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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 Tim Dalhouse, Republican candidate for State House District 7, which covers Kailua-Kona, Honokohau, Kalaoa, Puuanahulu, Puako and a portion of Waikoloa. His opponent is Democrat Nicole Lowen.

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?

We need to build a sustainable future for all our residents. Hawaii has a cost-of-living crisis — pushing our residents into poverty and forcing thousands of locals to leave our islands.

We need effective short-term solutions, such as GET exemptions for critical goods/services, and long-term solutions, such as the deregulation of small businesses to remove barriers to success.

I want to create more and better-paying jobs, produce more housing and reduce the cost of energy, medical care and staple goods through effective policy and lower taxes.

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?

This tax cut was a start. Reducing taxes is exactly the right path — but we have more work to do to lower the tax burden stifling our residents.

The urgency for the recent tax cuts was created by 60-plus years of tax and spend policies with no regard for the negative impact on our hard-working families. It took thousands of our people fleeing to the mainland for the career politicians dominating our Legislature to admit to these critical mistakes. Residents shouldn’t have to work harder just because politicians like to overspend and overtax. We need new leadership and workers need to keep more of their paycheck.

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?

We need more officials to be accountable to voters, such as an elected attorney general and Board of Education. We will see a massive reduction in corruption when the people decide who is leading them, rather than officials being appointed by the few (or the one).

Politicians should be accountable to the voters, not to each other. True accountability happens in the privacy of the voting booth — not the privacy of back rooms.

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 will back good-government reform proposals that make sense for our state to prosper. I will represent North Kona and be accountable to work on behalf of them, for the benefit of our district and the entire state.

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

No, I do not support public financing of elections. Taxpayers should not have to pay for candidates to represent and publicly promote political views that they do not agree with.

Part of being a leader is being willing to invest your own time, effort and resources rather than counting on the state to provide a platform for you.

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 voters having more say in their government.

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 term limits for every elected office. It is good to retain experienced officials for a reasonable period, if the people want to reelect them.

But, we also want to leverage new and fresh leadership perspectives and avoid long-term empire-building by career politicians who become more loyal to special interest groups and lose touch with their responsibility to truly represent their constituents.

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 the Sunshine Law and believe that elected officials should be accountable to the people they represent for their actions and votes within the Legislature.

I support banning campaign contributions during session because our elected officials should be there to do the work of the state and not build a financial empire for their own reelection.

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 support making the complete voting record of every legislator publicly available and easily accessible on the state website.

I support open conference committees to the public, except where confidentiality of information is important for a compelling state purpose or protection of personal data.

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 is critical for North Kona. We must continue to support tourism, as our state revenue and so many jobs are heavily dependent on it.

We also must diversify our state economy. We need to support and build on existing sustainable industries such as agriculture, ranching, fishing, beekeeping, aquaculture and hemp.

I support research and investment to create remote jobs based on external demand for knowledge-workers, without internal pressure on our infrastructure and environment. Bringing in new revenue from off-island sources is critical to growing our state’s economy. We need to create incentives for mainland companies to hire our people for remote work and train them to be competitive for those jobs.

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 am 100% dedicated to lowering the cost of living for Hawaii’s people. For starters, we need to exempt vital services such as food and medical costs from the state sales tax.

As a small business owner, I offer real world experience and practical common sense to cutting taxes, reforming government so it is less of a burden on the average person and generating economic opportunities that will create good-paying jobs.

We need to lower the cost of living through an integrated income-based and cost-based approach, continue to lower taxes on hard-working families, build more affordable housing, promote a robust framework for successful small businesses, improve our infrastructure, create incentives for off-island employers to bring high-paying remote jobs to our state from multiple sectors, train our current and next generation to be part of the innovative workforce of tomorrow, improve sustainable food and energy resources to lower our dependence on shipping and care for our precious natural resources to be enjoyed for generations to come.