Name on ballot:

Corey Rosenlee

Running for:

State House – District 39

Political party:

Democrat

Campaign website:

www.coreyrosenlee.com

Current occupation:

Teacher

Age:

51

Previous job history:

I have been a public school teacher throughout my professional career. I also served as President of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association from 2015 until 2021.

Previous elected office, if any:

I have never held legislative office, but currently serve on the ‘Ewa Neighborhood Board and was previously elected to serve as President of HSTA.

Please describe your qualifications to represent the people in your district.

In 2015, I was elected to be the President of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association, representing 20,000 active and retired teachers. As President of HSTA, one of my top goals was to give our keiki the schools they deserve and end Hawai’i’s chronic teacher shortage. For years, some of our most vulnerable students have been denied access to a high-quality education. Working with partners from throughout the state, I fought hard to improve our public school system, so that our islands’ keiki could reach their highest potential.

I believe that Hawai’i needs real solutions. Our state is dealing with significant challenges. Our housing crisis is getting worse. Climate change is overheating our shores. Our public education system remains underfunded. Working families are struggling to make ends meet. Despite these hardships, however, I believe that we can achieve the common good for our island home. As a community, we can choose new leaders who will listen to the voices of their most vulnerable constituents and embrace the value of aloha for all.

What is the most-pressing issue facing residents in your district and how would you address the problem?

Our keiki are our future. Every dollar we invest in our children generates a significant return for our state in terms of economic power and social progress. Accordingly, I believe that we need to make children’s issues a top priority for our state, just as they are for my district.

I support enacting a paid family leave program, so that people facing family emergencies don’t have to choose between caring for their loved ones or sustaining their financial security. Furthermore, I believe we must fully fund public education to give our keiki a first-rate learning system.

I also support expanding tax credits for child care. Currently, the average annual cost of child care services in our state exceeds $13,000 per year. Finally, we should continue working toward universal preschool and make community college free for all Hawai’i residents, which would make academic excellence a priority from birth until adulthood and give community members the tools they need to maximize their potential.

What would you propose to be done at the state level to help residents cope with Hawaii’s high cost of living?

I fully support increasing the minimum wage to a living wage, passing paid family leave, and strengthening our state’s child care tax credit. Legislators should also take action to ensure that affordable housing is available for those most in need, rather than continuing to cater to the profits of developers.

We should also expand tax credits that benefit the working class, like the renters’ tax credit, while creating new revenue sources to fund essential services on which residents rely, like quality healthcare programs. .

Finally, we should implement creative initiatives to curb electricity costs by boosting access to programs that help working families pay their utility bills, while also sustaining our state’s investments in broadband initiatives that provide free internet access to local families.

What can the state Legislature do to help Hawaii home and condo owners with rising property insurance rates?

The wildfires on Maui have spurred insurance companies to reevaluate their risks in term of natural emergencies. Accordingly, we must respond by passing legislation to stabilize property insurance by authorizing the relevant state agencies to underwrite stopgap policies for natural emergency costs that private companies are not willing to cover.

Can Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy be diversified, and, if so, what can state government do to support the effort?

Singapore, an island nation with limited resources, knew that in order to improve their economy, the best investment that it could make was to educate its people. Hawai’i should do the same. I support universal preschool, fully funding our public education system, and joining the eight other states who have made college tuition-free. When we invest in the education of our people, they will create a more prosperous and sustainable future for Hawai’i.

What would you propose to help increase affordable housing in Hawaii?

Over the last few years, we have seen our housing prices skyrocket. As more and more property investors have taken homes away from local families, we have witnessed single-family residence prices soar past a million dollars, leaving hardworking families and their keiki behind.

I have a plan to change that. To begin, we should incentivize the counties to increase taxes on vacant homes and investment properties. In one county, real estate speculators own over 60 percent of condominiums and apartments, with 52 percent of homes being sold to nonresidents. By taxing vacant investment properties and raising conveyance taxes, we can generate the revenue we need to fund solutions to our state’s housing crisis.

