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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 Ian Ross, Democratic candidate for state House District 23, which includes Moiliili and McCully. His primary opponents are Pat McCain, Ikaika Olds and Paul Robotti.

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?

Homelessness and the need for truly affordable housing for local residents.

We need a comprehensive approach to reducing homelessness. We need to establish more facilities and programs similar to Hawaii Homeless Healthcare Hui; expand access for individuals with mental illness; increase the availability of beds in shelters; expand the Kauhale Initiative’s tiny home program; utilize Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 1115 waivers and CMMI grants to direct Medicaid funds toward prevention and proactive treatment rather than treatment after the fact — by some estimates, this would save $300 million.

The goal must be truly affordable housing for local residents. To get us there I support taking immediate action to stabilize the insurance market for condominiums, investing in transit-oriented development, authorizing mixed-use housing, including repurposing vacant office rooms for residential use, adopting social housing models that drive down the cost and are only open for local residents-such as ALOHA Homes and following through with serious investments in the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

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 massive tax cuts represent an important step in the right direction when it comes to making Hawaii more affordable for working families. As these tax cuts come into effect over the next several years, workers in Hawaii will see less of their money going to taxes. However, a huge portion of the tax savings go to the wealthiest. Additionally, future legislatures will have to find ways to fill the revenue shortfall in the budget.

Tax reform is important as Hawaii regressively taxes ALICE (asset limited, income constrained, employed) households at higher rates than wealthier households.

But it is important that we don’t finance these tax savings by cutting programs these households depend on. The next Legislature will have the opportunity to make the adjustments necessary to ensure this doesn’t happen.

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 story reported earlier this year by Civil Beat and The New York Times has brought much-needed attention to the issue of corruption in Hawaii. Following high-profile arrests, it is clear that Hawaii has work to do to close loopholes and earn back public trust in government.

Existing law tries to stop pay-to-play politics by forbidding individuals who have contracts with the state from making donations to political candidates. However, the officers and spouses of contractors are still allowed to make political donations. This massive loophole has allowed more than $24 million in donations to Hawaii campaigns, and it is time for the Legislature to close this.

To make this practical, Hawaii should establish a robust system to provide restricted individuals with notice that they cannot donate, as well as help election officials and candidates keep track of who is restricted from donating.

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?

Yes. There is a great need for reform. I will put my community first and support good government and necessary reforms.

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

Most candidates run their campaigns entirely on private donations. This means candidates face pressure to cater to special interest groups, sometimes at the expense of their own communities. I support campaign finance reforms that would bring the focus of legislators back to the districts they represent.

The Legislature considered comprehensive public financing bills in 2023 and 2024, and all versions of the bill were unsuccessful. I believe the most viable path forward is to expand the existing partial public financing system. Right now, this system is overly complicated, imposes burdensome restrictions, and does not provide candidates with enough money to be competitive.

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

Yes, we should do more to empower the voters of Hawaii to weigh in on the issues affecting them. Right now, many voters are not feeling heard and want their vote to make more of a difference. If done right, voter initiatives could improve participation in elections and improve civic engagement.

To do this effectively, we also need to include safeguards and thresholds in the process to protect the system and voters. This should take the form of a limit on the number of initiatives in any given election, prevent conflicting questions, and provide voter guides that clearly and accurately explain each side’s reasoning.

I am also concerned about the role of monied interests. Looking across the country, we can see outside groups utilizing shady SuperPACs to funnel unlimited funds to pass or defeat initiatives against the people’s best interest.

The most important protections from abuse must include effective reporting requirements for organizations weighing in on initiatives, diligent news coverage of any statewide initiatives and well-informed voters.

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?

While it is important to have experienced legislators, I support term limits on the higher end, restricting people from holding office for decades at a time. Unfortunately, term limits are not a silver bullet for solving problems in government. Other states have experimented with term limits for their legislators and, unfortunately, they have not led to improvements in legislative outcomes.

We need additional reforms if we want to provide voters with more viable choices on their ballots. These include expanding public financing and placing a cap on the maximum size of war chests carried over from previous elections. We should also allow candidates to use campaign funds to cover caregiving expenses incurred by being a candidate, making it easier for parents and caregivers to run for office.

This year will be the first with a voter guide listing candidates, including their pictures and why they are running. Next session, the Legislature should expand this by budgeting funds to print and mail these guides to every voter.

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?

The fast pace of the legislative session, which runs for only four months each year and comes with very tight deadlines, might make a full application of the Sunshine Law impractical.

So instead of changing or restricting the Sunshine Law, we should lengthen the legislative session. Hawaii is facing myriad challenges, and we’d be better served by our leaders being full-time employees who work year-round.

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?

In recent years, the Legislature has taken many steps in the right direction on these issues. However, it will take time for the full effect of many of these reforms to be realized.  

One additional reform I’d like to see is the end of the unilateral power of chairs to kill bills just before the end of session during the conference committee process. Currently, if a conference chair doesn’t attend the final conference meeting, the bill dies. Instead, the conference committee should still be allowed to vote to approve or oppose any bills before the end of the process, with or without the chair present. Notably, with my recommendation for a year-round session, there would be fewer opportunities for these running-out-the-clock type procedural maneuvers.

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 probably continue to play a major role in our economy, but we should also be making serious efforts to diversify. Since the decline of plantation agriculture, tourism has long been the driver of Hawaii’s economy. However, the dramatic reduction in tourists during the pandemic demonstrated the weaknesses of an economy that relies on a single industry so heavily.

There are other fields that are ripe for growth. The medical field has a shortage of staff, including nurses and doctors. Doing more to fill these roles would simultaneously help us meet community health needs and provide high-paying jobs.

We also need to increase funding and availability of programs to promote careers that do not require a college degree, such as trades. This includes establishing more apprenticeships that offer a living wage, especially in the green workforce. This will help us create jobs while helping Hawaii meet the challenges of environmental restoration and climate change.

Our University of Hawaii system should also play a larger role in economic growth, since a robust system of higher education and vocational training is necessary to continue producing professionals skilled in trades, media specialties, aquaculture (fish, oyster and seaweed farming), engineering and entrepreneurship.

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 was born and raised here in Hawaii by a single mother, and life wasn’t always easy. I worked my way through both high school and college. I am running for the state House to help the people facing real challenges. We must ensure that everyone is given the economic, social and educational opportunities to do great things in their lives.

Most of the friends I grew up with or met in college have moved away. The main reasons are always some combination of the high cost of living and lack of opportunity. 

If elected, I will prioritize initiatives that support the creation of more high-paying jobs. I will put particular emphasis on trade schools, jobs in medicine and health care and green energy.

On the cost-of-living front, we need to create more housing that is truly affordable, with an emphasis on building up the state-owned lands in transit-oriented development areas. I also support the state adopting a model of the temporary 2021 federal child tax credit expansion, which dramatically reduced child poverty and material hardship for families. A state child tax credit option would reduce state child poverty rates by 25 or 50 percent.