������Ƶ

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 Kim Coco Iwamoto, Democratic candidate for State House District 25, which covers Ala Moana, Kakaako and Downtown Honolulu. Her primary opponent is Scott Saiki.

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?

Housing security is our biggest concern. Condo owners face huge burdens due to increases in maintenance fees, property assessments and insurance costs; kupuna who income-qualify for “affordable housing” are hit with 15% rent increases every two years; and, islandwide, the inventory of shelter beds is one for every two unsheltered people.   

Many retirees buy condos thinking they’ve found a secure, affordable solution only to find themselves trapped between unforeseen rising costs and insufficient equity to opt out. For years, condo owners and their advocates have been sounding the alarm; and, for those same years, legislative leaders have ignored them. This year, legislative leaders failed to regulate skyrocketing insurance premiums, or even ensure that higher premiums collected in Hawaii stay in Hawaii.

With 40% of Hawaii’s private property owned by out-of-state investors, and over 70,000 investment homes kept vacant, an “empty homes” surcharge would correct the imbalance created by real estate speculation. Every dwelling kept vacant displaces people who would have lived, shopped and generated tax revenue here. Recovering this lost revenue through a surcharge and using it to subsidize housing for our vulnerable populations while providing social workers and shelters for those in greatest need would address this concern.

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?

Soon after voting to pass these tax cuts, legislative leaders acknowledged that they will have to “make adjustments” to prevent the harm that the $5 billion revenue reduction will cause. Most people realize this was an election year stunt to grab “historic” headlines in an attempt to garner votes for incumbents; meanwhile, those needed “adjustments” will come next session. 

Why else would government-employee unions applaud tax cuts unless they got assurances that funding would be restored? After all, American Legislative Exchange Council claims Hawaii’s unfunded liability is over $28 billion with Hawaii having the highest per-capita cost of unfunded liabilities in the country. When we are No. 1 in debt, how can we afford to give billions in tax cuts to Hawaii’s wealthiest residents?

My district has the most expensive condos in the state. I have spoken to many residents who live in these luxury towers and not one of them mentioned they feel they pay too much in income tax. Instead, they all expressed concern with how little our state is doing to mitigate homelessness and how there are too many missing sidewalks and crosswalks throughout Kakaako; they would rather have these improvements than those income tax cuts.

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?

Below are some suggestions from a 2022 Civil Beat column I wrote, titled “House District 25: There Are Many Ways to Stop Corruption,” most of which became a resolution adopted by the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

First, a majority of state representatives must commit to voting only for House leaders who support good-government reforms.

Second, the House must drop the rule that allows the speaker to declare no financial conflicts of interest for himself and fellow legislators; the State Ethics Commission should make that determination. All legislators should be prohibited from acting on bills where financial conflicts of interests may exist.

Third, lawmakers who are active-status attorneys must be banned from serving in leadership positions. Attorney-client privilege protections prevent public disclosure regarding fees accepted for what can too easily be called “legal services.” Had Kalani English or Ty Cullen been active status attorneys, they could have legally accepted those bribes as retainers for legal services.

Fourth, remove the Legislature’s exemption from the Sunshine Law.

Finally, allow the public to vote on term limits for legislators.

The failure of Hawaii’s legislative leaders to enact reforms supporteded by their own party leaves ending corruption up to the voters. 

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 aspire to be one of (at least) 26 representatives in the multi-partisan state House majority who pledges to vote for a “good-government” speaker, a leader committed to procedural reforms to replace autocratic power, corruption and pettiness with representational democracy, transparency and collaborative outcomes that benefit the people of Hawaii. 

This includes amending House rules so committee chairs hear bills with 25 or more co-introducers/signers so committee members vote on every bill assigned to their committee, so testimony is made available to the public and lawmakers in advance of hearings and so bills that do not require state funds or generate state revenue are not referred to the Finance Committee.

Voters have the power to make this happen by completing their primary election ballot. Color-in the “Democratic Party” box on the ballot you receive in July, then vote for the Democratic state House and state Senate candidates who have not been in office for 12-plus years. To voters in Ala Moana, Kakaako and downtown, my opponent has sat in the state House for 30 years; under his leadership, voters never get to vote on term limits for state legislators — this primary election we can vote to limit him to 15 terms.

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

Yes, but for now, all we have is minimal public financing, woefully inadequate to challenge pay-to-play funded incumbents. This year, the Senate passed a comprehensive public financing bill; but when it crossed to the House, despite all the talk by House leadership, they killed the bill. It became clear that there is no chance of passing a “Clean Elections” bill until my opponent is unseated. 

Civil Beat wrote a post-mortem titled, “The Theatrics To Kill Full Public Election Financing Would Be Amusing If They Weren’t So Sad.” It examined the reasons stated for why the House Judiciary chair killed this bill; those reasons were so inconsistent and disingenuous that they effectively pulled back the veil on the forces at work behind the scenes.

What was not written, but should be understood: The speaker of the House can introduce certain bills to put on a show for voters, but behind the scenes the speaker can direct committee chairs to kill those same bills.

Publicly financing elections alone is not enough; we must limit contributions to $100 per candidate, per election, including from candidates and their families, and legislators should be barred from funneling their campaign funds to other candidates.

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

Yes, I support a statewide citizens initiative process. 

While the citizens initiative process is always presented as a way for ordinary citizens to overrule the politics that serve corporations and other monied interests, the sad truth is that, without safeguards, the process can be easily hijacked by those very same forces.

