As the state legislative session nears its midpoint next week, the two leaders of the Hawaii House and Senate offered some assessments Wednesday that included uncertainty over how to provide residents with tax relief and charge tourists fees that benefit the environment.
House Speaker Scott Saiki and Senate President Ron Kouchi also offered more enthusiastic views to replace Aloha Stadium as quickly as possible and support for Gov. Josh Green’s second nominee to lead the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The two leaders shared their thoughts on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s livestream show “Spotlight Hawaii.”
One major insight offered was about the prospect of lawmakers legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana this year.
Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) said he expects a bill to make this change will receive 20 or more affirmative votes from the 25-member Senate on Tuesday. But Saiki (D, Ala Moana-Kakaako-Downtown) said he has advised key House committee chairs to hold off on passing such legislation in favor of using time over the summer, after the session ends, to craft a more comprehensive bill that addresses law enforcement concerns and the issue of federal restrictions.
Regarding bills pending at the Legislature that would institute a fee paid by tourists to help offset their impact on Hawaii’s natural resources, general support exists in the House and
Senate for the concept championed by Green. But agreement on how to implement the fee isn’t yet clear.
Saiki said he is neutral on the best approach among different ones in pending bills. However, he also said it is important in his view to go with an app-based system that uses phone location technology.
Kouchi expressed some doubt for one approach being pursued to have personnel at state parks collect such fees, calling that a “daunting challenge” that could make paying such fees more of an honor system.
Another big issue at the Legislature with significant uncertainty is how to provide Hawaii residents with tax relief.
Green’s main proposal is to overhaul Hawaii income tax regulations via a bill that would boost all Hawaii income tax bracket thresholds while also increasing the standard deduction, the personal exemption and three tax credits among other things to provide households with around $2,000 or more in annual savings.
The state Department
of Taxation estimates the cost of the measure will be $313 million in the next fiscal year, and this would grow annually by around $20 million to reach $417 million in fiscal year 2029. Green said the state, which has a roughly $2 billion financial surplus, can afford the cost.
Kouchi said, “We’re not so sure.”
Generally, Kouchi and Saiki said they have a good working relationship with the new governor, who took office in December and spent 14 years as a state representative and senator before he became lieutenant governor in 2018.
Kouchi and Saiki also said Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, a former senator, has been a good part of the governor’s team working effectively with the Legislature.
One area of recent discord between Green and some lawmakers was a 4-1 vote by the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs to recommend against confirming former Honolulu City Council Chair Ikaika Anderson as Green’s pick to lead DHHL. Anderson withdrew his nomination after the vote, and Green recently nominated Kali Watson to succeed Anderson, who remains DHHL director on an interim basis.
Watson, who led DHHL from 1995 to 1998 and later became a nonprofit affordable-housing developer, drew positive comments from Saiki and Kouchi.
“I think Kali Watson is going to be a good director,” Saiki said, noting that confirming Cabinet leadership positions is the purview of the Senate.
Kouchi said he met with Watson on Monday and is optimistic that if Watson is confirmed then DHHL will have a good leader as the agency works to spend
$600 million appropriated by lawmakers last year to serve more beneficiaries at a time when roughly 28,700 are on a waitlist for homesteads.
“He outlined a clear plan,” Kouchi said. “I’m optimistic that if confirmed, he will be able to do the job of putting beneficiaries in homes, or develop the rental units for those who desire rental opportunities as opposed to home ownership.”
Both Kouchi and Saiki said they support Green in proceeding with redevelopment of Aloha Stadium as soon as possible, and said $350 million appropriated last year, after a similar prior appropriation several years ago, needs to be enough to deliver a new facility despite inflation.
“That’s our budget,” Saiki said. “We need to work within that dollar amount.”
Said Kouchi, “I certainly share the speaker’s concerns that we work on budget.”
One cost estimate for a new roughly 30,000-seat stadium last year was $440 million. State officials in charge of the project have long intended to have a private developer or developers share in the cost to produce a new stadium, in part by offering development rights for residential and commercial use surrounding a new stadium to create a New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District approved by the Legislature several years ago.
Green recently claimed that House and Senate leadership disagree over how to proceed, with the Senate position being to seek developers for a new stadium and surrounding projects concurrently while the House sought to initially proceed only with a new stadium.
Saiki said there really isn’t a divide in the House and Senate with regard to Aloha Stadium, and Kouchi said a new stadium will have to be produced on budget before developers will be interested in surrounding projects that include affordable housing next to the city’s rail line.
“It is important to get going,” Kouchi said. “Every day the cost will go up.”
