Historic effort
brings House, Senate, Ige Administration and community leaders together for
legislative package of bills to reduce income inequality
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – A joint House
and Senate package of economic bills, strongly supported by the Ige
Administration, is sharply focused on removing economic obstacles and improving
the lives of Hawaiʻi's working-class. This historic collaboration was unveiled
at the State Capitol today during a joint press conference.
House
Speaker Scott K. Saiki said that the joint legislative bill package tackles the
issues highlighted in the Aloha United Way sponsored report, "ALICE:
A Study of Financial Hardship in Hawaii." The ALICE (Asset
Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report describes the economic hardships
facing many working individuals and families in Hawaiʻi. According to the report,
after allocating monies to pay for expenses such as housing, child care, food,
taxes, health care, and transportation, a family of four needs to earn roughly
$77,000 a year simply to survive.
"What my colleagues and I are
proposing today to address the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi will directly
support individuals and families who are struggling the most to make ends
meet," said Speaker Saiki. "Every dollar counts when you are trying
to stretch each paycheck just to meet basic needs. By increasing wages and tax
benefits, investing in child care, and creating more affordable housing units,
the Legislature, together with public and private partners, is working to end
the cycle of poverty."
This is the first joint House and Senate
legislative bill package since 2004 and it has the backing of the
Governor.
"In these divisive times, this
collaborative package is the result of the hard work done over the interim
months by House and Senate leaders, with input from stakeholders and
administrative departments, that strikes an optimistic tone in addressing these
issues," said Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi. "We are aware that
this is a good first step toward making a difference and hopefully, with
continued cooperation from all parties, we will continue to invest in Hawaiʻi
and in our youth."
Governor David Y. Ige said this
comprehensive package of bills provides a blueprint for changes for generations
to come. Ige said these bills will better the lives of Hawaiʻi’s people and
make the islands a place that future generations will be able afford to call
home.
"Many
of our families are living paycheck to paycheck, and this proposed package of
bills is designed to ease the burden on those struggling to stay afloat and
provide a more stable future for the next generation," said Gov. Ige.
To
address these concerns, the economic package includes:
- Targeting tax relief for working class families and individuals,
- Increasing the minimum wage,
- Developing leasehold housing for the working class,
- Providing tax exemptions for developers to build market priced homes,
- Providing infrastructure for developments at or near rail stations,
- Expanding childcare options for parents near their work places,
- Creating a new Schools Facilities Agency and allow DOE to focus on education.
"According to the ALICE report, large
cost drivers, primarily taxes, housing, and childcare, coupled with relatively
low income levels make cost of living a challenge for too many Hawaiʻi
families," said Representative Sylvia Luke, Chair of the House Finance
Committee. "Instead of trying to resolve these issues in silos, we, along
with community members, came together and decided, 'Let's help our working
people.' That's why what we have is not just about wages, and not just
about affordability of housing, and not just about childcare needs. It's about
raising up that entire group of our population."
“This
joint House, Senate, Governor effort is a real integrated approach to help
working families with increasing their take home pay amounts, providing
pre-school for their children, and increasing housing supply” said Senate Ways
and Means Committee Chair Donovan M. Dela Cruz.
Reducing
Income Inequality
To put money back into the pockets of
residents, one measure will provide tax relief for working families by making
the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundable and permanent. That means
qualified families can get a cash refund of up to $380 through this tax credit.
For many people, earning minimum wage is
not enough to provide enough to live on. This package includes a bill that will
provide incremental increases in the minimum wage bringing it to $13 an hour by
2024. But raising the minimum wage alone is not a solution to providing
economic stability.
"This $75 million is some of the
largest tax relief for working class folks that the Legislature has made in the
last few decades," said Representative Aaron Ling Johanson, Chair of the
Labor and Public Employment Committee. "By coupling a minimum wage
increase with the tax relief, we're ensuring that working class families and
individuals not only increase their income, but also offset any increased taxes
from those wage gains."
“I
like the idea of a joint Senate-House-Governor proposal for a package that
addresses income inequality by providing relief for the working poor. Although
the increases to the minimum wage may seem modest, the proposal must be seen in
its overall positive impact and in its embrace of the ‘aloha spirit’ toward
those that are struggling in our society,” said Senate Labor, Culture and the
Arts Chair Brian T. Taniguchi.
