Hawai‘i Island delegation discusses priorities for upcoming State Legislature session

With the 33rd Hawaiʻi State Legislature to begin Wednesday, three Big Island lawmakers who sit on the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee say their priority is to ensure residents’ receive the basic needs of health care, food and housing amid looming federal cutbacks.

“This year, our budget committees are focused on safeguarding funding for critical services including assistance programs, transportation and emergency response, while ensuring the state is prepared to absorb or mitigate federal reductions without compromising services —especially for rural and Neighbor Island communities,” said Sen. Majority Leader Kanuha, who represents communities in Kona, Ka‘ū and Volcano.

The 2026 regular session begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the State Capitol in Honolulu, with the Senate and House of Representatives meeting in their respective chambers.

Richards, who sits on the Senate Ways and Means Committee with fellow Big Island lawmakers Kanuha and Sen. Lorraine Inouye, said the state budget is $19 to $20 billion per year, with half of the money coming from federal funding and the other half from state taxes.

“The federal is so all over the board,” Richards said. “In order to make plans, you have to have a sense of what resources will be available, and we don’t know.”

At the end of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers approved $200 million if they needed to “backstop social services.” Richards also said $50 million was allocated to support local nonprofits facing federal funding cuts

Richards, a rancher from South Kohala who represents North Hilo, Hāmākua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikōloa and North Kona communities, is looking at these basic needs through an agriculture lens, including supporting measures to remove the general excise tax on local food.

“If we can do that, we’re reducing the cost of living while helping agriculture,” he said.

Richards eventually would like to make school lunch free for everybody in public schools.

“Over 60% of our kids aren’t sure they’re going to get dinner, and that’s atrocious,” Richards said.

His biggest concern is the children who are going hungry, citing a recent report from the Hawaiʻi Food Bank that revealed 40% of households in Hawai‘i County are not sure if they’ll have dinner on a daily basis.

The report also said the fastest-growing demographic of people using food banks in Hawai‘i is military families.

Richards plans to refine Duke’s Law, which was established to help individuals who are victims of agricultural crimes. The law took affect in 2025 and has already seen success after a cow was reported stolen and returned to its home on a Hāmākua Coast ranch.

Richards is looking at introducing a volunteer force to back up law enforcement, with a type of pilot program starting on Kaua‘i.

West Hawai‘i lawmakers Rep. Nicole Lowen, Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, along with Kanuha, are committed to securing funding for a new medical facility in North Kona.

During a press conference on Dec. 3, Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green announced his support for a new private-public partnership for the construction of a 50,000-square-foot medical facility to house doctors’ offices and outpatient services. It is being developed by leaders at the Queen’s Health Systems on O‘ahu and Kona Community Hospital.

Green has proposed $50 million in General Obligation funds in his proposed budget.

The new medical facility is meant to be a companion to the new $400 to $500 million hospital that Queen’s plans to build off of Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway near Costco.

Kanuha is working to modernize health care and mental health services on Hawai‘i Island with a focus on expanding provider capacity, strengthening oversight and accountability, modernizing insurance and liability frameworks, and addressing the specific health needs of rural communities, including Volcano.

Inouye is against Act 96, which charges Transient Accommodations Tax to the cruise lines saying they already pay millions of dollars to the State Department of Transportation Harbors Division.

She plans to introduce a bill that would reduce the tax charge on cruise ship fares by applying the 11% rate only to the cabin cost instead of a cruise’s total base price, and that would be for only the days a ship is in port.

Inouye said this will drive cruise ticket prices up for potential passengers by $300 to $400.

Inouye, who represents Hilo, Pauka‘a, Papaikou and Pepe‘ekeo communities, also submitted a bill that would increase the penalties for any person who violates state laws relating to the display of billboards or any outdoor advertising device.

The measure specifically notes advertising on utility poles as problematic has it creates waste when the sign deteriorates and results in maintenance costs to the pole itself. “These illegal postings can obstruct drivers’ sightlines, contribute to distracted vehicular behavior, and create major safety hazards,” the bill states.

Inouye said lawmakers are moving forward to create the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority, designated for the master planning of the redevelopment of the Waiākea Peninsula, which includes iconic Banyan Drive in Hilo.

