During his first State of the State address, Gov. Josh Green said his high priority legislative and budget priorities are “housing, homelessness, the cost of living, climate, environment and mental health.”
“Business as usual won’t work anymore — there is simply too much on the line to accept the status quo,” Green said Monday to a joint session of the state Legislature. “Each day without action means another family forced to move to the mainland, another child sleeping on the street, another local business closing, and another precious natural resource put at risk.”
Noting it was his 49th day as the state’s chief executive, Green said his administration “has already begun to act with urgency since Day One.”
Green, a Big Island Democrat, used the first of his yearly addresses to lawmakers to propose “over $1 billion of new investment in housing.”
“These funds will be used to support major investments in the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to renovate and upgrade public housing units, to provide state rental subsidies to low-income families, and to boost financing for more affordable housing units through the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation,” he said. “We will also deliver on the Legislature’s commitment to fund the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.”
During last year’s session, lawmakers appropriated $600 million to the DHHL to develop housing, and the initiative was signed into law by Green’s predecessor, then-Gov. David Ige. There are about 28,700 Native Hawaiians, including about 10,650 on Hawaii Island, on a waiting list for DHHL parcels statewide. Many have been on that list for decades.
During his speech, Green paused, produced and signed an emergency proclamation relating to homelessness.
“As long as we are in a housing crisis, we will treat it like an emergency,” said Green.“… You’ll see us cutting red tape so we can provide housing as soon as possible.”
The intention of the emergency action, according to a statement from Green, is to speed construction of 12 kauhale, or tiny home villages, that he referred to in Monday’s address. Each kauhale projects would provide shelter for 100 to 150 homeless people.
The emergency period will continue through March 20, unless terminated or superseded by separate proclamation, whichever occurs first.
During his address, Green said a new kauhale at the Kukuiola Emergency Shelter and Assessment Center in Kailua-Kona is about to break ground.
“With 64 units, this new kauhale will meet the housing, social and health care needs of its future residents for years to come — all at a cost of approximately $8,000 per unit, about $500,000 in total,” he said.
Green, a physician, said it costs $322,000 a year to treat a person suffering from mental illness at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, Oahu.
“For less than the cost of keeping two people in such a hospital for one year, we can build an entire community of low-cost, permanent housing,” he said.
Green also told lawmakers Monday that giving tax breaks to people of all income levels would get money into the pockets of working families so they can pay for food, medicine and housing. He said the tax breaks would stimulate the economy because “every dollar” that goes to working families with limited assets and income would be spent immediately.
Green said every family of four could expect to get $2,000 in tax relief under his plan, while lower-income residents would get more.
“This plan makes sure every income bracket does a little better and directly lowers the cost of living for every single resident by keeping more money in our pockets for each taxpayer, especially those who are wrestling with survival,” Green said.
The proposal includes doubling the standard tax deduction and providing tax credits to families paying for child care, babysitters, after-school care and adult day care.
Green estimates the plan will lower state revenue by $312.7 million a year.
Senate President Ron Kouchi, a Democrat representing Kauai and Niihau, said after the speech that Green’s housing proposals were doable. He said spending more this year will ensure that the state has more affordable housing in the pipeline.
As for tax breaks, he said something on the scale of what Green proposed would be necessary “to have an impact,” considering how much inflation has affected residents. But ultimately he said what lawmakers do will depend on state tax revenue predictions submitted by the Council on Revenues.
State law requires the governor and lawmakers to draft their budgets based on the council’s revenue forecasts. The panel is expected to update its predictions in March.
The state began the year with a $1.9 billion surplus after the tourism industry bounced back strongly from the coronavirus pandemic.
Rep. Kyle Yamashita, a Maui Democrat who chairs the House Finance Committee, said lawmakers will have to look at the details of Green’s proposals to determine what the state can afford.
“I think it’s a good idea to be bold, as the governor said. But I think the devil’s always in the details … ,” he said. “Because the House has priorities. I’m sure the Senate has. And we’ll see how that all pencils out.”
Both Kouchi and House Speaker Scott Saiki, a Democrat, said they preferred to have tax credits targeted for those who need it, rather than people in all income brackets.
Saiki said he agreed it would be important to streamline regulations governing affordable housing construction. He said this could be done while also allowing for public participation in the process.
Kelii Akina, president and CEO of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a public policy think tank, said he couldn’t support all of Green’s proposals, “but there’s a lot of like.”
Akina was onboard with Green’s tax cuts, but said they also should include the elimination of the general excise tax on groceries and medical services to help families and make Hawaii a more attractive place for doctors to practice.
“That’s an opportunity to go bolder,” Akina said.
Green previously has stated he favored GET exemptions on food and medicine, but he mentioned neither in his speech Monday.
In addition, Akina was “not thrilled with the use of an emergency order” to address the housing crisis.
“We need long-term solutions that deal with the root causes, which primarily are too many land-use, zoning and other home-building-related regulations, as well as the glacial permitting systems of both the state and the counties,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.