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

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?

Cost of living continues to be of the utmost concern. To address this issue, I have introduced legislation to eliminate the General Excise Tax on food and medicine as well as lower income tax. Removing the GET would immediately lower daily living costs and help local families.

I’ve consistently advocated to lower the income tax which the Legislature finally passed this past session. This gives families additional funds to save, invest or spend in the local economy.

Additionally, the price of housing in Hawaii is one of the largest contributors to our cost of living and needs long-term, dedicated solutions to ensure our future generations can afford to stay in Hawaii. This past session my bill supporting the Hula Mae First Time Home Buyer Program passed, providing a great path toward home ownership for our local families.

We also need to look at our education system pipeline, to ensure our students are being prepared for future careers that will provide high-paying jobs and help diversify Hawaii’s economy.

I’ve spent the last 12 years dedicated to reducing our high cost of living and would be honored to continue working toward making Hawaii more affordable.

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 was long overdue and it aligns with my ongoing efforts to reduce the cost of living in Hawaii, especially for middle- and low-income families.

I have introduced several bills over the last 12 years to lower our income tax rate and was encouraged to see the state Legislature finally pass a bill like this.

Hawaii was among the highest-taxed states in the entire country. Our residents deserve to keep more of their hard earned income in their pockets. It’s a positive —albeit overdue — step forward toward reducing the tax burden on Hawaii’s residents and fostering economic growth.

In turn, we need to focus on streamlining government operations and eliminating waste to prevent any potential reduction in services due to the 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?

Clearly, we need greater transparency and accountability in Hawaii’s government to combat corruption.

I support stronger enforcement of existing ethics laws, implementing more stringent disclosure requirements for lobbyists and expanding access to public records.

Additionally, I support reforms like term limits for legislators and stricter regulations on campaign contributions during legislative sessions. In the 2023 session, I supported SB 1493, which restricted lobbyists from donating to an elected official during a legislative session. While this bill represented a significant step in the right direction, more still needs to be done.

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 have a clear track record in the state house for supporting legislative reform proposals and have introduced many bills myself.

Government reform and transparency have been among the top priorities I have included in my legislative bill package for the past few years. I have introduced numerous pieces of legislation covering issues such as term limits and ethics reform. In 2023, I introduced 27 of the suggestions to improve the standards of conduct concerning elected officials as recommended by the Foley Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct. 

Additionally, I have advocated in our House rule process to address problems related to our committee chairs having too much power, which has led to corruption. In regards to going against leadership, being a member of the minority party frees me from Democrat intra-party politics and allows me the freedom to make the decisions I feel are best for our Legislature and state as a whole. 

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

I am open to the idea of public financing of elections with clear guardrails as I see the potential of leveling the playing field, increasing the diversity of candidates and lowering corruption.

This past session I surveyed my district with the question: “Should the State allow political candidates to use public funds to finance election campaigns?” Out of the 701 people surveyed, 77.6% were in opposition, 10.7% were in support and 11.7% were undecided.

From conversations with those in the community, I believe the biggest concern with public financing is that many in the district want to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used wisely. If public financing is implemented, there needs to be clearly vetted policies written into the program to ensure money is used responsibly. 

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

I would support a blended approach to a citizens initiative, meaning instead of having an initiative go straight to the voters to codify, if passed the initiative would be mandated to go before the Legislature to be considered and vetted before becoming law.

There have been many instances nationwide where citizens initiatives conflicted and confounded existing laws and ended up confusing voters and/or using substantial state revenues to mitigate.

It is a Legislature’s responsibility to have informed debate on bills before they become law and I believe that needs to be part of the process. There are hundreds of laws that make up the Hawaii Revised Statutes, and legislative members and committee staff are relied upon to identify any conflicts between existing laws and proposed bills.

Additionally, hearings by legislative committees are important to identify possible impacts to citizens, and unforeseen consequences before a bill is made law.

