Neil Abercrombie takes oath as Hawaii’s seventh governor at Iolani Palace’s coronation pavilion in December 2010. Native Hawaiian activists, unhappy the inauguration is on palace grounds, try to disrupt the ceremony with chants.

"When we do what we say we will do, we’ll restore confidence in our government — in our government and in ourselves," he proclaimed.

Just after being sworn-in, he releases money from the state’s hurricane relief fund to cover the cost of ending teacher furloughs on classroom instruction days and money from the rainy day fund for social-service programs. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle had withheld the money because of budget concerns.

» January

* Warning that the state was at risk of economic collapse, proposes spending cuts on public workers, welfare and health care for the poor, and new taxes on pensions, alcohol, soda and time shares to help balance the budget. "I will take full responsibility for our current situation, but with that responsibility comes an obligation to tell the truth," he said during his first State of the State address. "The truth is that our canoe, which is our beloved Hawaii, could capsize."

» February

* After the recommended cuts to public-worker benefits and a pension tax was attacked by labor and senior advocates, the governor tells reporters he was speaking for a "silent majority." "I am the governor," he rumbled. "I’m not your pal. I’m not your counselor. I am the governor. And I am determined to be truthful with everybody about what we have to do together to survive."

* Signs a civil-unions bill into law. His predecessor Linda Lingle had vetoed the bill. "E Komo Mai: It means all are welcome," he said. "This signing today of this measure says to all of the world that they are welcome. That everyone is a brother or sister here in paradise."

» May

* The Legislature agrees to suspend a host of general-excise tax exemptions on business activities to balance the budget, rejecting most of the governor’s tax and spending cut suggestions.

* Responding to the rejection of a pension tax, Abercrombie singles out AARP Hawaii, which had led the opposition. "People are going to catch on to what the AARP is pretty soon, and I’m going to help them do that," he said. "I mean, the AARP is a business. It’s essentially a front for insurance companies."

» June

* At a press conference on early childhood education, the governor condemns the money the state spends annually on the NFL’s Pro Bowl. The game, he said, "happens to be an easy target because it is so stupid. You can’t do things like give $4 million to a $9 billion football industry and not give money to children."

* Asks Lingle appointees to state boards and commissions, including the Public Utilities Commission and the Land Use Commission, to resign so he could select people who share his "New Day" vision.

* Signs a bill into law that raised the retirement age and adjusted benefits for future public workers in the Employees’ Retirement System, a significant move toward addressing the state’s unfunded liability.

» July

* After talks with the Hawaii State Teachers Association break down, unilaterally imposes a "last, best and final" contract on public school teachers that included pay cuts.

» September

* Lawmakers, environmentalists and Native Hawaiians chafe after learning that Abercrombie used his emergency powers to suspend land use and environmental regulations to help clean up unexploded ordnance statewide and to relocate nene away from Lihue Airport.

» October

* Four key advisers — Amy Asselbaye, chief of staff; Andrew Aoki, deputy chief of staff; Josh Levinson, communications director; and Laurie Au, deputy communications director; — resign in frustration. The young advisers, who were instrumental during the governor’s campaign, often clashed with the governor’s older allies on policy and messaging.

* Praising the potential for redevelopment in Kakaako to provide housing in the urban core and deter sprawl, the governor backs a private project that would allow a developer to exceed height limits and build the state’s tallest high-rise.

* Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based firm, puts Abercrombie’s job approval rating at 30 percent, the lowest of any governor in the nation.

» December

* The Abercrombie administration announces a record $1.3 billion bond sale and a restructuring of state debt to help repair the financial damage of the recession. The governor, who claims he inherited a "fiscal nightmare" from Lingle, promises to replenish the state’s hurricane relief fund and rainy day fund.

» January

* In his second State of the State address, says the state had weathered the most difficult choices to balance the budget. And "by working together and through shared sacrifice, we have started to turn the corner. This past year has not been easy, but we have accomplished our purpose."

» February

* Announces he would not defend the state’s marriage law in a federal legal challenge from gay couples who contended it was unconstitutional. "My obligation as governor is to support equality under law," he said. "This is inequality, and I will not defend it." The state Department of Health, however, did defend the marriage law in a separate response.

