Gov. Green delivers speech focusing on housing, tourism, healthcare at annual Kauaʻi luncheon

At the 26th Annual Kaua’i Governor’s Luncheon on Tuesday in Lihuʻe, Gov. Josh Green discussed a wide range of issues affecting the Garden Isle, including Hawai’i’s healthcare system, regenerative tourism, short-term rentals, and housing.

About 200 people attended the Kauaʻi Chamber of Commerce’s event at the Kauaʻi Outrigger Beach Resort during which Green held a short Q&A following his speech.

In addition to learning that Green prefers salty over sweet snacks, and a garage party over a backyard luau, attendees received an update from the governor about Mauiʻs recovery from the Aug. 8, 2023, fires and other local and statewide efforts.

Regarding housing, Green discussed the state’s Kauhale Initiative to build homeless villages to help people transition off the streets and into long-term housing.

He said the state has a goal to build 20 or 21 of these villages within the next two years, with Kaua’i likely needing two of those Kauhales, Green said.  

“It’s again, completely at the desire of the community,” he said. “Because I’m aware that when you do essentially build a homeless village, it has an impact, whether you’re living nearby or people are going through tough times. Because most of our homeless individuals have either a traumatic brain injury or an addiction concern.”

Green was asked about the progress of his goal of creating 13,000 new affordable housing units throughout the state, which according to his office, are on track for completion by 2026.

Green said more than 10,800 housing units have been approved for public housing, including more than 4,000 in his first year in office.

“The challenge is we have to stay under the emergency rules in order to get some of those approvals done,” he said. 

On July 17, 2023, Green signed his first Emergency Proclamation Relating to Housing, followed by an Emergency Proclamation related to affordable housing on Sept. 15 and a second Emergency Proclamation Relating to Affordable Housing on Oct. 24.

Green thanked State Rep. Luke Evslin for his work on Senate Bill 3202, which aims to increase housing inventory and create smaller, more affordable homes by allowing homeowners to build up to two additional dwelling units (ADUs) on their properties. Green signed the legislation into law in May.

Green credited Kauaʻi Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami, who attended the event, for regulating short term rentals on Kaua’i.

“You really dealt with the short term rental challenges that exist,” Green said. “But on Maui and Oʻahu, especially, they’ve run rampant over the decades.”

Green recently signed Senate Bill 2919, which gives the counties greater authority to regulate short term rentals. 

Green also was asked about the potential economic benefits of ocean-based industries including fish farming, seafood production and marine technology. Green called these industries “an opportunity for growth,” noting the state aims to double its food production by 2030 and offer tax breaks for those providing local food.  

“We should really work to exceed that goal, frankly,” he said. “We should then be giving people, tax credits and tax breaks if they’re producing food for schools, for the workforce, for large institutions that exist.”

Green also continued to discuss his new regenerative tourism approach, after recently signing Senate Bill 2659 into law in June. The bill, led by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, aims to reduce the visitor industry’s overall impact and reduce the state’s dependence on tourism.

When asked what the real life implications of the new model could be for small businesses, Green said he did not know.

“That’s a tough question,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how the waves and the domestic demographics of tourism will play out for local business, for small business. I do think that we are smart to get ahead of it, though, before we end up getting into a place like we are in Barcelona, where they’re actually protesting visitors — where there’s conflict with visitors.”

In addition to being asked about tackling workforce challenges and improving education, it was clear that Maui’s wildfire recovery was a major focus for Green.  

When asked if he had anything else he wanted to mention, Green described a “volatile situation” on Maui and said people should “expect the next two years to be about building.” 

“This next two years will be the rebuilding of Maui,” he said. “So you’re going to see a lot of construction, you’re going to see those transitional houses, and you’re probably going to see us expedite permits for Kamehameha Schools to build a whole new village there.”

During his speech, Green detailed the ongoing recovery efforts and costs following the wildfires on Maui a year ago that destroyed more than 2,200 structures and displaced about 12,000 Lahaina and Kula residents.

He highlighted a $4 billion settlement announced by his office earlier this month, which resolves thousands of disputes against property owners and Hawaiian Electric.

“No one’s done that ever,” he said. “We did it within a year for $4 billion.”