This blended approach gives citizens a more direct hand in issues that the Legislature spends its time on while providing safeguards against special interest money abuse and ensures that the initiative fits appropriately within current law. 

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 am a strong supporter of term limits for the state Legislature. We have limits in most every other level of elected office and it would make sense to implement it in the state House and Senate as well.

Done properly, I think term limits can help change the political climate because term limits can promote fresh ideas, reduce opportunities for corruption and dilute the concentration of power. However, I also understand that legislators need enough time in their elected office to fully utilize their position in order to increase effectiveness and accomplish their goals for their time in office.

Last year, I introduced a bill to support term limits. HB 1703 proposed a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members to a maximum of 12 years in the House of Representatives or Senate, or both. Unfortunately, the measure did not receive an initial hearing in the Legislature.

Change takes time, but it should not take an entire lifetime. 

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 have always advocated for greater transparency and accountability in the Legislature, and I support applying the Sunshine Law to the Legislature.

Along those lines, I am also for greater transparency for all campaign contributions. In 2023, I supported HB 89 which prohibits elected officials from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular or special session of the state legislature.

Although the Legislature did ban fundraisers during session, I think a cleaner solution would be to also ban campaign contributions during session as this could help to prevent corruption. 

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?

For years I introduced legislation for a remote testimony program. In early 2023, the state House finally moved to a hybrid program allowing the public to submit testimony in writing, in person or via video conference. I also support increasing this access even further by introducing legislation that would allow pre-recorded testimony videos submitted before the convening of the committee hearing.

I support stronger disclosure requirements for lobbyists and lobbying organizations. We currently have registration requirements for lobbyists, and thanks to a bill I supported — HB 137 — lobbyists will now be required to also disclose which bills they are addressing and what their positions are on those measures beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

One of the best ways to ensure our legislative process is transparent is to educate the public on how to get involved. There are a number of tools available to the public through the state Capitol, like the Public Access Room and legislative website.

Additionally, my office has continued to work diligently to create instructional guides on how to get involved in the legislative process which are available.In 2019 I created a Legislative Activity book to teach children about the legislative process. 

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?

Three sectors we should invest in are the film industry, technology, and agriculture & agricultural tourism.

Film is an existing yet underutilized industry we could leverage to stimulate our economy. It could quickly create jobs and add much-needed dollars to help our state. As a member of the Legislature’s Economic Development committee I have advocated to remove the current cap on the Hawaii Film Tax Credit. This would give us a competitive advantage over other locations and push the film industry in our state forward.

We occupy a unique geographic position halfway between Asia and the continental U.S. I believe we can use this advantage to develop a strong local tech industry. I have championed several STEM bills that would strengthen the pipeline for technological jobs in our state. As an island state, we have limited land, and tech will provide high-paying jobs with a small footprint.

Lastly, the state needs to provide the infrastructure to help our local farmers. Hawaii has the potential to be successful in agricultural tourism. Coming from a farming family, I know we need to encourage our local farmers to begin to invest in value-added products to help them raise their bottom line. 

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?

As I mentioned above, eliminating the GET on items such as food and medicine would have a tremendous impact on the day-to-day living costs for many Hawai‘i residents. Hawaii is one of only 13 states to tax groceries. Typically this type of tax is felt most by those in the lower and middle income classes, and eliminating the GET would have an immediate impact on the cost of living for many families.

Additionally, for families with young children, early child care is one of their greatest costs. As the mother of a 4-year old and a 6-year-old, I recently had both children in preschool and my entire paycheck went to pay for their tuition. This is important for many families because child care is one of the largest expenses after rent or mortgage. According to PATCH Hawaii, in 2019 the average cost of child care per child in Hawaii is around $14,000 a year.

I have introduced many bills over the years to support early childhood education from tax credits to certifications and pay for preschool teachers. I also introduced a paid family leave bill to help our families be able to care for their loved ones.