Right now, Inouye said they are working on putting out requests for proposals for companies to do the redevelopment.

Inouye is also working on returning the Naniloa Golf Course, which is near the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo, to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The hope is that by returning it to the state, it can be developed as a small commercial venture and a space for the Hawaiian community to hold cultural events, including for the annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival.

Lowen, who chairs the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection and sits on the Committee on Agriculture and Commerce and Consumer Protection, said she’d like to get funding to study if Hawai‘i Island has available geothermal resources outside of Puna Geothermal Venture.

“I think that’s a question that really needs to be answered so that we can determine what’s next for the state’s energy policy,” said Lowen, who represents Kailua-Kona, Honokōhau, Kalaoa, Pu‘uanahulu, Puakō and a portion of Waikōloa.

“If there are geothermal resources available, we need to start talking about whether it’s possible to develop those,” she said. “It would be really beneficial in terms of resilience, energy independence and bringing bills down.”

When asked if there are any bills to address the Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in her district, Lowen said she wasn’t personally bringing bills forward, but has seen measures that are more statements condoning the federal operations.

With ICE being a federal agency, Lowen said the state doesn’t have a lot of power to step in, adding: “Of course, I don’t like what’s happening.”

“Sometimes the public appreciates feeling their sentiments echoed back from their leaders, but there are concerns about whether we can’t have a substantive impact, how much do we want to make ourselves as a state, a target for losing funding,” Lowen said.

Rep. David Tarnas said the House will be considering bills that would require ICE officers to have a badge and not to be masked.

Tarnas, who represents Hāwī, Hala‘ula, Waimea, Makahālau, Waiki‘i, Waikoloa, Kawaihae and Māhukona communities, said: “I would also like to include a bill that lowers the potential sentence for misdemeanors to 364 days, because under the federal government’s approach to this, if anybody has got a sentence of a year or more, then that is grounds for deportation.”

With a similar action being taken in California, Tarnas said he thinks it’s a good idea so immigrants caught up in the system aren’t immediately deported.

After years of presenting a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana to adults but has gone nowhere, Tarnas will be presenting a measure that would go directly to the people and allow them to vote about the issue as a constitutional amendment.

“That would require a two-thirds majority, both in the House and Senate, so it’s a high bar,” Tarnas said. “But I think it’s something that we should pursue.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and allow for more opportunities for research and access to CBD, a compound in the cannabis plant that is linked to pain relief, anxiety reduction, and sleep aid.

Tarnas also wants to focus on Hawaiian Affairs this session, supporting infrastructure development and building homes for Native Hawaiians. He wants to work on a bill that would provide a dependable and recurring appropriation for the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, to enable the continuation of work that was started with a previous $600 million appropriation.

Tarnas said the department will need an additional $60 million a year in funding to start building the homes.

Rep. Chris Todd, who is chairing the House Finance Committee, said he has a broader responsibility to help manage the state budget.

Todd, who represents Hilo, Keaukaha, Orchidlands Estate, Ainaloa, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, portions of Kurtistown and Kea‘au, was asked about updates about the Puna Mauka and Puna Makai studies for Keaʻau-Pāhoa Road, or Highway 130. The said those studies are still ongoing.

“No one wants to see another study,” he said. “And I understand the frustration. But because of the size of these projects, in order for us to trigger federal funding for these projects, which would run in the hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure likely, we need to complete these studies so that we can actually bring in that federal money.”

The studies for the alternative routes are meant to help alleviate the district’s longstanding traffic congestion and address the need for another evacuation route when natural disasters strike. 

Todd said he also is looking at presenting measures that would address making incremental improvements to Highways 130 and 11. Those include prioritizing roundabouts, contraflow issues and traffic management while they wait for the results of the studies to come back.

Other representatives representing the Big Island in the House are Rep. Greggor Ilagan, Rep. Jeanné Kapela, Rep. Sue Keohokapu Lee Loy and Rep. Matthias Kusch.

Joy San Buenaventura is the fourth senator representing Hawai‘i Island in the Senate.

Floor proceedings will be broadcast live online. The House session will air on the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives YouTube channel, and the Senate session will air on the Hawaiʻi State Senate YouTube channel.