COMMENTARY
Plan for future must be comprehensive
By Colleen Hanabusa
(D) Ko Olina, Kahe Point, Nanakuli, Ma'ili, Wai'anae, Makaha, Makua, Ka'ena Point
Excerpts of Sen. Colleen Hanabusa's speech to the Legislature yesterday:
Hawai'i has seen phenomenal economic growth since the strain that came in the wake of 9/11. State revenues climbed over 45 percent from fiscal year 2002 to 2006. Hawai'i's growth for 2005 is said to be ninth in the nation. Our unions report that no one is on their benches because everyone who wants a job is working.
Our state enjoys the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at 2.3 percent. But for almost one in 10 of our working population, the price of paradise is holding multiple jobs. The average national wage for 2005 was $46,675. In Hawai'i, it was $36,355. Our average wage ranks 26th in the nation.
Construction booms and we continue to add more houses to neighborhoods across our state, yet our homeless population has doubled since 1999. According to recent reports, the total number of homeless in Hawai'i on any given day is probably over 6,000, including a growing number of children. Some reports show our rents doubling from 2001 until today. The number of hidden homeless — those staying with family or friends because they cannot afford a place to live — is estimated to be nearing 230,000. The population at risk of becoming homeless is nearly 190,000.
How is it possible with such economic growth that so many of us wonder if we will be able to pay our mortgages next month? How is it possible that with so much housing, so many are homeless?
These are among the challenges of moving Hawai'i forward in the 21st century. We want a vibrant economy, but we want to control growth. We want more housing, but we want to preserve our open space. We want to share this special place, but we want it to be first a place for our families.
We as a state have relied upon imports to sustain us. We have experienced the closure of large agricultural entities, representing not only the loss of jobs but of a lifestyle, an economic engine and a promise of open space.
We felt the consumer's displeasure with the gas cap law. I believe the consumers felt as they did because it punctuated our uncertainty and our helplessness in a dangerous dependence on fossil fuels and the perceived control the oil companies have upon our lives.
We always face the challenges of education. Each year more people believe that no matter what we as government do, we just miss the point. Too many remain convinced that we don't — can't — get it right.
We in the Senate believe that to meet these challenges, we must plan for it in a comprehensive manner. Our resources are finite, and once depleted are gone forever. Two years ago the Senate majority adopted as our policy the concept of sustainability. In 2005, a law was passed that established the Sustainability Task Force of 2050.
As the Legislature:
We as policymakers must build upon our state's obvious strengths.
But we cannot be blind to our challenges.
Our journey will be neither short nor simple.
Education is key, and to achieve excellence, our students must want to learn. To meet our commitment to excellence we must provide the physical and technological infrastructure to support education. Among the priorities for this Senate, you will find early childhood facilities, continued attention to the repair and maintenance of schools, climate control using alternative energy. Tied to this is a measurement of accountability. To do this we will the make the measurement standards of No Child Left Behind relevant to Hawai'i and further empower the School Community Councils with increasing funding responsibilities and the authority to meet the unique needs of each school community.
The health of our children is critical. The Senate will pass a bill to provide healthcare coverage for all children in Hawai'i. It will address family care giving, the ability of working people to build assets and reach economic stability.
We will address our housing needs. To do so, we must recognize that housing has so many facets from homelessness, transitional housing and to that which is affordable.
The challenge to the Sustainability Task Force is to look to the youth to be our messengers and monitors. Challenge the utilities such as Hawaiian Electric and create programs that focus on changing behavior and rewarding the young for being responsible.
Another challenge to the task force is to be bold and define our sustainable community in its ultimate form. We should look at what the military is doing and how their communities must have 30 percent of their energy generated on site. They are planning to do this through solar and photovoltaic systems. Why aren't we? Why don't we say at least 50 percent? The time has come for us to look at land-use planning as a tool for setting these kinds of criteria, and rewarding the kinds of development that we believe serve our future. Make each community dispose of its own opala; have a true affordable housing component; require water to be recycled and open space to be preserved. In exchange, a developer's time to process applications should be substantially reduced.
The Hawai'i that we will work to preserve is one that our children can choose to live in and not have to leave because of the lack of opportunities. We will be the Hawai'i that they would want to raise their children in.
It is a Hawai'i which is built on respect ... one that balances our diverse interests ... one that acknowledges that only with respect for the people, the land and the environment will we have balance.
Sustainability is not just another buzz word for this Legislature. Dare us. Challenge us. Hold us to our commitment. And then join us. Share your stories, your hopes and your energies. Together, we will make sustainability a reality, and not just the political word of the week.