In total, he said the recovery will cost $13 billion – which includes federal, state and county money, as well as insurance payouts. 

“That was $13 billion,” he said. “Now, of course, tragedies happen. Accidents happen, even mistakes happen. But that’s what happens if you don’t deal seriously with climate change … If we don’t have some kind of ability to deal with the impact of climate, we’re gonna see this again.”

During his speech, Green noted several of his administration’s efforts since first being elected governor in 2022.

He emphasized the state’s dedication to healthcare, calling Hawai’i “the health state.” Green, who also is a medical doctor, cited the Hawai’i Prepaid Health Care Act, a policy dating back 50 years ago, as evidence of the state’s commitment to health and longevity.

The 1974 state law requires employers to provide health insurance to employees working at least 20 hours per week. 

“And what has that done? It means that we have the longest lived people because people get access to basic primary care,” Green said.

But he added there remains health disparities, especially in Native Hawaiian communities. He discussed the importance of “social health” and tackling community wellbeing and homelessness through a range of programs including through the Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program, investments in medical infrastructure, the Green affordability plan, and the Kauhale Initiative.

In order to protect against future wildfires, hurricanes, tsunamis or other extreme weather events, Green described a proposed climate impact fee, where individuals that visit the state would be required to pay $25 or preferably $50. Senate Bill 304, which aimed to implement that fee, stalled in the State Legislature this year.

“That goes directly to prevention and to protect our people and to help us get through these crises, rather than having to deal with them as we have for this past year,” he said. 

The chamber event included a rendition of a Christian Hawaiian hymn from former Kauaʻi mayors Mufi Hannemann, who currently serves as president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association, and Councilman Bernard Carvalho.

It also was attended by a range of government officials, including the Kauaʻi County Council, representatives from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority and the Kauaʻi Visitors Bureau, including its Managing Director Sue Kanoho, and University of Hawai’i staff, including UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos and Women’s Basketball Head Coach Laura Beeman.

There were also representatives from the Kaua’i Fire Department, Kaua’i Police Department, and several local sponsors and businesses, including Bangkok Happy Bowl, Leongs Roadhouse and Two Frogs Hugging furniture store. 

The speech made by Green is available to read below:

What I’d like to do today is, I have a few slides just to riff from. But I just wanted to share where we are as a state and what we’re about. 

It’s been about two years since you gave me the blessing of being able to serve in this role. And I have to say, it’s things that you never expected to happen, have happened. And so we look at where we are today, we are a tighter state than ever before. 

As I travel our state and the country, people say, the first thing out of their mouth on the mainland is, ʻAre you guys okay? Have you begun to heal?’

And I tell them that after the Maui wildfire, which happened essentially one year and about 16 days ago, I tell them, ʻYes, we are healing. We are absolutely healing.’ That they were so aware of that moment, and there is already this extraordinary sense of beauty here in Hawaii, which we all know. We’ve all had these experiences with friends across the country.  

But when they saw the people of Hawaiʻi pulled together after that disaster, I think that they saw something new.  They, for the first time, began to understand what we mean when we use the word ‘Aloha’ for the loved ones that we have.  

And all the people that stepped up. All the small businesses like you guys. All the international support we got from Japan and Korea, and everywhere and from the mainland. It was extraordinary, and they sensed it and saw us, and I saw the bravery of people during that disaster. And that has changed the way people look at Hawaii, making us even more special to the rest of the world, knowing what we’ve gone through. 

So, I’m grateful to have been a small part of that, but it was the people on the ground, with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), with HEMA (Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency), with all of  the first responders, with all the families coming together and all the resources. So I’m going to share some of the details of that.

‘The health state’

So amazingly, that’s where we started with our term. But I would be remiss if I didn’t talk first a little bit about just what I feel we are, which is the health state.

And many people will talk about where our strengths are. We have many strengths, and tourism is one of them. And family, people, even are starting to know the word ‘ohana,’ actually. But what I will say, and that goes back 50 years. In 1974, we passed a bill that’s called the Prepaid Health Act, which means everyone gets health insurance if they can work more than half time for three consecutive weeks.

