggressive investment in emerging industries—such as renewable energy, agriculture, and technology—that can provide high-quality, year-round employment for our residents. By incentivizing businesses that pay thriving wages and prioritizing local hiring through public-private workforce development programs, I believe we can create a robust job market that allows our young professionals to build successful futures right here at home. Furthermore, we must strengthen our local infrastructure and support small businesses, ensuring that the wealth generated in Hawaii stays in Hawaii, empowering our community to not just weather the rising cost of living, but to thrive within it.
To bridge the gap between our classrooms and the modern economy, we must deepen the partnership between our educational institutions and community organizations. By creating seamless pathways to higher education and specialized trade training, we can ensure that our local students are prepared for the high-demand, living-wage careers of tomorrow. I am committed to securing the necessary funding to make these vocational and professional training programs accessible to every young person, regardless of where they live in our islands. Investing in our local talent is the most effective way to foster economic independence and ensure that our youth can build a secure, prosperous future right here in Hawaii.
In my conversations with constituents across District 36, the soaring cost of rent is consistently identified as the single greatest threat to our community’s stability. Families are being priced out of the very neighborhoods they consider as their home. While there is no easy solution, we must be willing to have a courageous, transparent discussion about all tools at our disposal—including the potential implementation of rent stabilization measures—to provide immediate relief and long-term security for our residents.
To keep our local working families in the islands, we must move beyond the status quo. I am proposing a comprehensive 'Kamaʻāina Housing Initiative' that prioritizes our residents through targeted financial relief, including low-interest financing programs, meaningful tax credits, and property tax exemptions. By easing the tax and interest burden specifically for local buyers, we can provide a crucial competitive advantage against out-of-state speculative capital and ensure our families can afford to put down permanent roots.
I will continue to support efforts to streamline responsible development. We cannot afford a slow, bureaucratic status quo while our families are priced out of their own home. I am committed to streamlining responsible development by cutting unnecessary red tape for housing projects that specifically serve our local workforce. We need to continue the focus on 'smart acceleration'—prioritizing projects that feature local-first housing covenants, infrastructure-ready locations, and sustainable designs. By reforming the permitting process, we can shave years off project timelines, ensuring that we deliver the homes our families need, when they need them, without compromising the character or environmental standards of our islands.
The high cost of groceries is a burden that touches every household in Hawai`i. To provide immediate relief, we must ensure robust, continued funding for critical programs like SNAP, which serve as a vital lifeline for our keiki and kupuna. Additionally, we must continue to move toward a more resilient future by investing in Hawaii’s own farmers and ranchers. By incentivizing local food production, strengthening our agricultural supply chains, and reducing our reliance on costly off-island shipping, we can stabilize prices and provide our families with fresh, nutritious, and affordable food. Supporting our local producers isn't just about agriculture—it’s about creating a sustainable, food-secure Hawaii where our dollar stays in our community.
No parent should have to choose between their career and the quality of their child’s care. To lower these costs, we need a two-pronged approach: first, we must expand state-funded programs so that they are truly accessible to every family, in every neighborhood. Second, we should incentivize our business community to be part of the solution by offering on-site daycare. When we make it easier for companies to support working parents, we reduce the financial strain on families and strengthen our entire local economy.
To build a more equitable Hawaii, we must modernize our tax code to ensure that the ultrarich contribute in proportion to their success. I support targeted tax reforms that require our highest earners to pay more, directly funding the programs that make life attainable for our workforce—from affordable childcare to housing initiatives. It is time to shift the tax burden away from the families who are struggling to make ends meet and toward those who have the greatest capacity to invest back into our community.
We cannot expect local businesses to thrive when they are bogged down by excessive bureaucracy and high costs of living that make workforce retention nearly impossible. We can improving conditions by addressing the specific hurdles—like regulatory red tape, high operating costs, and infrastructure—that make it difficult for local entrepreneurs to compete.
Rebuilding the essential bond of trust between the public and local government requires a commitment to transparency, accessibility, and accountability. I support establishing proactive, open-data platforms that provide citizens with real-time visibility into how their tax dollars are spent and how key policy decisions are made. Furthermore, government must ensure that the voices of our residents are not just heard, but actively integrated into the governing process. By demonstrating integrity in our daily operations, addressing community concerns with swift and honest communication, and holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards, we can transform local government into a responsive adn trusted partner that consistently earns, rather than assumes, the public's confidence.
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