Frederick Fogel

Office: Senate District 2

Party: Libertarian

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Hawaiʻi’s affordability challenges affect nearly every aspect of daily life, from housing and education to healthcare, transportation, and childcare.
What are your personal experiences with the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi?

Back in the late 70s I had to go in with a friend to purchase a house.

Many local residents leave or are considering leaving Hawaiʻi because they can no longer afford to stay, or because they seek greater economic opportunity, and according to the 2020 Census, approximately 55% of Native Hawaiians now live outside of Hawaiʻi.
With negative net migration continuing to drain Hawaiʻi of its local population, how can we restore optimism and convince local working families and young professionals that they have a viable economic future in the islands?

Reduce regulations on business and farming to make them more profitable and prolific.

Reduce regulations on business and farming. Expand primary education to include more emphasis on trades and business.

Many employers report difficulty finding qualified workers, while many residents struggle to access career pathways that provide long-term financial stability. It is estimated that in the next decade, 170,000 keiki will enter the workforce, but only 100,000 living wage jobs will be available for them.
What are ways the State can improve workforce development efforts and ensure that enough living wage jobs will be available for youth entering the workforce?

Expand primary education to include more emphasis on trades and business. Make it easier and therefore more profitable for businesses to operate.

Housing experts recommend that a household spend no more than one-third of its income on housing costs. In its 2025 Employee Affordability Survey, Holomua Collective found that most local working families identify housing as the main driver of Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living. Most local families also said they are spending more than half of household income on housing costs.
What practical and actionable solutions do you have to lower housing costs?

Governmental regulations add more than 25% to the price of a house in Hawaii. Reduce regulations.

Hawai’i’s housing market is impacted and constrained by out-of-state and speculative buyers. A variety of solutions have been proposed to dedicate housing for local working families.
How do you propose we dedicate housing for local working families over out-of-state or speculative buyers?

It's a free market. Would be good to keep it that way. However, limit speculative buying by businesses. If you are Hawaiian, OHA should increase the availability of housing/land for those who qualify.

Hawai‘i needs tens of thousands of new homes, and every year we fall further behind, more local families are forced to leave.
What will you do to ensure the State quickly builds more housing for local working families before they are priced out of Hawai‘i?

Reduce the regulations that adversely impact construction. It should not be the responsibility of the State to actually build houses.

Nearly one in three Hawaiʻi households experience food insecurity. More than one in five households report skipping meals or going entire days without eating because they cannot afford enough food. With grocery prices 30–40% higher than the continent, many families are struggling to meet their basic needs.
How do you propose we reduce everyday living expenses like groceries?

Grow more locally. Do away with Jones Act shipping restrictions.

Hawaiʻi families face some of the highest early childcare and education costs in the country, with center-based infant care averaging more than $24,000 annually. These costs often prevent parents from returning to work and pose a significant barrier to economic opportunity for working families.
How can the State make childcare and education costs more affordable?

Reduce the regulations on childcare. Provide tutu a stipend.

If you could change one aspect of Hawaiʻi's tax system to improve affordability for local working families, what would it be and why?

Reduce sales tax, and make it a point of sale tax only, not a progressive tax.

Hawaiʻi ranks 49th overall nationally in America’s Top States for Business 2025. Local sentiment underscores this ranking, with Holomua Collective’s 2025 Employee Affordability Survey finding that only 19% of respondents believe Hawai‘i is a good place to do business.
Why do you believe Hawai‘i is seen as such a difficult place to do business, and how would you improve conditions for local businesses?

Hawaii gets failing or near failing scores in infrastructure, workforce availability, cost of doing business, technology & innovation, business friendliness, and access to capital. That would definitely make Hawaii a difficult place to do business. Identify the root causes in each category, formulate improvements, and implement.

In a 2025 survey by Holomua Collective, only 20% of local working residents said that they had confidence in state and local government to do right by the people of Hawaiʻi.
What reforms would you support to improve transparency, accountability, trust, efficiency, and public confidence in state and local government?

Legislative transparency and accountability can be improved. However, trust and public confidence are outside political control. Extending the legislative session from five months to ten might not improve efficiency, but would at least give the legislature more time to learn to be efficient.

Related Candidates

Joy San Buenaventura
No Response Received,Senate District 2

Democrat
Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian
No Response Received,Senate District 2

Democrat

BACK TO THE CANDIDATES

Frederick Fogel

Hawaiʻi’s affordability challenges affect nearly every aspect of daily life, from housing and education to healthcare, transportation, and childcare.
What are your personal experiences with the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi?

Hawai’i’s housing market is impacted and constrained by out-of-state and speculative buyers. A variety of solutions have been proposed to dedicate housing for local working families.
How do you propose we dedicate housing for local working families over out-of-state or speculative buyers?

Hawai‘i needs tens of thousands of new homes, and every year we fall further behind, more local families are forced to leave.
What will you do to ensure the State quickly builds more housing for local working families before they are priced out of Hawai‘i?

If you could change one aspect of Hawaiʻi's tax system to improve affordability for local working families, what would it be and why?

Related Candidates

Joy San Buenaventura

Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian

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Advocates for an affordable Hawai‘i