Furthermore, lawmakers should work with our congressional delegation to seek funding for more on-base military housing, so that military families do not buy homes in local neighborhoods. We know that military housing subsidies are driving up our housing costs. It’s time to urge the military to address that.

Finally, we must fund our obligation to Hawaiian homeland beneficiaries. I am heartened that policymakers devoted $600 million to Hawaiian homesteads this session. Tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians remain on the waitlist, though, and we must continue our efforts to deliver the houses that they are owed.

What can state government do to better support and improve public education in Hawaii?

Hawai’i spends less on education than any other state, when total tax dollars are considered. We continue to face a teacher shortage because of low teacher pay and bloated class sizes. Our students are burdened with standardized tests, rather than enjoying real-life learning opportunities.

As a long-time teacher, I am committed to strengthening our school system. I will champion legislation to increase funding for public schools, raise teacher pay, lower class sizes, and repair deteriorating facilities.

I will also fight for education programs that develop the whole child. We should replace standardized tests with assessments that promote critical thinking and real-world problem-solving, and give additional resources to special needs students to ensure our most vulnerable children succeed.

Lastly, I believe we should invest in career and technical education opportunities that connect students with high-demand industries. Doing so not only provides students with future employment opportunities, but delivers the 21st Century workforce that our state will need to drive its economy forward.

Should the state continue to pursue building a replacement for Aloha Stadium in Halawa? Please explain.

I believe that the residents of Hawai’i deserve a high-quality venue to host entertainment options, as well as local events, like college and high school athletic events and high school graduation ceremonies. Yet, the new stadium district should not be constructed as a luxury development area. We already have plenty of resort communities in our state. Instead, we should use this as an opportunity to invest in affordable housing in a centralized location for working families, and seize the chance to match job creation with housing security.

Should members of the state Legislature have term limits like Honolulu’s mayor and City Council members?

Of the 51 members of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives who served in 2009, only 11 ran for reelection in 2022. Even fewer are doing so this year. For any institution, new ideas must be balanced with experience and institutional memory.

At the Legislature, it can take years for an idea to move forward. Laws also often need to be modified after being implemented to address unintended consequences that weren’t anticipated at the time of their passage.

While I support term limits for executive officials, creating term limits for local legislators is a reactionary response to the very real problem of political accountability, which can be better served by establishing a robust public funding program for local elections.

What reforms, if any, would you propose to make local government more transparent to the public?

During the pandemic, the Legislature began broadcasting all hearings and floor sessions, and implemented a remote testimony system.Hawai’i should continue these practices, which will support greater transparency and participation in the legislative process, especially from the neighbor islands, individuals who can’t afford to miss work or family responsibilities to testify and people living with disabilities.

Additionally, lobbyists who are paid $1,000 or more to represent for-profit businesses or other private clients should be required to provide an oral disclaimer about their compensation before testifying on their clients’ behalf.

Hawai’i must also pass laws that eliminate the influence of corporate money in our elections and political decision-making. This can be achieved by fully funding public elections, as Maine has done, thereby ending the overwhelming electoral advantage held by candidates who seek corporate campaign contributions.

Finally, we should create an independent ombudsman position within the Hawai’i State Ethics Commission to determine if legislators have conflicts of interest when introducing or voting on bills. If a conflict is found to exist, then legislators should recuse themselves from taking action on those proposals.

What will be your top priority if elected?

As I stated above, my top priority will be to invest in the well-being of our children. That means that I will advocate for a fully-funded public education system, paid sick and family leave programs, a more robust child care tax credit, universal preschool, and free community college to allow Hawai’i residents to pursue the dream of a higher education.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

I was born and raised in Hawai’i. My mom was a special education teacher at Wilson Elementary School and my dad was a social work professor at UH-Mānoa. Later, my father launched Adult Friends for Youth, a nonprofit organization that uplifts the needs of disadvantaged children who live in underserved communities. From them, I learned the value of public service, which I will carry with me into the halls of the State House.