As they prepare for the regular legislative session that starts today, state lawmakers representing West Hawaii are balancing their priorities between statewide and local issues.
Sen. Josh Green, D-Kona, Ka‘u, is on the Housing, Human Services and Tourism and International Affairs committees. He also is the majority floor leader and majority whip.
Reducing homelessness is Green’s top priority.
This could be accomplished by raising the current $8.50-per-hour minimum wage to at least $16 an hour, he said. Putting more money into projects that build homeless shelters also will be necessary. A tax on luxury developments to pay for rental housing initiatives and to build affordable homes would help fund the process, he said.
Green, a physician in active practice, also wants to bolster the state’s health care safety net. Strengthening the state hospital system, improving access to mental health care and drug and alcohol treatment are at the core of the solution, he said. Another health care reform is Green’s continuing efforts to ban pesticide applications near schools and hospitals.
Big Island issues also are a priority. Green wants to see completion of key projects such as Queen Kaahumanu Highway, the West Hawaii judiciary complex and the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
“I intend to press the governor’s administration to be much more responsive to Neighbor Island needs, especially in areas like health care, housing, education and a clean environment,” Green said Monday.
Priorities for Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa and Kona, include those she discussed in a Tribune-Herald story published Tuesday (Jan. 19), as well as creating a law requiring at least one of the three members of the Public Utilities Commission be from a Neighbor Island and that a per diem allowance be instituted for that representative.
Putting the Kawaihae bypass back on the Hawaii Statewide Transportation Improvement Program so it can regain its lapsed federal funding is a Big Island priority for the senator, as well as adding a signal light on Kalanianaole Avenue at the entrance to the Port of Hilo.
Rep. Richard Creagan, a Democrat whose district runs from just north of Keauhou south to Naalehu and north to Saddle Road, is on the Health, Consumer Protection and Commerce, Housing, Human Services and Judiciary committees.
Health care, infectious diseases, cesspool rules and a West Hawaii teaching hospital are among the semi-retired physician’s priorities. A task force should be formed to study and improve upon response to the current dengue fever outbreak in order to improve response to other outbreaks, he said.
Free screening for those who suspect they’re infected should be a priority. An outbreak emergency fund from which money can be provided to the state Health Department, county governments and civil defense departments, the community and others should be formed, without the need for micromanaging the appropriations, he said.
“We need to enhance our ability to stop the current dengue epidemic and use this event as informatively and constructively as possible in shaping our future response to dengue and other mosquito borne illnesses,” Creagan said. “We have eradicated Aedes aegypti, the principal vector for dengue, on every other island and I believe it is time we do it on Hawaii Island.”
Creagan also is pushing for Gov. David Ige to not sign a Department of Health proposed rule change phasing out cesspools.
“With our current homeless crisis, the need for affordable housing is paramount and with a septic system costing 10 times what a cesspool would, we need to evaluate the cost-benefit and risk-benefit balance in areas away from the coast and at higher elevations,” he said.
Creagan has two principal projects he wants funded in the capital improvement budget, including an all-weather artificial turf playing field for Konawaena High School that also would be used for community functions.
Another is a feasibility study for a proposed West Hawaii University Hospital, a teaching hospital with training for primary care including pediatricians, internists, family practice and psychiatry. Creagan said John A. Burns School of Medicine and The Queen’s Medical Center support the project.
Rep. Cindy Evans, D-North Kona, North Kohala and South Kohala, is on the Energy and Environmental Protection, Legislative Management, Ocean, Marine Resources, and Hawaiian Affairs Water and Land committees. She also is House Majority floor leader.
Evans couldn’t be reached by press time. But she listed her legislative priorities during a workshop last month.
Evans said she will introduce a bill to begin redevelopment of the Upper Hamakua Ditch. The irrigation system is running at less than 30 percent of capacity — compromised by age, leakage and vegetation, she said. Evans said she will support analysis and the development of a reservoir and distribution system to benefit Waimea agriculture.
Evans also will work to gain housing for the mentally ill, specifically on the Big Island.
“I believe it is best to go in and focus on segments that are really challenged,” she said. “This year, I’d like to look at the mentally ill and see if we can get their housing needs addressed, and what we can learn from that process.”
Evans said she supports ongoing changes to the state-owned hospital system and discussions by the Hilo and Kona hospitals about public-private partnerships. She also will support efforts to grow more food locally and will be looking to bring home money to improve schools.
Evans said she will press for funds to upgrade the Kona airport and will look at coral bleaching and the effects of the aquarium fishing industry on reef health.
Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau, is on the Energy and Environmental Protection, Ocean, Marine Resources, and Hawaiian Affairs, Finance and Water and Land committees.
Homelessness is a top priority for Lowen, who noted tKailua-Kona has the second-largest and fastest-growing homeless population in the state, behind Honolulu. She said despite Ige’s statewide emergency proclamations and money for homelessness last year, the state Department of Human Services is spending the money primarily on Oahu.
“I want to see some of that money go to the Neighbor Islands,” Lowen said.
Combating homelessness is a humanitarian issue, but it’s also about everyone’s quality of life, she said.
“We need to act now to do something about the homelessness issue. The struggles we see with homeless people — it encompasses health care, education, affordable housing and drug and mental health treatment,” Lowen said. “It’s affecting people’s quality of life, and eventually it will affect tourism and our economy as well.”
Money for a federal inspection station to bring commercial overseas flights back to Kona International Airport is a priority, as well.
And recent outbreaks such as dengue fever and rapid ohia death demonstrate clearly the need for more money to battle invasive species on the island, she said.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
