Senate Floor

Aloha. Will the Senate of the 33rd Legislature of the State of Hawaii please come to order?

The 33rd Legislature of the Hawaii State Senate acknowledges the Aina on which we gather is part of a larger territory recognized by indigenous Hawaiians as their ancestral grandmother Papahanaumoku.

We acknowledge that each moment we are in Hawaii, she nourishes and gifts us with every other person here with the opportunity to breathe her air, eat from her soils, drink from her waters, bathe in her sun, swim in her oceans, be kissed by the rains and be embraced by her winds.

We further recognize that generations of our ancestors knowledge shaped Hawaii in sustainable ways that allowed us to enjoy these special gifts. For this I am grateful. As a native Hawaiian, I recognize my Kuleana both my responsibility as well as my dear privileges to care for this Aina for the many generations yet to come.

Na moo alii on Mano Kalani po. Many great leaders from Kauai, Moikeha, Mano, Kalanipo, Peleholani, Kamakahelei, Kaumuali and in the 20th century, such leaders as Yukimura, Kochi and our new speaker, Nakamura. Please join our Kauai leaders as we welcome you to Nani Kawaii. Beautiful Kawaii. =

Wow. Nani o Kauai. Wasn't that beautiful. To the organizers and the planners, a round of applause to all of you again. This morning we are honored to have Reverend Ai Hironaka, resident Minister of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission to offer a contemplation of the day.

Good morning. On August 8th, my family of six and my not-too-smart French Bulldog, Zero, escaped from the fire, finding shelter at the friend's house. Later in the day, exhausted, I took my first nap since the disaster. In my dream, our house was on fire. I woke up suddenly thinking oh, just a dream.

But reality sank in as I bowed my head in silence. In moments like this, life can feel too heavy to face alone. But it is during such times that the true spirit of Aloha shines upon Hawaii. We help each other because we understand weakness. We share, heal, and support one another.

Even the clothes I wear today were brought with your kindness. Your generosity has given me something I never want to lose. Resilience. A Japanese monk once said, the past does not define the future. The future defines the past. While we cannot change the events of the past, but the meaning of these events evolves through our actions today.

What we do now has the power to transform the disaster from a moment of loss into a foundation for growth and resilience. Because everything is impermanent, painful things happen. But impermanence also allows us to create a brighter future. With wisdom, compassion, and aloha, Hawaii can redefine the past, turning moments of pain into lessons of peace.

Through the choice we make, we give new meaning to our shared history and build a brighter future filled with hope and resilience. Imua. Imua. Imua. Let's go Hawaii.

Mahalo, Reverend. At this time, if you are able, please rise for the posting of the colors followed by the singing of the national anthem and Hawaii Ponoe by Ms. Nalani Brun, Director of the Kaua'I Office of Economic Development.

[Singing]

Please be seated. Mahalo, Ms. Brun, for opening our session today. How about a nice round of applause for Ms. Brun? Senator Chang.

Madam Chair, I nominate Carol Taniguchi as temporary Clerk of the Senate.

Senator Elefante.

Madam Chair, I second the motion.

Senator Fukunaga.

Madam Chair, I move that the nominations be closed.

Senator McKelvey.

Thank you Madam President, I second the motion.

It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, no. The motion is carried. Carol Taniguchi is appointed as the temporary Clerk of the Senate. Madam Clerk.

Madam Chair. A Committee of three was previously appointed to serve on a Committee on credentials to examine the certificates of election of the newly elected Members of the Senate of the 33rd Legislature of the State of Hawaii.

Madam Clerk, are you in receipt of a report of the Committee on Credentials?

Madam Chair, I am in receipt of a report numbered Special Committee Report Number One, dated January 15, 2025 and submitted by Senators Kanuha, Rhodes, and Awa.

Senator Rhodes. Senator Rhodes.

I move that we accept the report of the Credentials Committee.

Okay. Senator Kanuha.

I second the motion.

It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Opposed, no. The motion is carried. Special Committee report number one has been adopted. The Credentials Committee is discharged with the cheers. Thanks.

