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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 Lorraine Inouye, Democratic candidate for state Senate District 1, which includes Hilo, Paukaa, Papaikou and Pepeekeo. Her primary opponent is Laura Acasio.

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?

Affordable housing. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been dedicated over the last four years to subsidize housing projects, and two years ago an appropriation of $600 million went to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for homes dedicated to families.

Another issue is in improving health care access. This past session of 2024, my bill SB1035 became Act 47, a GE tax exemption to doctors and dentists in private practice. Providers have been leaving Hawaii in rural areas, particularly East Hawaii, as the state tax could not be passed on to patients, by law, on Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.

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?

The income tax cut for working families doubled the standard deduction, eliminated the lowest brackets and lowered the tax rate for all brackets. The state income taxes paid by working class families will fall by 71 percent by 2031.

I supported these cuts as a means of providing relief to Hawaii’s middle-class families who, without relief, will look elsewhere to make a living and raise their families. The impact of the current out-migration of our middle class is a more pressing concern than a possible reduction of any non-essential state services in the future.

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?

Strict adherence to legal and ethical rules of conduct is expected of every legislator, but violations are seldom obvious enough to prosecute. Fundraising is a necessary activity for successful campaigning and the temptation of pay-to-play politics can sometimes give rise to corruption.

I feel that it may be time to limit the terms an elected official can serve in public office. Speaking from my own experience in elected office, which ran from 1984 to 1990 on the Hawaii County Council, time spent back in the community can provide useful perspectives on issues that arise as a lawmaker. After serving as mayor for two years, it was six years before I sought a seat in the state Senate. I left office in 2008 and returned in 2014.

My time out of public office was filled by public service activities. I feel it helped me to be a better legislator. Reasonable term limits would help to provide a wider field of prospective candidates for office at every level and reduce the need for constant fundraising.     

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?

I must add that, in the Senate, an individual voting process is highly appreciated in the many years I have served and rarely involved heavy-handed pressure by leadership. A “vote your conscious” right was recognized. A reform that I supported this year was the “clean elections” bill for publicly funded elections. Unfortunately this bill failed to pass.

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

As mentioned above, yes. It gives an option for a candidate to decide.

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

No. The citizens initiative process as noted in other states has the potential to give special interests even more access to levers of power. Too often outside interests have considered taking over a democratic process to one’s likings.

California’s propositions are examples, such as the banned same sex marriage. I believe we have the legislative process though there is room for improvement.          

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?

As stated in my answer to question No. 3, I feel that it may be time to limit the terms of state legislators as we do now for the governor and county officials.

Reasonable term limits would help to provide a wider field of prospective candidates for office at every level and reduce the need for constant fundraising.          

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?

We do have the open records law, the Uniform information Practices Act that applies to the Legislature. The Sunshine Law does not apply. As a former county council member I experienced the Sunshine Law. The county councils work year round and legislators do their work within four months. I believe decisions will take much longer and would probably be cost-prohibitive if legislative work expanded. The constitution would need to be changed to reflect extensions to legislative work.

If the Sunshine Law would apply to the legislature, I support efforts to extend the Legislature’s session period to a longer term than the present 60-day work period.

I support banning campaign contributions during session.

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?

Over the years, the Legislature has implemented several changes to increase public participation in the legislative process. Although the State Capitol was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, committee hearings were conducted virtually using Zoom and opened ways for people to follow the action and participate in the process without being present. Livestreams of Senate and House committee hearings and floor sessions, the Legislature’s Live & on-Cable Television Broadcasts all made session activity more accessible to the public. House and Senate standing committees accepted both written and remote testimony via Zoom which allowed broader participation by those who were previously unable to get to the State Capitol to testify in person. For those without internet access, the Legislature’s  Public Access Room was a phone call way for information about the legislative process.

As for stricter disclosure requirements for lobbyists, the Hawai’i State Ethics Commission maintains various lobbying-related disclosures required under the State Ethics Code and the Hawaii Lobbyist Law. I would be receptive to any suggestions from the commission, however, these past years there have been changes and I believe lobbyists have complied with them.

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?

A recurring theme at the Legislature is economic diversification, yet each year we pay lip service to the idea and fail to shore up industries that can achieve meaningful diversification. Our failure to place greater emphasis and resources on areas with the potential for diversification only reinforces our dependence on tourism.

It is critical that we acknowledge Hawaii can no longer rely on tourism to grow our economy. Nonetheless, we need to educate locals visitors, and businesses on the benefits of sustainable tourism. Many destinations around the world are increasing taxes on tourists to avoid overtourism, with Hawaii being no exception. The problem is we have become dependent on the Transient Accommodation Tax more to balance our operating budget than investing in sustainable tourism.

We need to reprioritize our spending on education and research to fuel economic diversification. I have been a strong supporter of the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, a leading academic institution in tropical agriculture, biological engineering, food science and human nutrition. The college provides educational opportunities for future scientists and technologists who can spur critical economic diversification. We must fully acknowledge and support the University of Hawaii, and education and research as the path to economic diversification in our state.

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?

For Hawaii’s middle class, with an income range between $63,000 and $190,000, housing remains the most pressing expense. Hawaii also has relatively high state taxes, including income tax and general excise tax, which can contribute to the overall cost of living.

Government construction of more housing for the elderly is a growing need. Senior apartments typically have waitlists from three months to four years. Older government-subsidized apartments that charge 30% of a senior’s income as rent have the longest waitlist of five to seven years. Also on a waiting list to be served is our Native Hawaiian population, dependent on the action of the Department of Hawaiian Homes Land that is long overdue. 

This past session saw the largest income tax cut for working families in the state’s history.

To address the high cost of health care I introduced SB1035 in 2023. Signed into law this year, it exempts medical services reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE from the state’s General Excise Tax. It will provide relief to the healthcare system in Hawai’i by specifically exempting hospitals, infirmaries, medical clinics, health care facilities, pharmacies, and medical and dental providers from the GET.

The more support we can provide for our working families the better we will all be. A strong middle class drives economic growth and stabilizes our society.