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Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Aug. 10 Primary Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Cory Chun, Democratic candidate for state House District 35, which covers portions of Pearl City and Waipahu, and Crestview. His primary opponents are Domineque Bonifacio and Ikeda Rahman Perreira.

Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the Primary Election Ballot.

1. What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?

Cost of living continues to be an issue in the district and statewide. From retirees living on a fixed income, to working families, to our young adults who are entering the workforce, financial pressures due to rising costs affect everyone.

Addressing this issue is complex — there are many factors that lead to the high cost of living. Some of those factors are affected by global changes. Despite these challenges, I believe that there are policy changes that can be made to address different aspects of a household budget: wages, taxes, housing, transportation, insurance, food and goods and services all have major impacts.

Using the levers of government to affect these cost drivers in an effective manner is something that the Legislature continues to look at every session, and I will continue to look at ways to address these cost-of-living issues.

2. How do you feel about the massive income tax cut just approved by the Legislature and the governor? Do you have any concerns that it will force reductions in state services in the years to come?

I support the income tax cut as a major policy shift in how we tax local residents. Any type of major spending initiative will always raise concerns over costs and budget concerns in the future, but in some cases the benefits of those impacts far outweigh the potential challenges.

I do have concerns over potential impacts in the years to come, but I believe that a tax cut like this is something that people have been waiting for and if it means more work on the budget in the future, then we should embrace those challenges that come with a dramatic shift in the tax burden off of our working families.

3. Hawaii continues to struggle with pay-to-play politics and corruption in government. What meaningful reforms do you think would change state government for the better?

The Legislature has adopted many proposals put forward by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct that have passed or are still being implemented.

There is always more that can be done though. For the proposals that have not yet passed, it is important to continue having discussions on these ideas to see if we can work out any issues.

4. Candidates often say they will support reform proposals in the Legislature. And yet major reform proposals don’t pass. Will you back good-government proposals even if it means going against leadership? If you are an incumbent, can you point to an example of a reform that you supported?

There are 51 members in the House, and with that you have varying opinions and perspectives on the best path forward. Trying to build consensus and agreement while addressing every concern raised usually takes time to work out.

I have generally supported all of the proposals that were put forth and I was given the opportunity to vote on these issues without pressure to change positions and oppose these ideas.

5. Do you support comprehensive public financing of elections for candidates who choose to participate? Why or why not?

Comprehensive public financing of elections is something that could change the dynamic of elections. There are concerns over increasing funding for this type of program because it may use taxpayer funds to pay for campaign-related expenses. With any proposal, the details are important and the discussion should also include more scrutiny over how the funds are used.

I support the idea in concept, although I would want to make sure that the financing and spending parts of the program do not create unintended consequences and problems in the future without solving the issue that public financing is supposed to fix.

6. Hawaii is the only Western state without a statewide citizens initiative process. Do you support such a process? Why or why not?

I would support a citizens initiative process as long as there are safeguards to prevent it from only allowing special interest groups and vocal minorities to push positions on contentious issues without adequate discussion, community input and consensus.

What we need is greater participation in the legislative process by our people. Citizens need to be more involved and lawmakers need to do a better job at informing constituents and giving them a voice to share their mana’o.

7. Thanks to their campaign war chests and name familiarity, incumbents are almost always reelected in Hawaii legislative races. Should there be term limits for state legislators, as there are for the governor’s office and county councils? Why or why not?

In general, I have concerns over term limits. Term limits can eliminate institutional knowledge within legislative bodies and narrow the focus of lawmakers to only the short time they will be in office.

Term limits also give lawmakers no urgency to arrive at the long-term results if he or she will be out of office by then. Short-term commitments do not facilitate sound long-term decisions.

We are accountable to the districts we represent and voters have the power through the ballot if we are not performing or meeting the expectations of the job.

I would be open to some type of limit that adequately balances enough time for a legislator to make long-term policy changes and to evaluate those changes with the concern of serving for a lifetime in office.

8. What will you do to ensure accountability at the Legislature? Do you support ideas such as requiring the Sunshine Law to apply to the Legislature or banning campaign contributions during session?

Some aspects of the Sunshine Law could be considered for application to the Legislature. The challenge would be to look at how it could be applied without amending Hawaii’s Constitution.

One of the issues will be if this prevents the Legislature from acting on short notice during a time of an emergency where flexibility and the ability to act quickly is essential.

9. How would you make the Legislature more transparent and accessible to the public? Opening conference committees to the public? Stricter disclosure requirements on lobbying and lobbyists? How could the Legislature change its own internal rules to be more open?

Lawmakers should be in their districts meeting with their constituents. Usually during the session there would be the convening of get-togethers at a school or a rec center to discuss issues during the session.

The more we can do to expand these opportunities during session will provide greater access to legislators and communication with their constituents about the legislative process.

10. Many people have talked about diversifying the local economy for many years now, and yet Hawaii is still heavily reliant on tourism. What, if anything, should be done differently about tourism and the economy?

Tourism will likely remain a part of of our economy. The question is what percentage of our economy should be reliant on tourism. I believe we have reached a point where, without a more managed approach to tourism, it will result in severe environmental, social and economic impacts.

We are moving toward a more managed process and it will take some time for visitors to adjust to new rules with access to major attractions and locations. In this way, however, we can make sure that our natural resources are protected and we can also make sure that residents also have access to these resources as well.

11. An estimated 60% of Hawaii residents are struggling to get by, a problem that reaches far beyond low-income and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What ideas do you have to help the middle class and working families who are finding it hard to continue to live here?

Similar to my response in question No. 1, cost-of-living issues are complex and there are many factors that lead to increasing costs. The only way to address the cost of living is by taking a comprehensive approach to all of these cost drivers.

Housing continues to be a significant driver of the high costs and one way we can reduce the cost of land is to look at what properties are government owned that can be utilized for housing.

We should also continue to look at cost drivers such as insurance, health care and inflation costs that are sometimes subject to national and global dynamics.

Education is also a key to providing opportunities for the next generation to prepare for specific careers that are in high demand. Investing in the academy program within the Department of Education and building upon the success of early college programs will train our youth in high-paying fields and provide a workforce to support our community in the future.