Before we move on, it's very interesting to have our keiki here in the Chambers to witness the 33rd opening of the Legislature. Aloha and mahalo, Keikis. Our kids over there, our students. Mahalo for attending. At this time, the Chair calls on Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald of the Hawaii Supreme Court to administer the oath of office.

Thank you, Senator. And thank you for inviting me to be here today. Will the newly elected and re elected Members of the Senate please stand, raise your right hands and repeat after me.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a Member of the Senate of the State of Hawaii to the best of my ability. Congratulations to you all. Thank you, Senator.

Just one minute, folks. Let me say that Chief Justice has done his eighth oath of office to the Legislature. He will be retiring and let's all thank him for his work being RCJ.

Thank you very much.

Congratulations, Members. And you have already been seated. Mahalo, Chief Justice again. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Will the Senators please stand when your names are called.

[Roll Call]

Madam Chair, I nominate Ronald D. Kouchi for President of the Senate.

Senator Lee.

Madam Chair, I second the nomination.

Senator Richards.

Madam Chair, I move to close the nominations.

Senator Rhodes.

Madam Chair, I second the motion.

It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Opposed, no. The motion is carried. Ronald D. Kouchi is elected President of the Senate. At this time, the Chair appoints Senators Keohou, Kaloli, and DeCoite to escort President Kouchi to the rostrum.

Before. Well, first, thank you, Senator Inouye. And for our guests who are new to the opening day and wondered why Senator Inouye presides in both the House and the Senate, the representative and Senator from District 1, where Kamehameha and the Big Island stand proud in the history of Hawaii.

It is our tradition that they open both chambers and get our session underway. So thank you Senator Inouye, how about a big hand for her? And I know she asked for a thank you to all who helped in the ceremony.

But what you need to remember is President of the Senate, if you liked it, I was responsible for everything great that happened. And if it wasn't to your liking, Rob Puahalla from my office, the Senate Clerk, and the Sergeant at Arms actually did all of the hard work.

Before proceeding, the Senate would like to recognize distinguished guests who have joined us today. Please hold your applause until all of our guests have been introduced. Madam Clerk?

[Guest Introductions]

Are those all of our guests? Madam Clerk, I'm sorry, this is the time for my remarks. So, aloha. I realized, thinking about today, that this will be the 10th full session that I will be presiding over.

And I would like to begin by thanking my colleagues for giving me this opportunity to you, for placing your trust in me. And I want you to know how much I appreciate and value the relationships that we enjoy and the relationships that allow me to be here.

And as I have done every year before talking about anything else, I take seriously my responsibility on speaking on behalf of the Senate, to thank each and every one of you, especially those who are seated here on the floor, the family Members who have sacrificed so that we may serve the campaign, people who have worked so hard to allow us to get elected, to be able to serve.

There's no words to really express just how much we appreciate your willingness to share your family Member with us. For those of you who have given up so much of your time and put in so much energy to helping us get here, on behalf of all of the Senate Members, thank you very much.

So I have to my left, my wife, Joy, who has done that sacrifice. To my right, our eldest son, Dan. To my left, behind me are youngest son, Egan.

And before I continue talking about people on the rostrum with me, we have recently produced the goals of the Senate of the majority, and we have not yet gotten them put into a booklet, but soon it will be out and available. And we are here to tell you that insurance is a big problem facing our community.

But as it's been highlighted by the fires in California and the hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina, this is a national problem.

And it may take us working with the Federal Government to come up with a solution so that we can afford to ensure our homes, protect our investment, and continue to choose to live in a beautiful place like Hawaii and not get insurance premiums that are so high that we can no longer choose to live here.

So we are acutely aware of that. And Senator Keohu Kalole has been working. We're leading the Senate's efforts in the interim working group that has been doing this. And through his Committee, we will be carrying the discussion to look for solutions.

And his Committee will continue to work on issues to ensure that Hawaiian Electric is able to deliver power to all of our communities on Oahu, Maui County, and Hawaii Island. I left Kauai out because we are run by a cooperative, and we're the only island in the chain not getting our power through Hawaiian Electric.

But it's critically important that everyone get the power so that we have the economic development and the quality of life that we enjoy here. Education is going to be the key if we are going to create a better path for each of our children. We in the Senate are committed to continue to work with the Administration.

