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The Legislature convened on Wednesday with crowds, entertainment, lobbying and even a minor disruption by a citizen at the State Capitol, all signs that things are finally getting back to normal after two years of pandemic shutdowns and restrictions.

House and Senate leaders used their opening day speeches to float proposals to enhance a state tax break for working families known as the earned income tax credit. House members also pledged to do more to help persons suffering from mental illness. Gov. Josh Green immediately embraced those proposals.

House Democratic Majority Leader Nadine Nakamura also proposed to commit $300 million of the state’s budget surplus to the rental housing trust fund to support construction of more affordable rental housing, which she said will be the House’s signature housing proposal for this year.

Hawaii closed the books last year with $2.6 billion in cash, which amounts to a large surplus for a small state. That means there is extra money this year that lawmakers hope to use to help cope with some of the state’s most pressing and long-standing problems.

Promising Cooperation

House Speaker Scott Saiki did his best to put to rest talk of tensions between Green and some lawmakers.

“The Sesame Street word of the day is ‘cooperation,'” he joked, drawing laughter and applause from the packed audience in the House chamber.

“Speaking of cooperation, as you know there have been some media reports speculating on the relationship between the Legislature and the governor,” Saiki said. “So, let me be clear: The House will work with Gov. Green and his team in good faith and in a positive manner so that we can solve problems and bring results to Hawaii residents.”

Green was in the audience, and that remark prompted him to stand, smile and put his palms together in a gesture of thanks directed at Saiki.

There also have been rumblings that some in the Senate are unhappy with some of Green’s appointments.

Senate President Ron Kouchi also struck a conciliatory tone, pledging to cooperate with the new governor on the issue of imposing new fees on tourists who visit Hawaii landmarks and parks.

“I’m committed to work with him, to get the resources we need from the people we agree should be paying to take care of our natural resources,” Kouchi said. He also said he admires Green for giving Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke leeway to oversee a massive expansion of preschool classrooms in Hawaii. Green later embraced Kouchi while he spoke on the rostrum.

Green told reporters the proposals he heard in the House and Senate are “super similar” to his own plans, and offered some hints Wednesday about his own initiatives. Most of Green’s proposals will be showcased in his first State of the State address scheduled for Monday.

Mental health care is a “huge priority” for the new administration, Green said, adding he was pleased to hear Saiki mention the issue on opening day.

“We need a lot more mental health care workers, and that means social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses especially,” he said. His new budget proposal will include money to finance student loan forgiveness to people in those specialties to try to encourage them to work in Hawaii, he said.

‘Accelerate The Pace’

State-funded hospitals will also be asked to commit to expand their mental health services, meaning more space and more staff on their campuses, he said.

Green said he also plans to offer a proposal to sweeten the state earned income tax credit, which lower-income families can file to claim state tax refunds. Green said that proposal will be part of a larger package of more than $300 million in tax changes he wants to make.

Lawmakers are veterans who know what the community needs, but Green said he is determined to “accelerate the pace.”

“My job, I think, is to do things a lot faster and more effectively and efficiently than some people in the past, to get their policies into motion so that it actually has impact — to build the houses faster, to deal with homelessness more directly… so that we don’t wait,” he said. “Every year that we wait, more kids leave, more people are houseless.”

The opening day festivities drew large crowds in both the House and Senate, the first time since 2020 that the general public was invited to opening day ceremonies at the Capitol.

“The House will work with Gov. Green and his team in good faith.” — House Speaker Scott Saiki

Outside the Legislature’s chambers, students and other groups led chants. Opening day followed the annual Onipaa Peace March on Tuesday, which marked the 130th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Saiki said the House will advance a plan to boost the earned income tax credit, which helps 108,000 Hawaii households, and plans to earmark about $200 million for loans to finance photovoltaic systems to help lower income families reduce their electric costs.

During his remarks, calls rang out from a man who has been blocking access to a Honolulu beach in what he says is an effort to protect dolphins. Samson Souza was removed by state sheriffs and was later attended to by medical personnel after he apparently had trouble breathing. Souza was arrested for the petty misdemeanor offense of disrespect of a house of the Legislature and was released after posting bail, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Kouchi’s opening day speech was light on specifics. He said that was intentional because he doesn’t want to “steal the thunder” from the Senate’s committee chairs who took the lead on policy proposals.

“I’ve never been one to stand up and talk about a specific program and take away from the committee chair who has been doing all the hard work,” Kouchi said at a press conference following the opening day festivities.

Kouchi signaled support for more fees placed on visitors, though not necessarily the kind of “green fee” proposed by Green that would charge tourists once they step off the plane.

Instead, Kouchi wants to see an expansion of the user fees assessed on visitors at state parks. An increase in those reservation fees could net the state an additional $20 million to $40 million a year.

He said to expect more proposals to alleviate some financial burdens on the middle class, like those seen last year that made the state’s earned income tax credit refundable and others that provided $300 tax rebates to those who make less than $100,000 a year.

At the press conference following his speech, he also said the Senate would support putting more money toward affordable housing projects in the state. But his speech focused primarily on Hawaii’s children.

“I’m trying to create the Hawaii our children choose to come back to,” Kouchi said.

Early childhood education grabbed headlines this week with the unveiling of Luke’s plan to build more than 400 pre-K classrooms, an initiative Senate leaders said they would support.

House Republican Minority Leader Lauren Matsumoto said the six GOP House members are backing a proposal to eliminate the state income tax, which she said would provide an average savings of $15,000 per family. She has said that proposal would cost the state about $1.9 billion in lost tax collections, which will make it difficult to sell to the Democrats.

She also said the Republicans will introduce a plan to would allow Hawaii residents to contribute pre-tax dollars into a savings account to help them save up for a down payment on a home. That program would be open to first-time home buyers, she said.