Like many local families, I have experienced economic insecurity firsthand. There were times when I lived out of my car because I simply could not afford stable housing. I know what it feels like to choose between paying bills, buying groceries, and putting gas in the car to get to work. Those experiences permanently shaped how I approach public policy.
Today, even as a legislator, I regularly hear stories that mirror my own—from teachers working multiple jobs, young families delaying having children, kūpuna struggling with rent, and local professionals leaving because they cannot build a future here.
The high cost of living is not an abstract policy debate for me. It is something I have lived. That is why I focus on changing the systems that created these conditions rather than simply treating the symptoms.
People do not leave Hawaiʻi because they stop loving Hawaiʻi. They leave because they lose hope that state leaders can create and implement policies that center their hopes, dreams and aspirations.
Restoring optimism means restoring opportunity. That requires making Hawaiʻi a place where working people—not just investors—can build wealth. We need affordable housing, reliable healthcare, excellent public schools, universal early childhood education, lower energy costs through locally owned renewable energy, and wages that reflect the actual cost of living.
We also need an economy that creates careers, not just service-sector jobs. By investing in clean energy, local agriculture, healthcare, technology, education, and resilient infrastructure, we can create thousands of good-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced.
The goal should not simply be slowing the loss of local families. It should be making Hawaiʻi the place they choose to stay because they can see a bright and sustainable future here.
The root problem is that too much wealth leaves Hawaiʻi instead of circulating through our communities.
I will continue championing policies that build an economy rooted in local ownership and public investment. That includes expanding affordable housing construction, accelerating community-owned renewable energy, investing in local food production, strengthening healthcare infrastructure, supporting cooperative and employee-owned businesses, and modernizing public infrastructure.
We also need stronger labor standards, better workforce protections, apprenticeship programs tied to emerging industries, and greater investments in education from preschool through higher education.
Economic development should be measured by whether working families are doing better—not simply whether corporate profits are increasing.
Workforce development begins long before graduation. We need stronger career pathways beginning in high school that connect students directly to apprenticeships, paid internships, community colleges, universities, and employers.
But training alone is not enough if the jobs do not exist.
The State should actively grow industries that provide living wages, including healthcare, renewable energy, conservation, engineering, advanced agriculture, public education, construction, skilled trades, and technology.
We should also become a stronger market participant ourselves by using public investments and procurement to support local businesses, local manufacturing, and worker-owned enterprises that keep wealth circulating in Hawaiʻi.
Our housing crisis is frequently framed as a supply problem, but it is also a speculation problem.
We do need to rapidly expand affordable housing through public, nonprofit, and workforce housing development while bringing vacent units back into the housing market by taxing vacant homes. If we are going to build, we should prioritize infrastructure investments that unlock housing construction and expand mixed-income communities near jobs and transit, so building up rather than out, and redefining "affordable" so that it is actually consistent with local families' experience and reality.
At the same time, we need stronger protections against speculative investment that drives prices beyond what local incomes can support.
I also support expanding community land trusts, shared-equity homeownership models, public housing modernization, employer-assisted housing, and state financing tools that lower construction costs without sacrificing quality.
Housing should be treated as essential infrastructure—not merely another investment vehicle.
Housing built with public support should primarily serve people who live and work in Hawaiʻi.
That means expanding deed restrictions, owner-occupancy requirements, community land trusts, and workforce housing programs tied to residency and local employment. We should strengthen taxes on speculative transactions and vacant investment properties while encouraging long-term owner occupancy.
Public investments should produce permanent community assets, not opportunities for speculation.
The State needs to act with greater urgency.
We should streamline approvals for truly affordable housing while maintaining environmental protections, fully utilize state-owned land appropriate for housing, expand financing through the Rental Housing Revolving Fund and Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, partner with nonprofit developers, and invest in infrastructure that makes housing projects possible.
I also believe we need stronger coordination among state agencies so housing projects do not spend years moving through disconnected approval processes.
The housing crisis is not inevitable. It is the result of choices, and we can choose to build differently.
Reducing grocery prices starts with reducing our dependence on imported food.
We should invest aggressively in local agriculture, food processing, cold storage, transportation, irrigation, and distribution infrastructure so more of what Hawaiʻi consumes is grown here. We also need stronger support for small farmers and cooperative food systems.
Lowering electricity costs through renewable energy will also reduce food costs because energy affects every step of the supply chain—from refrigeration to transportation to retail operations.
Finally, we should continue expanding school meals and nutrition assistance so no child goes hungry because their family cannot afford groceries.
Early childhood education is one of the smartest investments government can make.
We should continue expanding universal preschool, increase childcare subsidies for working families, raise wages for childcare providers to stabilize the workforce, and support employer partnerships that increase childcare availability.
Public education should remain free, high quality, and adequately funded from preschool through college. That includes expanding dual-credit opportunities, apprenticeships, career education, and reducing the financial barriers that prevent students from completing higher education.
Affordable childcare is not only education policy—it is workforce policy and economic policy. And we can pay for this support by asking the uber wealthy to pay just a bit more in taxes.
I would continue shifting the tax burden away from working families and toward those with the greatest ability to pay.
Over the past several years we have made progress by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and increasing taxes on the highest-income households. We should continue moving in that direction while protecting essential public services.
A fair tax system allows us to invest in housing, healthcare, education, transportation, and infrastructure that ultimately reduce the cost of living for everyone.
Many local businesses face high operating costs because of expensive commercial rents, imported goods, high energy prices, workforce shortages, and housing costs that make it difficult to recruit employees.
The solution is not simply deregulation. It is reducing the structural costs of doing business.
That means cheaper renewable energy, more affordable housing for workers, modern infrastructure, faster permitting, stronger broadband, better transportation, and policies that keep more money circulating locally instead of flowing to off-island corporations.
Small local businesses should not be competing against multinational corporations on unequal terms. Government should help level that playing field.
Public trust depends on people believing government works for them—not for special interests.
I support stronger ethics laws, expanded financial disclosure, closing conflicts-of-interest loopholes, independent fiscal notes for legislation, stronger auditing authority, easier public access to government records, and greater transparency around lobbying and campaign finance.
I also believe the Legislature needs more time to do its work well. Our compressed legislative calendar often forces major decisions with insufficient public review. Giving lawmakers more time for deliberation would improve transparency, public participation, and ultimately produce better policy.
Most importantly, government has to deliver results. When people can see affordable housing being built, schools improving, roads repaired, healthcare expanding, and everyday life becoming more affordable, confidence in public institutions begins to return.
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