And the Governor has put Lieutenant Governor Luke on point for getting those seats for universal pre K at no charge to everyone in the State of Hawaii. It is expensive to pay for child care and it is clear that if you go to pre K as A K through 12 student, you have better educational outcomes.

And so we are committed to do that. We are committed on the K12 program. Senator Kidani has been a long and passionate advocate for education.

And Senator Dela Cruz, as he's led the Ways and Means Committee visiting each of the islands, has made it clear that the days when we had academies because we wanted to create opportunities for students that were passionate about different things and got a certificate on the wall was not the goal anymore.

The goal is to go from internships to apprenticeships, to have these students in the academies working in the area that they're interested in maybe pursuing a career in later so that when they are done, it's not the paper on the wall that matters, it's the job that they have or the ability to have prepared them to, to go to college.

And he has been driving this message and changing the paradigm. And I think it's a real game changer about preparing our children to face the future and to wind up with jobs that pay better and to be able to better support their families. He has also been an advocate for purchasing vacant land.

And as you see the debates about what would be good, what would be bad, oftentimes the developer has to maximize their investment and they need that land to pay the highest and best use, but not if we own the land. And we're the State of Hawaii.

And a lot of the land that he has land banked initially was in his passion to drive the ag economy. But we are now seeing that if we control land, then if we're going to do development for affordable housing, that that is critically important.

And as there is a transition occurring on Kauai, as Steve Case has now looked at the Grove Farm properties and said, I believe that we would like to sell some of this land to see what's happening in the community.

I believe it's important for the Agribusiness Development Corporation to take possession of some of these lands that grow farm has lands that control how the water flows so we can ensure a future in farming for all of the adjacent landowners. They have land that would be great for us to build housing.

And there is land where we could relocate our prison out of Wailua where they're in a tsunami inundation zone. And we need to look at all of the opportunities that exist on each of the islands.

And with Senator Dela Cruz's track record, I am confident that the Ways and Means Committee will work with the rest of the Senate to come up with a plan that will create pathways to create that brighter future that we are all looking for. We have Senator San Buenaventura in the health space.

Health cost is just skyrocketing and she is from Puna, the Big Island. And for those of us who live in rural Oahu or the neighbor islands, having qualified health care is a challenge. I found out on Kauai last month I had right trigger finger issues, but they have a tremendous hand surgeon.

So I had surgery same day surgery done at Wilcox Hospital. And a month later I can grab the gavel with my right hand again. I am so glad I was able to rehabilitate at home where we've constructed an Ada style shower so that you could keep your incision dry and be safe. And I had cataract issues.

And there's a doctor on Kauai who had a Manhattan practice who decided that wasn't the life and the way she wanted to raise her three children. And she's on Kauai now. Took me five months to get to see her because we have so many of us aging and needing the assistance.

But I am troubled this morning because the right eye was done for distance. So I can see you better now. But if I need to actually read, I'm going to have to put my glasses on because I still can't see clear. I mean, near.

But to have someone like that on Kauai available to us, you know, is amazing. But that's a unique part of the story and not the common story for each of us. So healthcare critically important to us. And with Senator San Buenaventura's leadership, I'm excited about what's going to happen.

Senator Chang has been in the paper recently about the housing initiatives. Senator Moriwaki as the Ways and Means Vice Chair making the investment in the capital improvement projects. You know, we're excited about what we're going to do. And I see Governor Ige here and so I will share with you what I told the current governor.

He's the luckiest guy I know because we put so much money into housing with Governor Ige. But by the time you go through the planning, you get the permits, you put the things out to bid, and everything, all Governor Green is going to be doing is wearing hard hats and using shovels.

And then I guess he got upset when I was trying to give Governor Ige all the credit. So he put more money in this year's budget for affordable housing. But that says we're committed to get the affordable housing. And I wanted to use a Martin Luther King quote.

I gave it to one of my office people last night. And I said, type this in big font so I didn't have to put my glasses back on.

I can't find it here, and it's on my phone, and I don't want to pull out my phone, and I don't want to put on my glasses, and I don't want to try to make the screenshot bigger. So I'll paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, since we are on the eve of celebrating his birthday.

