Even after most COVID-19 restrictions disappear beginning March 26, Gov. David Ige intends to keep Hawaii’s indoor mask mandate in place, Ige told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program Friday.
Ige wants to see how the March 14-18 public school spring break affects COVID- 19 case counts before deciding when to remove the indoor mask mandate, he told “Spotlight Hawaii.”
“We do know that masks work,” Ige said.
Asked how much advance notice the public should expect on a date to remove the mask mandate, Ige said he will make an announcement “as early as I can.”
“We know spring break will increase the number of cases that we see,” he said. “I will make that announcement as early as I can. I do know it impacts everyone in our community.”
Despite the latest recommendations by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hawaii remains the last holdout in the country to keep its mask mandate or at least provide a date when it will be lifted, even as the number of cases linked to the omicron variant drops.
On Tuesday, Ige announced that major parts of Hawaii’s efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 will end after the last of two years of emergency proclamations he has issued expires March 25.
Most notably, on March 26 inbound passengers no longer will have to create a Safe Travels account or show proof of vaccination or a negative test.
Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will also no longer be required to enter state buildings starting March 26.
“The pandemic is continuing, but we want to minimize the laws … to the extent possible,” Ige told “Spotlight Hawaii.”
But Ige said that all newly hired state employees — following two years of COVID downsizing — will be required to show proof of vaccination.
He called it a “basic requirement to work for the state of Hawaii. … We are still in a pandemic.”
The state Legislature is moving forward on bills that would limit the governor’s ability to issue future emergency proclamations, and Ige demurred on whether he would veto any bills that might reach his desk following this session.
“I think that an emergency crisis or situation is the toughest challenge for any executive, the governor or the mayor, and having their hands tied is really difficult,” Ige told “Spotlight Hawaii.”
Other U.S. governors who have had their emergency problems limited told Ige that it “makes it difficult to respond in an emergency,” he said.
Even before COVID-19 devastated Hawaii’s economy beginning in early 2020, Ige oversaw the response to the extraordinary eruption of Kilauea Volcano that began on May 3, 2018, and lasted for months, covering 6,000 acres of land in Lower Puna and destroying 720 homes along the way.
Ige said natural disasters, such as hurricanes, result in emergency proclamations that are typically issued for “a very short and defined period of time. Nobody anticipated a public health emergency lasting two years. I think it’s wrong for the Legislature to take action on this (COVID-19) outlier of an event. … I really think that it does not serve the community to restrict an executive’s authority during an emergency.”
Asked about legislative pushback on Ige’s proposal to infuse the state’s “rainy day fund” with $1 billion as the economy recovers, Ige said, “I’m excited about the possibilities.”
“I’ve heard from legislators that they can’t see doing a billion dollars, but they recognize the need for restoring the rainy day fund,” Ige said.
At the same time, Ige remains optimistic that economic forecasts will lead to unspecified financial support to increase the rainy day fund, pay for public worker raises that were considered before the pandemic and infuse millions of dollars to help Native Hawaiians afford homes on Native lands.
“I do believe that we’re in a strong financial position, that we can do all of those things, and it will be a balance of how we can weave together the resources to really serve the public in the best way possible,” Ige said.
Asked about the guilty pleas on federal corruption charges by disgraced former state Sen. J. Kalani English and former state Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen, Ige said:
“I hated fundraising in general. I scheduled my fundraisers after all decisions were made (during each legislative session), and I never actively solicited contributions during the session.
“We need to work very hard to restore the public trust. This case was just outrageous: blatantly asking for and accepting bribes. … I hope that the Legislature will be taking action in this session.”
