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Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 8 General 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 May Mizuno, Democratic candidate for state House District 29, which covers Kamehameha Heights, Kalihi Valley and a portion of Kalihi. Her primary opponent is Ikaika Hussey.

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

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

Crime and the high cost of living are the top two issues facing my district. I am working with the police and both the state and city homeless coordinators to significantly reduce crime, reduce homelessness, reduce recidivism (people going back to prison) and reduce taxpayers’ costs. I am grateful that I have both the city and state working with me to reduce crime in my district.

For the high cost of living I worked with Gov. Green and my colleagues at the House and Senate for the greatest tax cut in Hawaii’s history. This $5 billion tax cut will save many local families from being forced to move to the mainland. I am fighting for my district and state and will continue to introduce policy to lower costs and improve life for my district and state.

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?

House Bill 2404 will save Hawaii taxpayers $5 billion over six years. During the elections some people running for office who were not part of this historic effort will talk about reducing taxes and helping working families, but the truth is Gov. Green and the Hawaii Legislature, the House and Senate passed the largest tax cut in our state’s history.

This once-in-a-lifetime bill and tax cut was accomplished because your current representatives, senators and the governor wanted to protect working families from being priced out of Hawaii and stop local families from moving to the mainland. The $5 billion tax cut will save many families from moving to the mainland.

As a state representative I believe we have a fundamental responsibility to be effective and protective stewards of the taxpayers’ money. Therefore, I worked hard to assist in the passing of the greatest tax cut in state history and I will continue to fight to reduce more taxes and lower costs and improve life for my district and the entire State of Hawaii. I believe that government must do more with less, as we need to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.

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?

Open hearings, open conference committees, open books, open government, stop campaign contributions during session and one month before and one month after the legislative session.

This “no money, no contribution” policy must be applied to everyone running for elected office to be fair.

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?

Sure, you should always be a voice for the people. I was set to vote against a major bill that was support by leadership, so I talked to Speaker Saiki and informed him that I was voting “no” on that specific bill and he thanked me for informing him of my “no” vote.

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

Sure, it levels the playing field for people who can’t raise enough funds for a campaign.

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

Sure, power to the people. I support people having a voice in government and I will always be for the people.

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?

First of all, we already have term limits built into the election process. Once your district no longer supports you as an elected official you are voted out. The election process is the means to enforce term limits.

The other reason we don’t need term limits (as the election process provides for term limits) is if you recall our beloved U.S. senators Akaka and Inouye were great champions for Hawaii, bringing in billions of dollars to build our state’s infrastructure, grow our economy, providing thousands of jobs in both the military sector and tourism, while also securing billions of dollars for the betterment of Native Hawaiians and making Hawaii a major strategic military base to not only protect Hawaii, the United States, but also the world to ensure free trade and business throughout the Pacific region.

There were no term limits for Akaka and Inouye.

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?

Open policy at the Legislature and banning campaign contributions during session and one month before or the ending of the Legislative session. However, the banning of contributions policy should be applied for all people running for public office to ensure fairness.

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?

Simple, make everything open to the public. Open conference committees, open book policy on any donations from lobbying and lobbyists. I am all for transparency and open government.

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?

Focus on fewer tourists, while enhancing the experience. Thus have these tourists enjoy a world class vacation, which will lead to this segment spending more money for this outstanding experience. This protects our state’s natural beauty, the environment, while collecting more money to the local economy.

Diversify the local economy by investing in agriculture. Hawaii must invest in agriculture, focused on major money crops such as limes ($1 per one lime), Kona coffee, Maui onions as well as fruits and vegetables which are unique to Hawaii and therefore will command a higher price from mainland consumers, while growing more stable produce at affordable prices for local families.

Invest in aquaculture — cultivation of seafood, seaweed, fish, shellfish as a means of providing food and sustaining the local economy.

Diversify in high technology jobs in Hawaii. There is no reason Hawaii cannot become the next center for Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and other high-tech businesses. The Legislature must be a leader in this endeavor to make Hawaii a top technology state. We as elected officials can make this vision real.

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?

I worked with Gov. Green and our colleagues on the House and Senate to pass the largest tax cut in the state’s history. I believe we need to continue to look at policy to cut taxes and make life affordable for the people of Hawaii.

I will continue, if elected back to serve as state representative for District 29, to work on more tax cuts, policy to build affordable rental units and fight to reduce the costs of living in Hawaii.

We must invest in our middle-class working families to build a stronger economy for Hawaii. That starts with more tax cuts, reducing costs, building more affordable rental units, diversification of our economy and investing in agriculture, technology jobs in Hawaii and securing greater federal funding for Hawaii’s military and economy.

If we can accomplish the foregoing points, we will build a strong economy for Hawaii.