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Editor’s note:��For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 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 Jenna Takenouchi, Democratic candidate for State House District 27, which covers Pacific Heights, Nuuanu and Liliha. Her opponent is Republican Margaret Lim.

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?

If re-elected I will work to continue the momentum to build out a continuum of care system for mental health and substance abuse programs. This means support for our residents at all levels from accessible mental health providers for general well-being and preventive care to supportive treatment programs for those seeking behavioral health help, which increasingly presents as dual-diagnoses of these issues.

While there is much more to do, we made some significant steps forward and passed a number of measures, including: funding programs to help public school students identify stressors and learn healthy coping mechanisms; opening and funding the Iwilei Behavioral Health Crisis Center as well as allowing emergency and law personnel to divert individuals here for proper assessment and placement in appropriate care; and mental health screenings and requirements for certain criminal offenses, including probationers.

Through this work we create long-term solutions to the ongoing homelessness and criminal activity concerns in our neighborhoods that I continue to hear about from residents. Cycling individuals suffering from underlying behavioral health issues through the justice system or service programs without options for treatment means we return them unequipped to the same situations over and over again.

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?

Adjusting our income tax brackets and standard deductions was a practical way to allow our local families to keep more of the money they earn. These increased adjustments over time were also necessary as our mandated minimum wage increases take effect in order to protect working families who might be pushed into higher tax brackets without this change. 

With any program that lessens tax revenue or increases funds for specific needs, like the recent Lahaina wildfire recovery, it is important to monitor how we can maintain necessary state services, particularly safety net programs.

Regardless, we should continuously monitor effectiveness of all our state services to ensure we are investing tax dollars that maximize impact for the general public and look for ways to improve collaborative efficiency across programs. 

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?

Building real, robust public participation in state government where actual citizens are directly involved in the decision-making process starts with strengthening our civic education programs.

Ongoing focus on civics from elementary school courses through university and continuing education opportunities to wholly understand the function of government branches, legislative processes, and implications of bills would allow more conversations we have at the Legislature to be more community driven.

I strongly believe that we craft better legislation with input from a multitude of voices and empowering the community with the tools to participate in state government is critical to receiving that. 

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 voted in support of all bills that were proposed by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct as well as legislation submitted by the Campaign Spending Commission and Ethics Commission to strengthen laws to promote good government reform. 

I support continued conversation via bills, resolutions and internal rule changes that help us to improve the way we build trust with the public about the work we do at the State Capitol.

As a freshman legislator, I found House leadership and many of my colleagues welcomed questioning of proposals in order to craft better bills that took into account different viewpoints.

I felt free to voice and vote my opposition on bills my community felt strongly against like recreational cannabis and permitting reform for accessory dwelling units — a practice that I feel would extend to this and other topics as well if I was not aligned completely with leadership. 

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

I believe that we should maintain partial public financing for candidates who prefer this option. However, when discussing the expansion, I have concerns about implementation.

This is an increase in tax dollars that would be taken from safety net programs, public education, and other critical government services to fund campaign activity.

Additionally, if funds are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis — and higher offices like governor are eligible for upwards of $2.5 million in the proposed bills we considered — then the amount of money that would need to be earmarked for the program in order for all candidates at all levels to fully participate fairly grows exponentially. 

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

I continue to have strong concerns about this initiative and the ability of special interest groups who will have the funding and resources to organize the required number of signatures to place an issue on the ballot, particularly groups originating out-of-state.

It would be easy for these outside groups to funnel money into our state and flood our ballots with initiatives that do not represent the true interests of local residents and would muddy the ability to have real deliberate, thoughtful dialogue in these considerations.

I remain committed to using my role in the Legislative Branch to represent the interests of constituents in my district. A third of the bills and resolutions I introduced over the last two years came directly from residents who approached me with ideas on how to solve issues they were seeing in our community.

After introduction, I worked closely with them to get the bills scheduled for public hearings where their concerns could be fully heard and considered in the legislative process.  

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?

I maintain my stance that our current system allows legislators to fully invest in their communities long-term and term limits open the door for “lame duck” legislators who do not have full accountability of the electorate in upcoming elections. 

In the House, having to run every two years provides frequent opportunity for a community to directly let a legislator know if they are doing right by that community or not through by voting. Having joined the Legislature with a class of 20 new members (nearly half the House) of diverse experiences, ages and backgrounds shows that communities are using our election process as it is intended.

As long as individual communities feel a legislator is working hard to represent their interests and needs, those constituents should have the right maintain the leadership they want at the Legislature. 

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?

I am open to continued discussion on all ways that legislators can be more accountable to our constituencies.

I worked hard in my first term to build an open, accessible office where I am available to constituents via mail, email, phone and in-person meetings. I send regular updates on community projects, resources for issues I hear people are facing, and legislation impacting my district.

To solicit feedback on my work, potential legislation and well-being of the community, I offer community surveys, town hall meetings, small “office hour” opportunities at locations across the district and other direct outreach to residents. I plan to continue to expand ways I can build accountability for myself with everyone in my district and foster open communication on the merits of all topics, even those we may not fully see eye-to-eye on. 

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?

I’m happy to see we continue to take advantage of technology to make our work easier to view, understand and participate in at the Legislature. We look to improve our online written and oral testimony options for those who cannot join in-person in addition to live-streaming and posting videos of all floor sessions and committee hearings, including all conference committees, on an ongoing basis.

House Bill137 (2023) goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and lobbyists will be listing all bills and resolutions that they are supporting, opposing or commenting on and I look forward to evaluating the impacts of this on the legislative process before considering additional changes. 

This year the House imposed an internal rule that conference committee chairs would verbally summarize bills and announce changes ahead of votes, including the hundreds of pages of the state budget bill, which was instituted based on feedback from the 2023 session.

Continued input from the public on where they are finding difficulty participating should drive the discussion on which laws to amend or internal policies we can adjust to address identified challenges.

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?

More support and resources to help residents enter or transition to skilled, high paying jobs is necessary if we want to shift from a tourism-dependent workforce. Health care and the public sector are both experiencing massive workforce shortages and this presents an opportunity for government to invest in local residents while building out stable, necessary sectors of the economy.

The health care sector has already started successful programs to hire individuals and pay for training with minimum commitments to work at the facility, including continued opportunity to obtain certifications while employed. This win-win model lets facilities fill their high-need positions with skilled workers and give workers opportunity for promotion and higher pay.

There are government departments reporting staffing at 70% capacity, with heightened difficulty in recruitment in specialized fields.  Identifying positions within government departments that would benefit from this type of incentive would help us to provide full services to the public and truly invest in local residents.

When individuals have the education, training, and experience to be successful in industries like health care, IT and more, then sectors other than tourism will start to more fully emerge as economic drivers. 

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?

Building on the proposal to diversify the economy in Question No. 10, creating workforce opportunities in fields that offer higher-paying jobs means that working families earn salaries they need to live and thrive in Hawaii.

Whether this means additional focus on the successful academic pathway programs in public high schools, more affordable and accessible trade options for graduates in lieu of higher education options, or access to continuing education and certification programs to help our adult workforce get promoted in their respective fields, investment in Hawaii’s residents and their earning potential is critical.

Development initiatives like these can set up youth entering the workforce to maintain a trajectory of economic growth and stability over time as well as provide promotion and pay raise opportunities to our existing workforce.