Name on ballot:

KIM COCO IWAMOTO

Running for:

State House – District 25

Political party:

Democratic

Campaign website:

vote.kimcoco.com

Current occupation:

Small Business Owner

Age:

56

Previous job history:

Single-mom, Senate Clerk in Hawaii State Legislature, property manager for
mixed-Affordable Housing building, Managing Attorney for Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii

Previous elected office, if any:

Hawaii Board of Education (2006-2011)

Please describe your qualifications to represent the people in your district.

I have been a business owner in the district since 2004. For the past four years I have gone door to door and building to building listening to my neighbors hopes and concerns for our district and our state. I have experience setting state policies under transparency requirements of the Hawaii Sunshine Law.

What is the most-pressing issue facing residents in your district and how would you address the problem?

Housing security is the most-pressing issue facing residents in the Ala Moana, Kakaako & Downtown area. Condo owners face huge financial burdens due to skyrocketing insurance premiums; kupuna who income-qualify for “affordable housing” are hit with 15% rent increases every two years; and, islandwide, the inadequate inventory of shelter beds is one for every two unsheltered people.

Many retirees buy condos thinking they’ve found a secure, affordable solution only to find themselves trapped between unforeseen rising costs and insufficient equity to opt out. Since 2016, condo owners and consumer advocates have been sounding the alarm on the impending financial crisis now hitting condo owners; legislative leaders have ignored them. This year, legislative leaders failed to regulate skyrocketing insurance premiums, or even ensure that higher premiums collected in Hawaii stay in Hawaii.

With 40% of Hawaii’s private property owned by out-of-state investors, and over 70,000 investment homes kept vacant, an “empty homes” surcharge would correct the imbalance created by real estate speculation. Every dwelling kept vacant displaces people who would have lived, shopped and generated tax revenue here. Recovering this lost revenue through a surcharge and using it to subsidize housing for our vulnerable populations while providing social workers and shelters for those in greatest need would address this concern.

What would you propose to be done at the state level to help residents cope with Hawaii’s high cost of living?

Recent passage of what is being touted as an “historic” tax cut serves as the perfect example of how ill-equipped current legislative leaders are when it comes to dealing with the real problems Hawaii residents face. Does it make sense for a state government with the highest per-capita cost of unfunded liabilities in the US—estimated at $28 billion by the American Legislative Exchange Council—to pass tax cuts that would result in a $5 billion revenue shortfall?

When asked how they would manage this dramatic loss, legislative leaders admitted that “adjustments” would have to be made in the future. Don’t be surprised when, next session (well after those “historic” headlines garnered the votes incumbents needed to get reelected) the adjustments turn out to be rollbacks.

If common sense tells us that rollbacks on these ill-conceived tax cuts is the only way out of the hole our legislative leaders just dug, then let those rollbacks apply to Hawaii’s highest income earners, who, under the recent legislation are set to pay just 10% of their income while the bottom-income households will pay a full 14%. Restoring tax rates on the highest income households and allowing low-income earners to keep a greater percentage of their paychecks will help grant some relief from those struggling with our high cost of living. The longterm solution is replacing incumbents who have mastered the art of pay-to-play politics with people who have a history of serving the public good.

What can the state Legislature do to help Hawaii home and condo owners with rising property insurance rates?

In response to the numerous requests I’ve received from condo owners during my campaign, I’ve made a concerted effort to research this issue and help find solutions. What I’ve learned, with the help of consumer protection specialists, is that there is a great deal the state could do to improve conditions for Hawaii’s condo owners, which is why I have started a statewide petition to call on the legislature to convene a Special Session that would address condo insurance, rent relief and eviction mediation. Please go to my website to sign the petition: kimcoco.com.

Among other things, this special session could be used to address the State Insurance Commissioner’s inaction in response to skyrocketing rates at a time when 300% and 600% increases are common, and 900% and even 1,300% increases have been reported. At the very least, the commissioner should require insurance companies to open their books so that, like HECO or Young Brothers when they are seeking increases, an examination of the facts can determine if one is warranted.

