With our legislative session just starting, I thought it would be a good time to get the viewpoints of our representatives on the role of legislation and business and to ask them about their personal legislative priorities. Sen. Josh Green and Rep. Cindy Evans shared their thoughts.
Widely publicized is the fact that in most polls of the best places to do business in the country Hawaii is at or near the bottom. Should there be a legislative approach that focuses in a coordinated way on moving Hawaii up in those polls so it is perceived as, and in fact is, a better place to do business?
Sen. Green: “I agree that we need to be fully coordinated and while it may not look like we coordinate, we do. I just got out of a meeting with most of our island legislators, and we do try to coordinate our efforts and stay on the same page. But you want your individual representatives fighting for the variety of things their constituents want because they are, or should be, close to the ground and know what those things are.”
Rep. Evans had a similar, but slightly different, slant: “I think individual legislators need to be strong in letting their colleagues know about the issues in their districts. If they are successful in that certain common themes will arise after bills are introduced so it becomes clear that the issues of concern in one district are similar in others and common cause can be seen. So, there is coordination in that way.”
That works for local issues, but what about for statewide issues. Sen Evans’ argument would be that the combination of local issues, when shared by multiple districts, ultimately become “statewide” concerns. Sen. Green has a somewhat different view: “That’s why you have the Executive Branch. It’s up to the Chief Executive to set the agenda, and you either like the priorities being set and you re-hire him or you don’t and you fire him.” So, in one view statewide coordination comes from the bottom, and in the other it comes from the top.
What are the barriers to business success in Hawaii?
Sen. Green: “Extreme bureaucracy. It’s horrible in Hawaii with so many businesses caught in a slow process with systems that in some cases are archaic. I’m basically a private sector guy, and I agree with others who say there needs to be less regulation and expedited processes.”
Rep. Evans also touched on the audience to perceptions of barriers: “I think you need to look at who is making a complaint about barriers. Sure, to someone who is coming from another state who is not used to the way things are done locally, it may look confusing, and they may want to operate in the way they are used to. They may complain about us forcing them to play by our rules and want a more level playing field. But that’s not giving credence to local people who know the rules and who can play by them. I think our greatest barrier is that we’re only 1.4 million people and there may not be sufficient customer traffic for a business to be able to survive. I also think that business people in Hawaii need to be flexible and ready to change courses in their businesses as circumstances change. If there are frustrations or barriers that get in the way of that, that’s something I, and other legislators, need to know about, so we can do something about them.”
On to their individual legislative priorities. Sen. Green’s obviously being health care. “Health care partnerships are inevitable and we need to be sensible about them and ready for them. I also think the state would benefit from having Centers of Excellence, with specific centers focusing on specific conditions, to help us cut down on expensive redundancy. Additionally, with 51 percent of people on the Big Island getting Medicaid, I think we need to reform Medicaid to make sure we’re paying for the right services.”
A key issue for Rep. Evans this session is invasive species. “As I travel to meetings around the country it is apparent that all states have these, and many introduced species aren’t bad. It’s when they start having an impact on quality of life that they elevate themselves to ‘invasive’, so we not be using our terminology correctly. I think we need to be better and quicker at identification and quicker at our response to introduced species. It needs to become the norm that it is everyone’s responsibility to maintain our quality of life.”
Thanks to Sen. Green and Rep. Evans.
With our next workshop, “How to Start a Business in Hawaii,” we are experimenting with holding that on a Saturday, Jan 28, so more people can attend. Register at www.hisbdc.
Hawaii SBDC Network is funded in part through Cooperative Agreement No # SBAHQ-13-B-0048/0001 with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.