And what has that done? It means that we have the longest lived people because people get access to basic primary care. And they were smart enough in our families to get their diabetes checked and their blood pressure checked. We have disparities still. Our Hawaiian community …  We still have a 10 year gap in lifespan. But we have the longest lived people in our country. 

And it’s because we have a commitment to health. And I’m grateful that we have that. But there’s a next level that we can take it to, and we can look in that triangle, it’s something we want everyone to consider.

None of this is truth. This is ideas that I’ve accumulated with you over these last 20 years. Social Health is a new kind of health. It is the ALICE family that may not have enough money to pay for their generic medication, and why we have to be better with them. 

It’s the young mother who has been wrestling with abuse at home and wants to work or can’t, and therefore she can’t get her mammogram or can’t care for her mother because she’s too afraid to come into the house. 

It’s all of these things in that spot – the community health centers. It’s beating back poverty. It’s dealing with homelessness. That is social health, and this is the next way we go, and we will leave the country just like we did back in the early ‘70s, from when I was a little guy, very little guy, and it’s where we go to lead the nation now.

And I want you to know I’m so grateful for those of you who step into social programs and run those organizations, fight for grants and participate in our great hospitals here, because that is going to be another part of our legacy, and we saw that social health on full display, and the challenges when all of Maui was disrupted. Because even though it was Lahaina, it was the broader Maui and then those who had to leave. 

[Note: Due to a technical issue, approximately ten minutes of Green’s speech is missing at this point, where he continues to discuss health care and housing.]

‘What Maui will do is it will rebuild’ 

And of course, we had some very tough years in between there (during the pandemic). We are finally seeing international travelers return.

However, we’re down about 23%, 24% because Maui’s going through what it’s going through. Now that will be handled. We will be healthy as an economy because what Maui will do is it will rebuild.

It will rebuild to the tune of several billion dollars, and we will see that. So people who are construction and engineering and architecture and all the services around that. That’s going to fill in that puka [gap]. 

So we’re actually doing okay. But it requires constant attention, and we have to be tender to the visitors. And we also have to, we have to hold them accountable.

You know, right before I got sworn in, a lot of people were telling me, hey, you know, maybe 10 million people (visiting annually) is a little too much. Maybe we need a different kind of visitor, and so we’re trying to figure that out. 

And we therefore encourage people through health tourism or ecotourism, or other tourism that will be healthy for us, but will not change our way of life. And I will tell you, it is the hardest dance to have. 

I don’t sing and dance like Mufi Hannemmann and Bernard Carvalho, I can’t get those guys to come to Hawaii in that way. And I tell you, sometimes I wonder if we’re going to be able to, you know, keep our family, friends and family employed because we’re up against the rest of the world. However, like I said earlier, people see Hawaii in a new light. 

They see that we are, yes, open for business, but also that we were so compassionate and caring through both Covid – where we rebounded extraordinarily well because of the work that the mayors and some of us did – but also the way people saw us as a state.

And so I expect us to have a very, very good future, but a little bit more diverse future going forward. 

The one year memorial. On Aug. 8, when the fire broke out, we lost 104 loved ones. We list 102, but there are two people missing. And it’s something that we never, ever imagined. We’ve been through fires before in different parts of our state, but we’ve never been through fires in an era where climate is so impactful.

On that day, 74 mile per hour winds whipped red hot coals from the fire up mauka, down through the town. And that’s what ultimately people will read in the reports that everyone is eager to see. 

That’s exactly what it was. There was a fire, of course, that started when power lines went down and the firefighters were brave and stopped it. But fires don’t always stay down. They do when there’s not 74 mile per hour winds on the back end of a hurricane, and that’s what we’re dealing with. 

Twelve thousand of our residents were displaced and in pure, true Hawaii form, everyone got a roof over their head inside of 13 days … Everyone got a hotel room. Which if you think about it is pretty extraordinary, no one has ever done that before. 

Four thousand people were able to find homes with their loved ones. Different parts of our state. 7,997 individuals ended up in hotels for the better part of a year until we could convince some people to change their short term rentals over to rentals for good – long term rentals.

They started to build long term housing. We started to build transitional housing. We’re building 1,044 transitional houses right now, rapidly. You’ve seen probably some pictures of people moving into them, and that’s how we get through this. But look at that. 3,900 properties were destroyed. 561 individual families who owned and lived in their homes were the victims of that destruction.