But the essence of one of his speeches said that everything is interconnected in this world, and everything that each and every one of us does affects and interacts with everything else around us. Now, we have a shortage of teachers, but one of the biggest obstacles to getting a teacher is that the housing is too expensive.

We have a shortage of medical professionals, nurses. The shortage of housing is an obstacle. In any business, it is an obstacle. I'm thrilled to be standing before you with one son who lives on Oahu, 20 minutes away from Kauai, and the other 15 minutes away from where we live on Kauai.

But I know there's a lot of you out there who are still fighting to get your children home or your grandchildren home. And the obstacle is the housing. But that's why we need the investment in the infrastructure.

We need to get through the permitting process and build the units faster, because this housing affects everything we're trying to do in this economy, everything in what we're trying to do in creating a better life for all of us here in Hawaii. The other interconnectedness that I'd like to talk about is agriculture.

Now, they're saying climate change and other issues are affecting some of the disasters we see. But on the wildfire front, there weren't a lot of wildfires when we were growing cane. We had active crops in the ground. And in fact, ironically, there were managed burns by the plantation as they harvested the cane.

But with the closing of sugar and so much fallow land, then we have areas that are Ripe for the fires that we see. There was a fire on West Kauai that started from Hanapepe Hawaiian Homes and was working its way west to Kamakani Village.

I was out with Bruce Robinson looking at Gay and Robinson land, and you could see the area that burned. And on the dirt road that we stood on, on one side was the black chard ground from the fire, and on the other side, Alex Su was growing crops and it was untouched.

And it stopped the fire and it protected Kamakani Village. Senator Hirono got the money for Pacific Biodiesel to start raising sunflower on Gay and Robinson property. Crush the sunflower seeds to get oil for Kauai Island Utility Cooperative to run the generators with a renewable fuel.

The leftover crushed seeds are nutrient rich for cattle, which Gay and Robinson raises. And that firebreak is there to protect the village of Kamukane, Makawele, ultimately to Waimea itself. So how do we get more of our crops or our land into active use?

Well, I begin by saying that not making the 10% goal of locally sourced food for our schools is not going to get us there.

But in the interconnectedness of this world, if we are at the public schools that serve 100,000 meals a day, buying more local produce from our farmers here, that they would be putting more of their agricultural land into cultivation, shouldn't we be spending millions of dollars to do that?

Instead of the report we just got from the ag and spending millions of dollars to put up walls and barriers to protect us from fire? Why not something that would feed our children? And then in the interconnectedness, it shows clearly that if a student has better nutrition, they have better scores.

So now we go from protecting against fire, but feeding children, giving them more nutritious meals. There may be an identified cause at the point of the cafeteria press purchase that the school lunch costs more. But we need to look beyond just one comparison on making a decision.

But we need to look at the bigger picture about how is our money being used and how are we effectively going to deliver for all of the people of Hawaii. Now, most of the food is frozen and preservatives and in freezers.

If we start using fresh food, refrigeration costs less electricity than freezers cost many of the students we have. That may be probably the best meal they're going to have because they're challenged in getting food on the table at home, paying rent, making ends meet. So wouldn't we want that to be a great meal for them?

But I say to the Department of Education. If you better understand your role in all of this and to the Department of Agriculture why this is so critical for us to expand, then hopefully we will be telling each other how we can do it and not why we can't do it.

And we're not going to be counting bottled water as part of the 5% of locally sourced products for our students. But you can read all of our stuff later.

And this is Elise Per pressure I felt on any opening day remarks that I've made, because everybody's going to want to write about what Speaker Nakamura said because she's the first woman to be the speaker of the House here in Hawaii, unlike the Progressive Senate, which has had President Colleen Hanabusa and President Donna Kim, you know.

So to my colleague from Kauai, you know, I extend my congratulations to you, and there are a few things I'd like to do before I wrap up. Gotta go this way. So I'm gonna need your help. Liliana is 12 today, and Mike Gabbard is 77 today.

But it shows that as we are moving to the twilight, we have people coming with the sunrise. So if you would join me. And I think it would be easier to say happy birthday, Lily and Mike, but somebody with a--that's a better singer than I can.

