Executive Summary

An economy that helps everyone in Hawaiʻi thrive is possible. The economic forces that shape our communities aren’t natural phenomena out of our control. Rather, they were created through policy choices. That means policymakers can alter and improve the rules by which the economy operates so that it delivers the opportunity for everyone to meet their basic needs and live happy, healthy and creative lives. 

And yet, today, we have an economy that too often fails to achieve this outcome. Instead, policy choices can reinforce systemic barriers that prevent many in Hawaiʻi from accessing this promised opportunity. We should collectively strive to craft policies that dismantle those barriers. Doing so would create a more equitable society and a healthier community here in the Hawaiian Islands.

Finding the path through the legislative process to successfully implement these policies requires the joint efforts of concerned community members, community-based organizations, businesses, researchers and government officials who share in this vision of a local economy that democratizes its prosperity to all, and not just the few.

The 2022 Hawaiʻi legislative session included extraordinary examples of the types of actions policymakers can take to rewrite the economic rulebook. Highlights from the session include:

• Raising the minimum wage to $18 by 2028, which is projected to generate $1 billion in additional wages to over 200,000 workers each year, increasing the annual income of minimum wage workers by $16,400 (up from the $21,000 they currently earn) (HB2510);

• Expanding and making permanent Hawaiʻi’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a wage supplement that will reach some 100,000 households each year, providing a total of $40 million, annually, targeted toward struggling working families with children (HB2510);

• Appropriating $600 million for the Hawaiʻi State Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) to address Hawaiʻi’s affordable housing crisis starting with Hawaiian Homeland beneficiaries, many of whom have been waiting decades for a homestead (HB2511);

• Creating a $500 per month housing subsidy for low-income families using $23 million in unused federal Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) funds (HB2233);

• Creating protections from discrimination against families that rely on Section 8 vouchers to help pay for their housing (SB206), and creating an incentive program for landlords to participate in Section 8 (HB1752); and

• Combatting houselessness through extension of the ʻOhana Zones Program and provision of regulatory exemptions for permanent supportive housing (HB2512).

Changes of this magnitude are rare, but they need not be. The purpose of this report is to review the 2022 legislative session to better understand these outcomes. What worked well in achieving them? And where do we still need to improve so we can continue to reshape our economy into one that is more robust, sustainable, and supportive of all of Hawaiʻi’s people? 

Our 2021 Policy in Perspective report identified the need for “a dramatic shift in our public policy that is capable of bringing forth transformational change in our economic and social systems.” That report concluded that 2021 was “a serious missed opportunity for addressing the deep flaws in our system.” For this year’s report, we are focused on what was different about 2022 that facilitated a much more productive legislative session so that we can continue to build on the foundation for change that has been established. 

So why was the 2022 legislative session so much more successful than other previous sessions? Our analysis has four main takeaways:

1. Sufficient revenue helps policymakers turn long-discussed ideas into action. The more than $6 billion in federal pandemic relief funds allocated to the state and counties bolstered Hawaiʻi’s economy, giving state legislators the ability to invest the large sums of money necessary to patch Hawaiʻi’s badly-frayed social safety net and help working families deal with our high cost of living. Rather than wait and hope for federal dollars, Hawaiʻi can transform its state and county tax codes to provide a steady revenue stream while alleviating costs to working families and stimulating the economy.

2. Political pressure makes a difference. 2022 is a major election year in which every state legislator is up for reelection due to redistricting. With Hawaiʻi’s soaring cost of living top of mind with a pandemic-weary population, politicians in every legislative district want to be able to say they delivered economic relief to a growing number of struggling voters.

3. Sustained coalition efforts are necessary. Because it often takes years to get transformational policy fixes through the legislature, coalitions of organizations and people can help sustain the effort. Collaboration with other advocates can help focus messaging around an issue and drive cohesive campaign efforts efficiently, transferring community energy into legislative success. Seeking unconventional allies and broadening the range of support for an issue can make coalitions more effective.

4. Centering impacted communities is critical to success. Building meaningful relationships with everyday working families, bringing them into the policy process, and centering their voice enables us to cut through the distraction and disinformation presented by opponents of change. Data can show why change is needed and why policies make sense, but it’s the people that these policies impact that can show lawmakers—viscerally—why these policy changes matter, and how urgently they are needed. In the end, it’s people power that drives policy change forward, so putting people first is essential.