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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 Alexander Ozawa, Democratic candidate for State House District 38, which covers portions of Mililani and Waipio Acres and Mililani Mauka. His opponent is Republican Lauren Cheape Matsumoto.

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?

The single biggest issue facing my district is undoubtedly the high cost of living. It’s a problem that spans everything from housing and food to transportation and education.

The state should work with the counties to effectuate the construction of sustainable and affordable housing. One option may be to encourage the conversion of our unused and vacant office buildings along our urban core in downtown Honolulu into housing.

In addressing the cost of our food, expanding our local agricultural industry to provide cheaper, fresher produce to our families is vital. I’m inspired by an opportunity the Legislature had while I was working there. The state was able to use federal dollars on a program that gave grants to food-insecure communities to start their own gardens.

This idea should be expanded upon, providing grants or loans to our local producers to grow food, especially plants that can be consumed as a staple crop and begin to replace the importation of our meals. Doing so would support our farming industry and decrease our dependence on imports, reduce shipping and other costs from our grocery bills, and vitally, keep our dollars in Hawaii. 

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?

It’s nice to see that our Legislature was able to come out of this year with not only a balanced budget, but a significant tax cut for our working families.

I don’t believe that there will be a reduction in the quality of state services in the coming years. From what I have seen, I believe that future legislatures will still be able to create balanced budgets with the revenue they will have. I also believe that the tax cuts will do something incredibly meaningful to the livelihood of our local families, and it plays a big part in addressing our cost of living crisis.

If that turns out to be wrong, however, and substantial changes to the tax code are necessary in the coming years, it should be clearly communicated to the taxpayers what adjustments will happen, why it happened and what it means in terms of enhancing our state services.

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?

In my view, public election financing may be inevitable. I think it is understood that substantial election reforms are necessary to restore public trust in our elected bodies.

I also believe that the Legislature should play a larger part in informing citizens of its actions. It should be made easier to ask questions about the intentions or consequences of any particular law on an objective, nonpartisan basis. This is already done in some part by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

This change should be accepted by everyone, since everyday people will know more about the consequences of legislation by their elected officials, and elected officials would have a greater opportunity to explain how their legislation is helping their constituents.

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?

Ideal leaders are welcoming of dissenting voices. I believe that good-government proposals are not only necessary, but inevitable.

If I disagree with my colleagues and don’t support what is supported by the majority, or vice-versa, I will accept it, but make sure my views are known.

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

I do. It would make a significant step in leveling the playing field to make sure that the electorate can vote for the people they feel would best represent them, and not who has the best chances because of wealthy donors.

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

I support such a process. People can vote for who represents them best out of the available candidates, but that doesn’t mean that that candidate agrees with their voters on every single issue.

Allowing the people to introduce ideas for consideration could mean adopting policy that is closer to what our voters truly need.

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 support the concept. There are plenty of valid reasons for term limits.

I see some concern that it would prevent legislators from having a ton of experience to best help their constituents, and that it could prevent a community from electing someone who truly represents them and their needs best, however.

I would be open to real discussion about term limits.

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 support increasing efforts to report the Legislature’s actions to the public, strengthening good-goverment laws and transparency and reforming our election process to make sure zero opportunities are given for corruption, especially during legislative sessions.

I, in my own capacity, commit to being extensively communicative and transparent as to what I support, what I don’t support and what I am doing with my time at the Legislature to make positive change.

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?

Other than the big ways that people have talked about for years but never seem to come to fruition, one way that I see could help transparency in the Legislature is having more easily accessible information available on the Legislature’s website.

For one example, right now there is no way to see a simple list of which bills your elected official voted “yes” or “no” on. This relatively simple change could make a profound impact on people understanding what their representative believes in.

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?

I think it’s unfortunate that, despite overwhelming popular opinion, we haven’t seen much movement in transitioning away from a tourism-based economy. It will take work, but we should be thinking about other ways we can be making the same revenue we get from tourism.

Promoting other local industries, like agriculture, would help. And while we make these investments and make projections of new revenue, we can easily slowly begin transitioning away from the sector by appropriating less on marketing until we feel that the tourism industry does not have an adverse effect on 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?

The state needs to step up in investing in our people to address the cost-of-living crisis. We need to address the cost of housing, food, health care, transportation and education sooner rather than later. This is the most important step in keeping our families in Hawaii.

Adopting pro-labor policies like increasing the minimum wage would also be a big step toward making sure that our low- to middle-income families can afford to live.