"Progress Requires Persistence"
Thank you Majority Caucus Leader Todd and Minority Leader Matsumoto.
As the 2025 Session of the Thirty Third Legislature concludes, I'm filled with a sense of gratitude, pride, and relief. I'm grateful to all of you for entrusting me with the responsibility of being your Speaker of the House and for your support, patience, and understanding. It has been an incredible privilege and challenge.
I'm proud of what we've accomplished by working together and living our values…outlined in the coasters that Minority Leader Matsumoto passed out on opening day.
And I'm relieved because we made it to today, with nine new members, six first-time chairs, a brand-new leadership team—and we did it!
Mahalo to the freshman class for your contributions this session and for the great staff appreciation event yesterday. Loved the effort, the energy, and engagement!
I want to give a shout out to our new committee chairs. You worked hard and found creative ways to get your bills past the finish line. And to our veteran chairs, your dedication and commitment is very much appreciated. I wish the public could see the late evenings of work, the piles of reports and testimony you read, and the work that goes into the passage of each and every bill.
To my leadership team and staff: You all stepped up and supported me and the entire body in so many ways. You have all exceeded my expectations.
To my office staff Nick, Ben, Wren, Frank, Alan, and Wes. You're all amazing to work with and I can't thank you enough for your dedication.
Finally, let's all please thank Chief Clerk, Sergeant, Communications, and Research offices, print shop, custodial staff, LRB, and individual offices for their support this legislative session. We couldn't have done it without you!
Progress – requires – persistence. On Opening Day I shared some of the Majority Caucus' 20-year vision. Today, as we close this productive Session, I celebrate the progress we have made towards implementing that vision by highlighting just a few of this year's major accomplishments:
We took major steps towards ensuring that our ‘aina, our lands, and wai, our waters, are clean, productive, and well-managed. We supported Governor Green's efforts to create a "green fee" by passing a modest change to the transient accommodation tax that will raise over $80 million a year. Those monies will be used to protect, manage, and restore Hawaiʻi's natural resources, including native forests, native plants and animals, aquatic resources, coastal lands, and freshwater resources; to mitigate the impacts of climate change on our natural and built environment, and to address beach erosion and other impacts on our visitor industry.
We have set our keiki up for success by having access to a quality education and career pathways. We supported Lt. Governor Luke's initiative by expanding the Preschool Open Doors Program and by adding 108 positions for public pre-k. We enhanced programs to provide paid internships to our high school and college students that will allow our students to gain experience in critical need areas such as healthcare, education, STEM, and the building trades. We supported Summer Learning Programs and recurring funds for deferred maintenance in our public schools. And we expanded free school meal coverage to students so they can learn.
We prioritized affordable housing for our residents and families by providing $200 million to the Rental Housing Revolving Fund, Tier 1 and Tier 2, which means that we can build more housing for working families in Hawai‘i . Many public housing projects are at the end of their useful life. We allocated $68 million to begin work to rebuild five public housing projects into higher density, mixed-income housing. We added $89 million in funding for ‘Ohana Zone and Kauhale programs to ensure we are building and operating medical respite, supportive housing, and Kauhale for our homeless throughout the State.
We ensured our residents and families are healthy and thriving by significantly increasing funding, $248 million, for the Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation to improve and expand services in our rural communities. We created positions for Certified Community Mental Health Centers in all counties and re-established the State Oral Health Program to address oral health disparities. Ambulance services were expanded on Maui, North Kona, and Moloka‘i. And we approved significant funding for Home Community-based Services for our vulnerable residents to live independently.
We worked toward diversifying our economy by continuing to fund Manufacturing, Small Business Innovation Research, and Accelerator Grants. And we provided funding to expand our Healthcare Workforce.
We made a strong commitment to uplifting our local farmers and agriculture industry and strengthening food security by adding funding for the Irrigation Systems, slaughterhouse, and food hubs. We established the Farm to Foodbank Program to provide food insecure families with nutritious locally-grown produce.
We laid the groundwork for increased biosecurity by transitioning the Department of Agriculture into the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. We appropriated over $26 million for biosecurity and added 44 positions. We approved funding for specific responses to Little Fire Ants, Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, and other invasive species.
We protected public safety by increasing reentry services to connect offenders with community-based services. This is an important commitment to preventive measures that will help reduce recidivism. We allocated $30 million towards upgrading our correctional facilities, fully understanding the need to incorporate mental health and substance abuse treatment in the new paradigm.
Additionally, we passed a bill that will ease prosecution of illegal fireworks, added positions for fireworks enforcement, and extended the work of the Illegal Fireworks Task Force.
We made great strides in increasing the disaster resilience of our communities. We fully funded the office of the state fire marshal, clarified roles and responsibilities, and its organizational structure. We added 22 positions and allocated resources to the Division of Forestry and Wildlife to enable them to better manage forest landscapes, reduce the likelihood of wildfire, and aid in emergency response. We also appropriated funds to State DOT to clear flammable brush, establish firebreaks, and identify alternative evacuation routes.
Other notable achievements, include:
1. Fully funding the State's portion of the Maui Wildfire Settlement Trust fund;
2. Authorizing electric utility securitization for wildfire mitigation, and framework for a liability cap;
3. Giving the Judiciary funding for judges, permanent women's and outreach courts;
4. Stabilizing funding for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts;
5. Setting aside $50 million in funds to nonprofits impacted by federal funding cuts;
6. Making the Safe Space for Youth Pilot permanent;
7. Making homelessness programs, Housing First and First-to-Work, permanent;
8. Funding a pre-nursing pathway program and a bachelor of Science Nursing degree at UH Maui College;
9. Increasing the cigarette tax to pay for the UH Cancer Research Center;
10. Funding for dementia and Alzheimer's research;
11. Establishing surfing as an interscholastic sport;
12. And last but not least designating the first Friday in May of each year as "Laulau Day".
Wow…now you can see why I gave this chamber high marks for our work this session. We have made progress on many aspects of our 20-year vision. Because you have pushed bold ideas forward, you have been persistent, and you have all preserved. At the beginning of session we committed to serving with aloha, a willingness to collaborate, and with mutual respect in resolving differing views. I thank you for honoring that commitment.
And you did this against the backdrop of an uncertain economic outlook, a tumultuous global market, and challenging and changing federal policies. These policies will likely require us to return to a special session at some point this year, so please plan your life around the possible dates.
In the meantime, I know that you will all be out in your communities, addressing the needs of your constituents, serving on and leading working groups, scheduling informational briefings and site visits, learning from other communities and other states, and crafting legislation that you are passionate about for next year. While we end this legislative session, we all know the work of all members continues throughout the year.
But please give yourself a break, reacquaint yourself with your family and island, and congratulate yourself for a job well done!
I wish everyone a restorative and productive interim!