However, the rising tide of people-centered, grassroots activism gives hope that this would not easily happen now. We are reclaiming our political power and building coalitions through the Aloha Aina and women’s marches, through student-led protests against gun violence and climate change, as well as through the massive movements to protect Mauna Kea and affirm that Black lives matter.  

As we build on the momentum these social and environmental justice movements generate, I am cautiously supportive of legislation that would allow such initiatives and determined to include requirements limiting them to single-subject questions, that can only be passed with supermajority support, and can never result in diminished constitutional protections.

A citizens initiative process may be the only way we ever get a chance to vote on term limits on state legislators.

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?

Yes. Why should state legislators be the only elected officials in Hawaii to have an unlimited presence and influence over our political process — with no sense of urgency? Look at how productive county councils are when members know they only have eight years to make a difference for their communities.

Getting the issue of term limits on the ballot, for voters to decide, requires some state legislators to act against their own self-interests. Too many legislative leaders have been serving in the state Legislature beyond any generous definition of what might exceed a “term limit,” so why would they allow this question on the ballot when they know what the outcome would most likely be? A 2018 Civil Beat poll demonstrated that 70% of voters support term limits on state lawmakers; that number may be higher today.

Problem: The longer a state legislator holds office, the more campaign contributions they are able to raise, and accumulate, to pay for campaign mailers, technology and ads — tools used to connect to voters and increase likelihood of holding onto their seat. Solution: Require campaigns to expend, refund or donate all funds collected during each election cycle; this will even out the playing field.

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?

Yes. On May 28, 2022, the Democratic Party of Hawaii adopted a resolution I drafted, “Resolution 2022-40.a, Urging Hawaii Lawmakers to Address Corruption at the Legislature,” which states in relevant part:

“Take the following immediate actions: adopt House and Senate rules that 1) restrict state legislators or their representatives from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions during the legislative session, 2) require legislators to comply with all State Sunshine and Ethics laws while working to amend the relevant statutes and codify this compliance, 3) adopt House and Senate Rules that restrict legislators from holding any leadership position if they were, within the preceding six months, a) hired as private-practice attorneys, or b) were profit-sharing law practice partners bound by attorney-client privilege from disclosing clients’ names or businesses, 4) grant any bill sponsored by a majority of the members in the originating chamber at least one committee hearing, and, 5) prevent a bill from being deferred indefinitely without a recorded vote by committee members.”

These are the members of the Hawaii legislative leadership’s own party, instructing them to clean up their act. Instead, leadership ignored them and refused to even consider implementing any of these reforms. Shame.

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?

When I served on the state Board of Education, we operated under the Sunshine Law and a policy that required data-driven decision-making. The state Legislature would be improved by both safeguards. 

Hawaii needs a Legislative Budget Office similar to the US Congressional Budget Office. (See Senate Bill 2644, Session 2024.) Every bill should be accompanied by a financial impact statement prepared by a nonpartisan body, uncorrupted by corporate lobbyists. 

Currently, bills that serve a public good, like paid family leave or expanding health care access, only require the amount of state funding requested. What is missing are the measurable impacts these investments will have on boosting our economy, increasing state revenue or reducing future costs.

If a financial analysis was required for all tax reforms, we would avoid reckless amendments shoved into bills in conference committees, with no reliable data or public input. 

The data could help legislators compare which bill more effectively achieves a desired outcome. For example, which is more effective in preventing collisions and pedestrian injuries statewide with less costs: 1) simply programming all traffic lights to hold “all-directions-red” for a full second more, or 2) purchasing and installing only 10 red-light cameras in the urban core of Honolulu?

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?

One of the primary indicators of a healthy economy is the extent to which someone can rely on a single job to feed and house themselves and their dependents. The tourism status quo has not resulted in a healthy economy for Hawaii residents by this or similarly relevant measures, like the ability to cover the costs of unexpected personal crises. In fact, 28% pay more than half their income on housing and one in three households faces food insecurity on a daily basis. 

I support collecting a robust state green free as a means to mitigate the impacts tourism has on our environment and infrastructure. I also support counties collecting their own fees and doing so in a way that aligns visitor levels with each island’s carrying capacity. 

Subsidizing Hawaii farmers who grow food for local consumption so they can effectively compete with imports subsidized by poverty wages would also build a more robust economy. Imagine crops so profitable that each farmer could allocate just one-tenth of their land to growing it while generating enough profit to subsidize the labor and water needed to grow produce for local consumption on the other nine-tenths of their land.

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?

Lawmakers convened a special legislative session to fund rail and legalize same-gender marriage. I believe the housing challenges faced by Hawaii’s middle class and working families deserve equal focus, and a link on my website takes you to a petition I started to convene a Special Legislative Session for Condo Owner Insurance Reform, Rent Relief, and Eviction Mediation for this purpose.

Hawaii’s housing crisis demands immediate action. Skyrocketing insurance premiums are hitting condo owners hard. As I reach out to voters, I’m learning that increases in insurance premiums of 300% or more are not uncommon. Some owners report astounding 900% to 1,300% hikes.

Hawaii’s rental situation is equally dire: 56% of households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, making them rent-burdened, and 28% spend over half their income on rent, making them severely rent-burdened. 

This past legislative session, House Bill 2686, which would have revived the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund and extended coverage to condos, and another bill that would have provided permanent rent relief and mediation programs, lacked the leadership needed to pass. Much of these needs could be met through an Empty-Homes Surcharge.