» March:

* The Legislature gives final approval to a $200 million settlement between the state and the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs over former Crown Lands revenue. The governor, who watched the vote in the House gallery, calls the settlement "a great step forward."

* Describes his vision for Kakaako as an urban village where people can live, work, shop and play. "How do you address the question of not only where should we live, but how should we live in a 21st-century context?" he asked.

» May

* After a more productive legislative session, the governor addresses critics on the left who were concerned that he had strayed from his liberal roots on development, environmental and transparency issues. "Apparently you don’t know me very well at all," he said of his critics. "I have never been anybody’s rubber stamp. I’ve never been anybody’s reflection pool."

» June

* The state Land Use Commission, with the support of the Abercrombie administration, approves the Koa Ridge development project on farmland between Mililani and Waipio. Environmentalists had fought the project.

* The state Land Use Commission, with the backing of the Abercrombie administration, approves the Hoopili development project on prime farmland in Ewa. Environmentalists had objected to the project.

» September

* Defends the Public Land Development Corp. as a potential catalyst for partnerships with the private sector on modern schools, workforce housing, long-term care and early childhood education. He calls critics of the new agency, which was exempt from many land use regulations, the "usual suspects" who engaged in "conspiratorial hysteria."

» December

* Sierra Club Hawaii and Earthjustice file a lawsuit to try to block the state from enforcing new restrictions on solar tax credits. The governor counters that the environmentalists were attempting to protect "people who cheat."

* Abercrombie appoints Brian Schatz, his lieutenant governor, to replace the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The iconic Hawaii Democrat had sent a letter to the governor in the hour before he died urging him to appoint U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.

* Shan Tsutsui, the state Senate president, ascends to lieutenant governor.

» January

* Abercrombie indicates he would consider a repeal of the Public Land Development Corp. if lawmakers could not amend the law to satisfy public concerns.

* In his third State of the State address, the governor cautions against the "virus of absolutism" that he says infected politics.

» March

* The state and the Hawaii State Teachers Association agree on a new four-year contract that included pay raises tied in part to student performance.

» April

* Abercrombie signs a bill into law repealing the Public Land Development Corp., which never launched a single project.

* The Legislature agrees to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot asking voters whether to allow public money to be spent on private preschool, a critical element of the governor’s proposal to provide preschool to all of the state’s 4-year-olds.

» July

* Abercrombie signs a bill into law — backed by state Sen. David Ige — that put the state and counties on a path to address the unfunded liability in the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund.

» September

* Responding to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that legally married gay couples are entitled to federal benefits, the governor calls the Legislature into a rare special session to consider marriage equality.

» November

* Abercrombie signs a bill into law allowing gay couples in Hawaii to marry, making Hawaii the 15th state plus the District of Columbia to approve same-sex marriage. The law also includes protections for clergy and churches. The governor called the law the "epitome of the First Amendment in action."

» December

* Abercrombie announces that the state ended the previous fiscal year with an $844 million budget surplus, the largest in state history.

» January

* In his final State of the State address, declares that the state finally stood on solid financial ground after the recession.

» April

* Abercrombie, the city, the Trust for Public Land and Turtle Bay Resort announce a $48.5 million agreement on a conservation easement to protect 665 acres at the resort from development.

* Abercrombie signs a bill into law that weakened the governor’s power to shape the Hawaii Community Development Authority, essentially froze building height limits and expanded public-notice requirements on Kakaako development projects.

» May

* The Legislature approves the financing for the Turtle Bay conservation easement through a creative plan crafted by state Sen. Ige, Abercrombie’s Democratic primary rival. Many lawmakers, however, complained that the governor gave them little time to vet the deal.

* Abercrombie signs a bill into law that will increase the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by January 2018, up from $7.25 an hour. The tip credit will expand to 75 cents, up from 25 cents. Businesses will not be able to deduct the tip credit unless workers earn at least $7 an hour above the minimum wage, up from 50 cents. The governor had called for a minimum wage increase for the previous two years.

» July

* The Abercrombie administration reopens Kulani Correctional Facility on Hawaii island to help keep more prisoners from being sent to the mainland for incarceration. Lingle had closed the prison because of budget constraints.

* Abercrombie announces that the state ended the previous fiscal year with a $664.8 million budget surplus.

» November

* Voters reject the constitutional amendment that would have allowed public money to go toward private preschool.