The other people were renters, but they also suffered terribly. And so that’s why, between them, and the 8,000 businesses in that area, we had to step in. And this is what the actual recovery looks like.

We settled the tragedy  in the lawsuits already. No one’s done that ever. We did it in a year for $4 billion.

We share the costs with everyone, particularly HECO (Hawaiian Electric) and KS (Kamehameha Schools), and state and so on. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because FEMA has given us $3 billion to recover and two more billion are on the way. The insurance industry will ultimately pay $3 billion in recovery. Maui County will receive $1.2 billion, we hope and believe, from that HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).

And then we’re in partnership already with the state. And as you know, we as taxpayers have borne some of the burden to care for those we love. And when you add up those numbers, that tragedy, imagine if we could have prevented that. 

That was $13 billion. Now of course, tragedies happen. Accidents happen, even mistakes happen. But that’s what happens if you don’t deal seriously with climate change. If we don’t get out ahead of that, if we don’t find ways to fortify ourselves and protect our aina, and if we don’t change the way we have large numbers of people.

If we don’t have some kind of ability to deal with the impact of climate, we’re going to see this again. Hopefully, we’ll never again lose the 104 loved ones, but we are absolutely at risk of losing communities.

ʻClimate Impact Feeʻ

So what we’re proposing is a climate impact fee, where people pay a little money when they come $25 or $50, prefer $50 per individual, and it goes directly to prevention and to protect our people. And help us get through this crisis, rather than having to deal with them as we have for this past year.

And this was probably the most important thing that I was asked to deal with in this last 12 months. But everything’s important. It didn’t allow us to put the housing crisis on hold or deal with homeless individuals, or not have access to health care.

So all these things happen simultaneously. This one was just the most immediate. And therefore, because we love our community, we would step in for anyone, in any community. I just want you to understand that as we talk about what happens with the settlement. But we’re okay. 

We carry over $703 million this year, $1.03 billion for fiscal year ʻ26, and $1.5 billion in fiscal year ʻ27. We’ve received $200 million of state insurance monies already. And we kicked the crap out of the pharmaceutical industry, and we received $916 million judgments, which is now going to come to us over time.

And so this is very likely how we will use our kind of approach to pay down what is otherwise a very difficult time for a small state. I’ll tell you also, much love to our local insurers, they were very kind and generous. But I witnessed some pretty bad behavior from the insurers on the mainland trying to claw back money from those who have received benefits.

And I’m going to eff them up bad if they try to take money from our people. So that’s the last shoe to draw as we go forward. 

Long term resiliency. And I’ve gone on long enough. I want you to be able to ask questions if we have any. We’re way better now. I can tell you that. I think that’s the back — Mayor Kawakami said, ‘Who’s the best mayor?’ And I said, ‘Do you mean who’s the sexiest mayor? Who’s the kindest mayor?’ The answer was him both times . 

… But we all have these areas where we have emergencies, and we have to prepare. And so that’s one of them. But now we have sensors out and we have wind sensors and fire sensors, and we have sensors now that can tell what you’re cooking on your grill, you know, just over the highway.

So there’s going to be a lot of that and there’s going to be a lot more protection. And in truth, of course, it should have happened decades ago, but we have never had an experience quite like this. 

And it is difficult to have a crystal ball. And to know what your greatest challenge will be when you wrestle with many challenges, whether it’s education for our keiki or homeless services, or housing for second generation families, or whatever.

This one is there forever now, and it’s a forever problem which we will be working on. But, you know, ‘An ounce of prevention is [worth a] pound of cure,’ right?’ That’s the application of that policy from doctor now to governor. 

And I just, this is just my obligatory, I like kids slide, you know. That’s me and one of our staffers, but we have to look out for them, right? 

And needless to say, this was  recently I believe when we were doing FESPAC. And FESPAC occurred when 25 nations from across the Pacific came, and all of these extraordinary relatives, friends, family came and witnessed what we are capable of in Hawaii. It took us to another new level and it helped us to heal after the fire and after Covid.

So for those of you who participate, I’m grateful to you for that. I know there’s a lot more of that in our future. Positive days ahead. Aloha.