These are Josh Green’s 5 big priorities for his first 100 days in office
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Josh Green is days away from becoming Hawaii’s ninth governor.
He’ll be sworn in Monday during an inauguration ceremony at Blaisdell Arena.
In a one-on-one interview with Hawaii News Now before the ceremony, Green discussed what changes he plans to make in his first 100 days in office.
He made five promises.
The first is to take immediate action on Hawaii’s housing crisis.
“Rules will be changed,” he said.
Green says if necessary he’ll use emergency powers to adjust some of the processes that are obstructing the ability to build housing.
HNN will be carrying the inauguration live across our digital platforms, starting at noon.
“An emergency proclamation may be coming,” said Green.
When asked if there was a specific rule he thought needs to be amended, he said:
“They’ve had a lot of problems with the permitting process. And I think that has to be expedited. That’s one. Also moving some of the land that has been stuck, where people had planned to build and haven’t done it.”
Green says his second priority is to build kauhale, or villages for the homeless made up of tiny homes.
“We want to immediately move forward on several kauhale in different regions of the state,” Green said. “And that means giving parcels of land. We have $15 millions in Ohana Zone money that we have to spend right away.”
While he admits the state can’t build a kauhale in 100 days, Green said a project can be started.
“You can launch it. You can know where it will be. You can know how much resources are going there and you can know how much private sector support will also come,” he said.
He says his third priority is to begin to restore trust in government.
“That is not meant to be a vague statement,” Green said. “I think it’s time to be honest that we have not treated the Hawaiian community adequately or respectfully.”
When HNN asked what could be done tangibly to accomplish that, he said, “Distribute land.”
He continued: “So I think over the course of the first two years we’re going to do everything we can to distribute land to the people that are on the list, to build infrastructure and build housing.”
Green’s fourth priority is to launch a climate plan, establishing a roadmap for how the state will address climate change. “We are contemplating a climate czar,” he said. That would be a new position for the Governor’s Office.
Green says in addition to helping create that climate plan, that person would also work to support the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
“The fifth priority is really, I think dealing with affordability,” Green said.
He says in his first 100 days of office he plans to propose Hawaii get rid of the tax on food and medication.
“It will carry a cost with it. We do have a surplus,” said Green. “It’s something that is the right thing to do. It’s been discussed for a long time. Those are very regressive taxes.”
Green says to also expect a decision in regard to what will happen with Aloha Stadium in those first 100 days.
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