What distinguishes you from your opponents for this office?

I have a real record of accomplishment and have developed and implemented effective and successful programs and policies to improve the quality of life for our residents both now and in the future. My administration is also working to restore trust in government and truly believes in transparency. With me, what you see is what you get.

The actions I’ve taken have made Hawaii a national leader on issues ranging from environmental protection to addressing government’s unfunded liabilities. I have led efforts that made substantial reductions in the number of homeless individuals two years in a row now and have increased the production of affordable housing. I am improving the ability of Hawaii to attract and retain quality teachers and am making earning a college degree more affordable and achievable. I’ve also laid the groundwork to foster the strategic growth of our economy and support creation of the jobs of the future. What drives me is making sure the next generation can choose to call Hawaii home, and that they have all the opportunities they deserve.

My style of leadership may not be traditional or what people have become accustomed to in today’s era of political discourse. I am working to change the culture of government and my administration has prioritized working hard to make Hawaii a better place to live over talking about it.

What are the top three priorities for the state, and how would you address them?

1) Increase the quality of public education.

2) Protect our environment and make our way of life sustainable.

3) Raise the quality and affordability of life by increasing the production of housing units and options and fostering the creation of good jobs.

First, I have always been a strong advocate for providing Hawaii’s children with access to a world-class education. With the help of more than 3,000 stakeholders, we completed a new blueprint to guide the transition to a 21st-century public education system. My efforts are to change the top-down decision-making culture of the DOE, empower schools, principals and teachers, provide needed resources, and allow children to be taught in the manner that best suits their unique needs and environments.

I have already taken steps to improve Hawaii’s ability to attract and retain quality teachers and have significantly improved the environment of our classrooms. By cooling over 1,300 classrooms, tens of thousands of children are spending more time learning and less time fighting the heat. I also pushed for Hawaii’s Promise, which removes the financial barriers for those wanting to achieve a higher education, and the Early College program which allows students to earn college credits during their high school years — saving thousands of dollars for college tuition and making it easier to graduate.

Second, my administration and I are taking significant steps to protect our environment and make Hawaii a leader in sustaina- bility efforts. Hawaii has embraced the Paris Agreement and at the World Conservation Congress, I launched the Sustainable Hawaii Initiative that focuses on care of our natural resources. The goals are: 100 percent clean renewable energy for electricity by 2045; protect 30 percent of priority watersheds by 2030; effectively manage 30 percent of nearshore ocean waters by 2030; double local food production by 2020; implement the interagency biosecurity plan by 2027.

We have action plans to implement each of these goals and have made significant progress in each area. For instance, the DLNR has planted over 250,000 trees to restore watershed and ensure availability of future water and is also implementing a Coral Reef Management Plan. We are also working on a carbon offset program and projects that would enable residents and tourists to directly pay to restore native trees to absorb carbon emissions. I have strongly supported the transition to clean, renewable power as quickly as possible. Now that Hawaii has a carbon-neutral goal by 2045, bypassing natural gas for clean power has proved even more important. …

Third, we are creating better job opportunities by support- ing the economic sectors of the future. We have great potential in a globally connected world and are ideally positioned for innovative, globally significant technologies such as telemedicine, smart cities and aquaculture. …

I will continue the programs and initiatives we have started to further develop our innovation economy.

What’s your action plan to tackle affordable housing and homelessness?

My administration has worked with the private sector and housing advocates to maximize the state’s financing tools to produce housing and ensure investment in the development of regional infrastructure so more projects can be implemented.

Two key state financing tools are the Rental Housing Revolving Fund and the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund. Within our first four years, my administration worked with the Legislature provide about $377 million for these programs. We also worked hard to make targeted policy changes to promote production. In 2016, we worked with the Legislature (Act 129) to shorten the equity period on the state low-income housing tax credit from 10 years down to five years to make the housing credit more valuable. That same year, HHFDC took steps to improve the state’s primary financing tool that drives low-income rental housing in Hawaii by making low-income housing tax credits available year-round instead of only twice a year. …

Since becoming governor, more than 5,300 new housing units were produced with 40 percent of them being affordable. Another 1,400 units are in the pipeline, and more than 4,000 units are in the planning phase. We are well on our way to exceeding our goal of 10,000 new housing units by 2020. I changed the paradigm by requesting hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of my first term to support housing development, most of which the Legislature recently agreed to fund. I will continue to be a strong advocate to support development of housing at all price points.

In 2017, I adopted the Hawaii State Housing Functional Plan, a renewed commitment to producing more housing via collaboration between private and public sectors. The plan contains specific strategies and implementing actions intended to increase housing production, including rental housing, homeownership, and remove impediments to residential development. …

Our efforts have reduced the number of homeless individuals statewide for two consecutive years, down almost 10 percent in 2018, on top of an 8.8 percent reduction in 2017. We’ve nearly doubled average permanent housing placements per month from 231 to 412, and average lengths of stay in homeless programs have gone down to 163 days from 430 days.

We have worked to build a comprehensive system to address homelessness by:

>> Expanding proven programs like Housing First statewide.

>> Engaging in public-private partnerships that quickly add new housing, such as the recent Kahauiki Village project.

>> Partnering with law enforcement and treatment providers to keep homeless persons from cycling through the criminal justice system and increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment.

How should the state capture now-unpaid taxes from B&B/TVU (transient vacation unit) scofflaws?

Illegal vacation rentals impact the availability and affordability of housing for local residents, cause overcrowding in neighborhoods, and strain local infrastructure. Prior to the illegal vacation rental explosion, tourism was largely confined to the districts created for tourism, such as Waikiki. Vacation rentals must be made to comply with zoning laws and permitting requirements.

In 2016, I vetoed a bill that would have allowed short-term accommodations brokers to act as tax collection agents for the state because it amounted to licensing illegal activity that undermines zoning, and would make local communities bear the impacts of private vacation rentals. I support legislation strengthening county authority and enforcement of laws and regulations relating to transient accommodations, increasing penalties for illegal vacation rentals, and establishing a means to better collect tax revenue.

County government, as the zoning and enforcement authority, should have the authority to tailor regulation for local needs and design property tax assessments to offset impact on county services. Appropriate TAT, property tax and general excise tax should be collected from transient vacation rentals that are permitted to operate.

Why are you for, or against, the “school tax” constitutional amendment?

I support the state constitutional amendment to give the Legislature the authority to provide that certain real property tax revenue be used to support public education because more resources should be used to increase the quality of public education than our current tax structure permits. …

Property tax rates in Hawaii are amongst the lowest in the country and support relatively few county services in comparison to counties in other states.

If voters approve the amendment, more legislation will be needed to implement its provisions. I would work with all stakeholders, including the many who have expressed their concerns, to minimize unintended consequences. I will only support use of this provision if it provides more resources for public education, and is not intended to merely supplant existing funding.