Hawaii’s high cost of living continues to drive residents such as Bria Frazier away from the islands.
Frazier, 30, was raised in Nanakuli and currently lives in a Waikele duplex. She plans to move to Washington state in November or December because of the rising cost of living and because “there’s no income tax” in Washington.
Frazier has never had to watch her budget like she does now.
“Now I have to go to the groceries and calculate every single item before I get to that register,” Frazier said.
Frazier’s upcoming move follows an Oahu exodus that saw its population dip below 1 million in 2022; the latest estimates place the island’s population at 995,638, according to U.S. Census data released March 30.
Gov. Josh Green and state lawmakers frequently cite the ongoing threat of losing residents and are pushing legislation to help residents stay.
Green began his first legislative session in January by vowing to help working families and kupuna afford to stay in Hawaii.
“Our cost of living is the highest in the country at nearly twice the national average,” Green said in his State of the State address. “In Hawaii we should not teeter on the brink of poverty in order to provide for our ohana. One job should be enough to support a family.”
With less than a month before the end of the legislative session, several measures designed to lower Hawaii’s cost of living remain alive, including:
>> The latest version of HB 493, which amends the adjusted gross income brackets and credit amounts of the refundable food/excise tax credit.
>> The latest version of HB 25, which converts the refundable food/excise tax credit to a tax rebate to be issued to qualifying taxpayers annually. It would apply after Dec. 31.
>> The latest version of
SB 55, which increases the
income thresholds and credit amounts of the income tax credit for low-income household renters by using tax brackets for individuals and different categories of households. The bill also annually adjusts the income thresholds and credit amounts for inflation, based on the consumer price index.
>> The latest version of HB 668, which allows the City and County of Honolulu to exercise state housing powers for affordable-housing
developments.
>> The latest version of SB 763, which temporarily exempts affordable-housing projects under certain circumstances from state and county fees, except for fees and costs to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. and county boards of water supply.
>> The latest version of SB 865, which establishes the 99-year leasehold pilot program to develop low-cost homes on state- and county-owned land in urban redevelopment sites to be sold as leasehold by the Hawaii Community
Development Authority to qualified residents. The bill also provides for the disposition of lands that are acquired by the Hawaii Community
Development Authority but no longer needed for the pilot program.
>> The latest version of SB 1268, which increases options to build affordable housing by allowing the Hawaii Community Development Authority to conduct a pilot program to lease real property for one project in the Kakaako community development district for a term of 99 years.
>> The latest version of SB 1145, which requires that Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. housing projects remain affordable housing in perpetuity.
The measures are designed to stanch the flow of Hawaii residents to more affordable opportunities in places such as Las Vegas, nicknamed the ninth island.
Michelle Gamble, now 44, left Ewa Beach in November 2021 with her parents, Michael and Sese Niumata, for the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, mainly for a better cost of living.
Gamble is a Realtor, and the majority of her clients are Hawaii expats who also moved to Las Vegas.
“The reason we’re called the ninth island is because the majority of them (Hawaii locals) are here,” Gamble said.
And with more ex-Hawaii residents, Gamble and her parents can “have the mainland lifestyle with Hawaii combined in one state.”
But Gamble teared up when asked what she misses most about Hawaii.
“I miss the people,” Gamble said. “I miss the aloha, the respect that everyone has for one another.”
Stacey Hewett, 30, was born on Oahu and grew up mainly in Kaneohe and Enchanted Lake. When she was 7 or 8 years old, her mother moved her to Hawaii island, where she grew up in Waimea.
Then in 2010 she left the islands to study at the University of Nevada, Reno.
After graduating, Hewett returned to Oahu in 2014, struggled to find a good job, then ultimately moved to Las Vegas in 2015.
“I got kind of discouraged that Hawaii is predominantly who you know in terms of how you get a job,” Hewett said. “And I wanted to build a name for myself versus being someone’s cousin or someone’s niece or someone’s daughter.”
When asked whether she would consider moving back to Hawaii, Hewett said, “Oahu will never be an option even though I am like a Windward girl tried and true. Just because I don’t foresee myself moving from a major city to a major city. However, as I said before, my mom moved us to the Big Island. I could definitely see myself retiring there.”
To remind her of home, Hewett grows plumeria trees at her Las Vegas home.
“The community that I live in has at least six houses that have Hawaiian families living in them,” she said. “So they know when spring comes around I bring out the plumerias. They and their children are more than welcome to walk up to my driveway and pick as they want to. It’s just another way that, like, we can keep close to one another.”
