Education. Jobs. Affordable homes.

After hearing from more than 10,500 residents over two years, a task force that wants to set the course for the state's future has concluded that Hawai'i needs to be a place where today's youth will want to stay.

To achieve that goal the Hawai'i 2050 Sustainability Plan, developed at a cost of $1.7 million and unveiled yesterday, includes major proposals such as improving the education system to prepare students for jobs that will be created in a state economy that is robust and diversified.

Another goal is to ensure that the cost of Hawai'i housing is not out of reach for most people by increasing the number of affordable places to live by 23,000 units. The plan does not specify how these would be paid for.

While the overall plan looks decades ahead, it sets short-term benchmarks to ensure the state is making progress in priority areas: the economy, the environment and the community.

Yesterday's unveiling followed community meetings across the state, including a summit in Honolulu in September that drew nearly 1,000 people. The process also included a public opinion survey of about 2,000 state residents, about 500 per county.

That polling showed a majority of those who responded care about the environment so much that they're willing to pay more to protect it. For example, 80 percent agreed the state should impose mandatory recycling programs, and 67 percent said the state should move toward energy independence, even if it means paying more for renewable energy.

EYE-OPENING MOMENT

Organizers said the report is the first long-range plan for the state since the Hawai'i 2000 Task Force plan in the early 1970s during the administration of Gov. George Ariyoshi.

The plan was unveiled by state Senate and House leaders as the culmination of a long-range planning process started in August 2006. It will have to be adopted by the full Legislature.

Members of the task force said one of the most eye-opening moments in their community outreach came a few months ago, when a group of high school students said they didn't see themselves remaining in Hawai'i as adults.

"That moment told us that we really need to do something now about our housing," said Sen. Russell Kokubun, who chaired the task force. "They didn't feel they could raise their families here and afford housing and afford the quality of life they had become accustomed to."

WHAT'S NEEDED

Statistics included in the report indicate that another 23,000 affordable and workplace housing units will be needed over the next five years to shelter those earning up to 140 percent of the median income.

Laura E. Thielen, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, said 23,000 units would help immensely.

But whether the state can achieve the goal depends on funding, which isn't guaranteed. Affordable housing advocates have had to return to the Capitol each year to ask that a significant share of the conveyance tax be put into the Rental Housing Trust Fund, which is dedicated to affordable housing.

"For years we didn't get developers coming in to do projects because there wasn't money in the (trust fund) to make it worth their while," Thielen said.

Since the state began directing 50 percent of the conveyance tax to encouraging development of affordable housing, however, all the funds have already been appropriated for new projects, she said.

While a news conference yesterday included members of the House and Senate, both political parties and outside community members, the task force will still have an uphill climb getting its proposal passed.

For example, Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a measure to pay for the work of the sustainability task force, but her veto was overriden by a Legislature that may continue to have difficulty winning the administration's support.

'TIME FOR ACTION'

Lingle's policy adviser, Linda Smith, testified at a hearing yesterday about persistent concerns regarding plans to create and fund a sustainability council, one of the key elements of the Hawai'i 2050 plan.

Smith asked whether the $1.7 million already spent on the plan could have been used instead for alternative energy projects, to purchase agricultural land or to restore a cultural site.

"The governor's office raises these questions because we genuinely believe it is time for action — not councils or words," Smith testified.

But members of the task force say the plan, which includes measurable benchmarks for 2020, is arising out of community demands.

"The strength of this is that it's the people's plan. It has come from the grassroots," Kokubun said.

The plan identifies priorities in nine areas, including affordable housing.

In public education, it targets National Assessment of Educational progress scores, where public school students have compared poorly against other states. The Department of Education has projected that by 2019, 61 percent of fourth-graders will be reading at grade level, and 35 percent will be proficient in math.

Eighth-graders would be 31 percent proficient in math and 22 percent proficient in reading, according to the report.

ENVIRONMENTAL IDEAS

When it comes to the environment, the task force wants to boost energy from renewable resources from the current 5 percent of all energy use to 20 percent by 2020.

In addition, by promoting recycling and other waste reduction strategies, the panel wants to divert half the waste from the landfills statewide by 2020, up from the 31 percent that is currently diverted.

To bolster the economy, the plan calls for creating more technology-related jobs, which currently have an average salary of $47,262. By 2020, the task force wants the innovation sector to comprise 7 percent of all private-sector jobs.

Agriculture should also see a boost, if the state pushes for more locally grown food. Today, about 15 percent of food consumed in Hawai'i is grown in the state. The goal for 2020 is to increase that to 30 percent of food — including 85 percent of fruits and vegetables.

The report also calls for making more beds available for those who need long-term care and encouraging residents to attend a cultural event every three months.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.