We join in singing Happy birthday Happy birthday to Lily and to Mike.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Happy birthday to you.

And while I'm not 77, but a decade behind, I'm honored today. I have several of my classmates who are here from Waimea High School. We're celebrating our 50th reunion this year. Governor Ige is also a class of 1975. Unfortunately, he went to Pearl City and not Waimea High School.

And, you know, we talk a lot in the past as we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of title IX and the impact that Congresswoman Mink had on the lives of so many young women in this country. Well, Liliana's mother, Rachel, went to Pepperdine on a golf scholarship after graduating from Kauai High School.

And we on Kauai were blessed because she chose to come home, meet her husband, raise her family here on Kauai. And with her is her daughter Carly, who's a senior in high school at Kauai High School this year. And she will be going to Oregon and she will to a small school and she will be playing soccer.

And so the opportunities that were created for the young women here continue to be reaped by our young girls. In our high schools here. And so although she's not here, how about again, another big hand for some of the effects of Congresswoman Mink.

Now I'm going to brag a little bit about my daughter in law staying on the women's team. You know, neither one of them chose to be here because they know I have a tendency to embarrass them when they're here.

But our eldest son, Dan, his wife Katie was in communications for the Department of Health and she was the face of the Department of Health during Red Hill and a strong advocate for the community here on Oahu and the protection of the aquifer and the water resource for the people of Hawaii.

She works full time in a private communications firm now, but decided a year and a half ago to go to the Richardson School of Law. So while working full time, she is doing the four year night law school program and wants to be an even more fierce advocate than she already was.

And my wife and I are incredibly proud of what both Dan and Katie have achieved. And my son Egan, I don't want to tell Dan he's my favorite, even though he's younger. And I only tease because we do have a grandson from Egan.

But his wife, who lived in Hawaii and did Teach for America, drove from Hawaii Kai to Waianae High School almost every day. She did try briefly to find a few young teachers and see if they could get their rent together and live a little closer. And it just didn't work out.

And she went back home to be with her parents. There has been in the past criticism of Teach for America because we train them and after three years they run away.

When we talk about the problems happening on the Leeward coast and we talk about bringing more law enforcement and bringing a presence in that way, how about looking at some love? How about looking at investing in them? And instead of leaving after three years at Waianae High School, she chose to stay two more years.

She would score, keep or keep statistics for the football team. She would be involved in other after school activities for the Waianae people. If you want anybody to blame, look no further than my son Egan, who convinced her to move to Kauai and invest in the students of Kauai and be with him there.

But before she moved, he put on his dress shirt, he put on his tie, the chaperone, the prom at Waianae.

So Senator Kidani, with one of her staff Members, Danisha, who is a former Cherry Blossom Queen, worked with West Oahu University and they worked with the young ladies at Waianae to get them dressed, worked with the makeup hairstylists for them to go to the prom. Why? Because we care about those students. Their lives matter.

But that's the way that we move change. My wife has several cousins here, but one of them, one of her cousins, her daughter, went to Kamehameha and eventually got her medical degree from Burns School of Medicine. She was supposed to be here today, but she couldn't juggle her patient schedule.

And realizing that her patients needs would not be met, she chose to go to work at Waianae Comprehensive, where she is hanging her shingle. Not here, downtown Rivera. I'm not saying you should go steal her for Kapiolani or Straub. She's doing great work out at Waianae Comprehensive.

But it's the young people who are making these choices to invest in the young people on the Leeward coast that I believe is going to help turn us around and all get us going in the right direction. So I'll simply end with another Martin Luther King quote. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only the light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. So let us lead with love. Let us lead with aloha. Mahalo, Senator Awa.

Mahalo. They might kick you out. Watch out. I don't want to do this in the most prestigious room in Hawaii's Legislature in front of all of the most prominent leaders who run this state. I don't want to be the one who has to point out what's going wrong. I'm one of the youngest people in here.

I don't know why I got to be that guy. Aloha. Three years ago, they pulled me off of television news and ended my career for standing up for truth and integrity. And then the people put me here. So for the past two years, this journalist in me has been collecting stories from behind government's curtain.

And today, once again, because of the people, we are back being streamed live and we welcome you into the Senate Chamber 2025 on this opening day. I hope you're all having a pleasant morning.

