Honolulu Weekly

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this session?
Helping sustainability through initiatives on agriculture was my biggest accomplishment. It was my pleasure to work with farmers in my district, write legislation to assist farmers, and get the legislation passed. Education is a key to working with stakeholders and legislators. I have many to thank for writing letters, visiting the state capitol, and providing information at key moments in the legislative process.

2. With which piece of 2009 legislation are you most proud to be affiliated and why?
SB1673 will change Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC). Our public health system of delivering healthcare was lacking accountability and transparency. Every year since I started, November 2002, HHSC was asking the Legislature to bail them o ut. I represent a district situated on the Big Island where HHSC has nuremerous facilities. I used every opportunity available to me to advocate for getting rid of HHSC as we know it, including public meetings, majority caucus meetings, and leadership meetings. I also spoke to individual legislators.

SB1673 authorizes a facility or regional health care system under the Hawaii health systems corporation to transition into a new legal entity; amends the maintenance of services requirements; authorizes criminal history record checks; amends corporation board membership; requires an annual internal audit of the management and operations of the corporation and regions.

3. What was the biggest disappointment of the session and how might a similar disappointment be prevented in the future?
I introduced a bill for a tax holiday. HB 82 would have created an annual exemption from general excise tax on purchase of: school supplies of less than $15 per item; computers, computer software, and computer supplies of less than $1,500 per purchas e; clothing of less than $100 per item; and books of less than $50 per item, made beginning on Wednesday of the last full week of July and ending in 5 days on the following Sunday.

It takes time to build consensus. In a time of revenue shortfalls it was difficult to introduce and build support for an idea which appeared to reduce revenues. I will continue my efforts to build support for this idea because I believe now is the time to support education, develop the workforce, and encourage consumers to buy.

4. Debating which issue turned out to be the biggest distraction from your priorities?
The biggest issue was the budget shortfall.

5. What’s one thing you wish voters better understood about you or the political process as a whole?
Right time, right place, right person(s) are the elements needed to deveop an idea; write a bill; and get it passed out of the legislature and approved by the Governor. I’m a firm believer a good idea will survive the test of time; so it may take 8 years to get a bill passed into law.