The session could also be used to explore the option of creating self-insurance mechanisms using the Hawaii Insurance Guaranty Association (HIGA). This non-profit 501(c)6 was created by statute in 1976 as a means to protect Hawaii businesses and homeowners when insurance companies default on claims. HIGA collects a small percentage of premiums paid to all property insurance companies and holds them for this purpose; the system is similar to the way the FDIC secures bank deposits.

HIGA raised $9.36M in revenue from insurance premiums collected in 2023, it had a little under $4.1M in expenses and liabilities that year. The total assets held by HIGA going into 2024 was almost $26M. Self-insuring buildings or developers could contribute into this HIGA fund as well and have access to that same safety net.

Comparing a similar fund in a state with a similar size population: New Hampshire Insurance Guaranty Association had $54.5M in assets in 2022. However if we look at other state’s facing skyrocketing insurance premiums, consider Florida Insurance Guaranty Association which collected $646M in revenue in 2022, and paid out $677M that year to cover claims of policy holders of insolvent insurance carriers.

My opponent, in his role as Speaker of the House, refused to call for a Special Legislative Session to address a housing crisis that impacts at least one of every four households. He supported Special Legislative Sessions to raise taxes to fund rail and to legalize same-gender marriage; why doesn’t he care about finding solutions for this crisis?

Can Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy be diversified, and, if so, what can state government do to support the effort?

One of the primary indicators of a healthy economy is the extent to which someone can rely on a single job to feed and house themselves and their dependents. The tourism status quo has not resulted in a healthy economy for Hawaii residents by this or similarly relevant measures, like the ability to cover the costs of unexpected personal crises. In fact, 28% pay more than half their income on housing and one in three households faces food insecurity on a daily basis.

I support collecting a robust state green free as a means to mitigate the impacts tourism has on our environment and infrastructure. I also support counties collecting their own fees and doing so in a way that aligns visitor levels with each island’s carrying capacity.

Hawaii could build a more diverse and robust economy by subsidizing farmers who grow food for local consumption, which would allow them to effectively compete with imported produce subsidized by poverty wages. Encouraging the production of high value medicinal crops is another way to increase profitability; profits from specialized crops grown on a small portion of a farm can effectively subsidize the costs of producing food for local consumption on the remaining portion. Hawaii would not have to rely on any imported produce to feed local families or tourists.

What would you propose to help increase affordable housing in Hawaii?

Increasing affordable housing means increasing the number of units while also insuring that those units are actually affordable.

The quickest way to achieve this goal is to issue a moratorium on luxury residential building permits until an adequate supply of affordable housing stock is built. Luxury developments drive up costs for land, labor and materials by competing with affordable housing developments for these same resources. Removing the developers who serve billionaire buyers with no spending limits from the bidding will keep costs lower for the developers working to supply affordable housing.

In my district, it’s common to find seniors who qualified for affordable housing apartments being hit with rent increases of 15% every two years; that’s 30% in four years! Their incomes do not increase at the same rate which leaves them vulnerable to homelessness and faced with hard choices related to food and medicine. One of every three households in Hawaii is already dealing with food insecurity; skyrocketing rent increases only make this worse.

Our legislature cut state-funded Section 8 housing subsidies in 2001, leaving us totally reliant on insufficient, federally funded Section 8 program. The state can bring its housing vouchers program back by collecting an empty-homes surcharge, like the one I described above.
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What can state government do to better support and improve public education in Hawaii?

Let’s start with full-funding for the quality public education our children deserve. When I served on the Board of Education, I asked the Department of Education (DOE) to prepare a legislative budget request that reflected the true costs of delivering a quality public education system. Instead, I was told the legislature would be offended by the amount requested and legislative leaders would punish the DOE with line-item cuts that would wreak havoc on its operations. I imagine the same is true for the University of Hawaii system.