“The ALICE Report showed us that 47% of our households
are barely able to provide for the five basic essentials of housing, childcare,
food, transportation, and healthcare. These families are left vulnerable as
their budget – $28,296 for a single adult and $77,052 for a
family of four – does not allow for savings and unexpected expenses. It could
take just one incident for these households to fall into a crisis. We have to
do better for our families," said Norm Baker, chief operating officer at
Aloha United Way. “We are grateful that our lawmakers are working on a
legislative package and partnering with nonprofits and the private
sector to create solutions that will help lift our ALICE households.”
Increasing Affordable Housing
The ability to buy a home is part of the
American dream but many in Hawaiʻi cannot compete with outside investors to
purchase homes and condos beyond their economic reach. To address this issue,
the state will identify publicly-owned properties that can be used to develop
99-year leasehold units. Half of those homes will be reserved for working-class
families earning 140 percent of the area median income (AMI).
"Leasehold sales will ensure that the
homes will be reserved for local residents because the investment market is not
interested in leasehold," said Rep. Tom Brower, Chair of the House Housing
Committee. "And leasehold will keep the prices down well below the median
therefore making it affordable."
The state will also invest $200 million in
General Obligation Bonds to defray infrastructure costs for developers willing
to build around the first open rail stations in West Oahu and offer a General
Excise Tax exemption for projects that meet the goal of 140% AMI or below.
"The goal is to build 10,000
units," said Rep. Brower. "Developers say the cost of infrastructure
makes projects cost prohibitive. This provides a great incentive and will
jumpstart construction and expand the number of affordable, available homes on
the market."
“With this package, the House and Senate
are taking a major first step toward realizing the ALOHA Homes proposal.
Although differences continue to exist, we welcome this sign of commitment to
implement the full ALOHA Homes vision in the years ahead,” said Senate Housing
Chari Stanley Chang.
Access to Learning for all 3- and
4-year-olds
All families want the best for their
children and studies have shown that an early education contributes
significantly to how well a student does in school. But finding affordable
child care that is also convenient to homes or business is often difficult.
The lack of affordable child care serves
as a major barrier for families trying to better their economic
circumstance. Many families are forced to forgo child care and early
learning for their children and those who do budget for child care spend about
one-third of their incomes on it. Lawmakers have been struggling to expand
public early learning facilities for decades.
To solve this problem, this package
contains a bill to create a public-private model to increase the capacity at
existing private childcare facilities supported with public funds and also
develop new facilities for early learning programs for 3- and 4-year-old
children where they are needed.
State-owned sites including Aloha Stadium,
the Hawaiʻi Convention Center and all the university campuses will provide
space to incorporate early learning centers near where people work.
Learning centers will also be developed on
state properties on the neighbor islands, in rural areas and along the rail
routes allowing parents to drop off their children near their place of
employment.
"The
best way to do something about childcare is to provide early learning.
Providing many more early learning centers across the state will help 3-, 4-,
and early 5-year-old children the chance to truly be ready for
kindergarten," said Rep. Justin H. Woodson, Chair of the Lower &
Higher Education Committee.
“The
Learning To Grow legislation will expand access to early learning opportunities
to keiki across our state. It is well documented that early learning has a
substantial positive effect on long-term academic success, and we owe it to our
keiki to give them the best possible chance at success that we can," said
Senate Vice President Michelle N. Kidani. “The action to move school facilities
out of the Department Education is not intended to be punitive in nature; this
is simply an acknowledgement that proper and appropriate facilities management
requires a different skillset from education. This new School Construction
Authority will have the ability to redevelop our campuses and transform our
schools into 21st Century learning centers for our students.”
“Our
state is at a crossroads – people we love are leaving Hawai‘i not because they
want to, but because they have to. They can no longer afford to live here. Two
of the primary cost drivers are the lack of affordable housing and childcare
options. Addressing these challenges will not be easy, however, I do believe it
can be done through our collective effort,” said Micah Kane, a board member of
the Hawaiʻi Executive Collaborative and CEO and president of the Hawaiʻi
Community Foundation. “Our public-private partnership with the state, legislature,
nonprofits, and the private sector gives me hope that together, we will solve
these issues for our families. If we are so lucky, our families will stay
home and come home.”
Building Educational Results
In order to allow the Department of Education
to closely focus on its primary purpose of teaching our children, the
legislature proposes to create a new Schools Facilities Agency to oversee major
construction and repair projects in our schools.
The Governor will appoint an executive
director for the new agency which will be responsible for all public school
construction except for repair and maintenance projects that cost $100,000 or
less.
"This new agency will focus on the
construction of major building projects at existing and new schools," said
Rep. Luke. "This proposal will ensure that school construction is done in
a timely manner with public input and strong oversight. This will enhance the
learning experience and give all students a better chance for success."
No comments:
Post a Comment