This morning on Hawai‘i News Now, I talked about what matters most to Hawaiʻi families right now — lowering the cost of living, building more housing, protecting access to healthcare and making smart, responsible choices during a time of federal uncertainty.
We’re focused on protecting essential services, supporting working families and making decisions grounded in facts, compassion and long-term stability for our islands. The work continues.
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In 2026 and beyond, we will expand stackable film tax credits for productions that hire local crew and talent — with a proposal to remove the credit cap for large productions spending $60 million or more in Hawai‘i, including streaming service productions for the first time.
We will support construction apprenticeships tied directly to affordable housing projects — building homes and building careers at the same time.
We will create public-private workforce pathways in healthcare, energy, and education — sectors where jobs are growing and where communities need workers.
That’s the future we believe in and are working to build — a Hawai‘i where local kids don’t have to leave our islands to succeed, because we’ve invested in creating real opportunities here at home.
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Yesterday at the Capitol, I stood with MADD Hawaiʻi, survivors, advocates and our partners to make one thing clear: impaired driving is preventable, and every life lost is one too many.
We’re continuing important conversations at the Legislature through HB 1827 and SB 2463, focused on evidence-based strategies to reduce impaired driving and save lives. I encourage people to learn more and speak with your legislators about these measures.
Don’t drink and drive. Plan ahead, look out for one another, and help keep Hawaiʻi’s roads safe for everyone.
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We will not stop working, we will not stop fighting, and we will not stop dreaming, until all of us — every young graduate, every family, every keiki, every kupuna and every person struggling or who feels left behind.
Until every one of us, together, reaches that place we can see just ahead — our Hawai‘i — a home that is more hopeful, a place where our values guide us, and where we always find a way forward together, as one ‘ohana.
Mahalo.
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This week, I delivered my fourth State of the State Address, centered on the issue Hawaiʻi families tell us matters most — the cost of living — and the work it takes to make life more affordable, from housing and healthcare to protecting our environment and the future of our keiki.
Our vision is simple: a Hawaiʻi where working families can afford to stay, where our kūpuna live with dignity, where no child goes hungry, and where our islands are protected for generations to come. This is the Hawaiʻi we’re building together.
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