Recent settlers to Hawaii, enrolling their children in our public schools, are surprised by the disconnect between how much they pay in housing to the aesthetics of our aging campuses, the limited resources available to teachers and the minimal extracurricular programs available. They all say how the schools “back home” in districts with home prices and rents similar to what they are paying in Hawaii, all have public schools that look an operate more like the private schools here.

The disproportionate amount of private schools in Hawaii, has resulted in a two tiered system that leaves public school teachers having the most diverse student populations with the broadest learning differences. This is why our public school teachers deserve higher wages, as do all workers who require the fullest range of skill sets to do their jobs.

Should the state continue to pursue building a replacement for Aloha Stadium in Halawa? Please explain.

Here’s a simple life lesson my parents instilled in me as a child: Take care of your needs and responsibilities before pursuing wants and playthings. Before we contemplate the replacement of Aloha Stadium, let’s make sure we have sufficient housing that residents can actually afford. After we take care of our basic needs and primary responsibilities, we can think about how to spend any leftover play money. Housing first!

Should members of the state Legislature have term limits like Honolulu’s mayor and City Council members?

Yes. Why should state legislators be the only elected officials in Hawaii to have an unlimited presence and influence over our political process. Look at how productive county councils are when members know they only have eight years to make a difference for their communities.

Getting the issue of term limits on the ballot, for voters to decide, requires some state legislators to act against their own self-interests. Too many legislative leaders have been serving in the state legislature beyond the most generous definition of a “term limit.” Why would they allow this question on the ballot when they know what the outcome would most likely be? A 2018 Civil Beat poll demonstrated that 70% of voters support term limits on state lawmakers; that number may be higher today.

Problem: The longer a state legislator holds office, the more campaign contributions they are able to raise, AND accumulate. The more campaign contributions they accumulate, the easier it is to access the basic equipment, materials and services they need to win elections and hold onto their seat.

Solution: Level the playing field by requiring campaigns to expend, refund or donate all funds collected during each election cycle.

The current state rep for our district has sat in that seat for 30 years; during which he has consistently made sure that legislation needed to impose term limits did not pass. This primary election, District 25 voters can choose to limit his term and pave the way for much needed reform; 15 terms is enough.

What reforms, if any, would you propose to make local government more transparent to the public?

On May 28, 2022, the Democratic Party of Hawaii adopted a resolution I drafted, “Resolution 2022-40.a, Urging Hawaii Lawmakers to Address Corruption at the Legislature,” which states in relevant part:
“Take the following immediate actions: adopt House and Senate rules that 1) restrict state legislators or their representatives from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions during the legislative session, 2) require legislators to comply with all State Sunshine and Ethics laws while working to amend the relevant statutes and codify this compliance, 3) adopt House and Senate Rules that restrict legislators from holding any leadership position if they were, within the preceding six months, a) hired as private-practice attorneys, or b) were profit-sharing law practice partners bound by attorney-client privilege from disclosing clients’ names or businesses, 4) grant any bill sponsored by a majority of the members in the originating chamber at least one committee hearing, and, 5) prevent a bill from being deferred indefinitely without a recorded vote by committee members.”

These are the members of the Hawaii legislative leadership’s own party, instructing them to clean up their act; instead, my opponent, as Speaker of the House, ignored them and refused to even consider implementing any of these reforms. Shame.

What will be your top priority if elected?

Implementing solutions to the housing crisis described in the responses above.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

In addition to seeing me as a champion for social justice and open government, I would like voters to know me as a grateful parent. My daughter Rory has been attending the public school in our district from 1st grade and she is excited to return to Queen Kaahumanu Elementary school as a 5th grader. She has loved every single one of her teachers. The faculty, staff and students at QKES have made the school a safe and nurturing place of learning. I would consider it an honor to represent them at the state capitol.