We begin with a new series looking into Hawaii's model, questioning whether the life of the land is really being perpetuated in righteousness or has our state become the land of the fee and the home of the ones who can pay it? I'll stop there because the last time I went anchorman in the Senate, everybody voted against us.

So I'm going to leave it up to Keahi Tucker and Joe Moore to continue that. Darrell Huff, you can Take the message back with you. You know, this is supposed to be a roast, but the Governor has a State of the state in a week and I didn't want him to get the final say.

We know he can Doctor it up really well. Plus the mayor owns the media, figuratively, much like Donovan Dela Cruz owns the Senate. Scott Psyche used to own the house, but the Mahus changes pronouns to has been. I don't want to be the one to do this, but Tumua wasn't available. Our mayor is 78 years old.

Well old enough to be my dad. And when I try to introduce new ideas there, it rarely goes well. I can only imagine how the rest of this is going to go. Joking aside, we're all more similar than we are different. Take the Governor and I. He was raised in Pennsylvania. I went there to college to wrestle.

He loves the Steelers. I'm also a fan. And back during the pandemic when the lieutenant Governor at the time was trying to be the Governor and he was hogging all the TV time, he was coming on our newscast. I was behind the desk with my coat and tie, but shorts on the bottom.

The Governor must have liked it so much that he started showing up that way too. You know, the Governor and all those who came before, they're not bad people. It's just their decisions is why Hawaii is where it is. Many of us have that voice on our shoulder that says what if?

The difference is when ours says what if we stop foreigners from buying our lands? Their says what if we get sued? I don't want to be the one to keep Governor Green from helping California fire victims.

But if he wants to fly them in and offer hotel rooms for free, what if we offer that to all the Hawaiians who've been displaced out there, all the people who used to live here who are now displaced. What if we be the bridge to bring them back? What if we took care of our own?

What if we help Lahaina victims still recovering? Are the Hawaiians in tent after 10 on the side of Waimanalo Beach? Kakaako right outside this capital. What if we help local residents who are paycheck away from losing their place? Our government keeps unveiling one affordable housing project after the next on the news.

But on the street, in our communities, we know for a fact our government solution to housing has been for us to move out of state. There is no more hiding it. We know one in three families consider it 370,000 plus Native Hawaiians are living it. We are the minority in Our own land.

I don't want to be the one to point out how many of our leaders, whether they realize it or not, have been pricing us out while they build their own Paradise. In 2014, we were paying $150,000 for the Superintendent's salary of our public schools. Today, we're paying $240,000 for that same position.

In September, KHN's headline read, Hawaii has allowed education to plummet to new lows. Governor Ige signed off on Governor Abercrombie. Excuse me, Governor Ige. We have a pretty good relationship. Signed off on that even though we still have a teacher shortage. Lunch is arguably no better, and a lack of buses comes up every year.

Still, last year, Governor Green gave his approval to raise the Superintendent's salary up to $300,000 per year if needed. And I don't want to be the one to judge, but it doesn't seem like they're spending our tax money up in Manoa any better.

We just went from paying $410,000 per year for the University of Hawaii's former President to now $675,000 per year, plus $7,000 a month for housing and 60,000 to relocate UH's new President from New York. If you're doing the calculations, that's a $28,000 check before taxes every two weeks.

Who needs a lottery when you have the Board of Regents? Over the next three years, they're set to give out $2.3 million in a payout to an individual. The board spent $150,000 just to find. That is our taxpayer money, I don't want to admit.

But, you know, our fellow Senator from Kalihi is sitting right in the crowd over here somewhere, making $72,000. She's a former Senate President. She knows the ins and outs of uh. We could have got away at the third of the cost if we tripled her salary.

It's no wonder why the City Council Members felt justified giving themselves a pay raise from $69,000 to $113,000 without giving us a say. It's okay, though. I'm sure Tommy Waters, Esther Kia, Aina, and company are giving 64% more effort every day they show up to work.

Maybe they can help us stop the luxury development at Turtle Bay, where, like many other places across the state, outside developers are being allowed to squeeze both profits and people off of our land.

I don't want to be the one to make enemies, but for as long as we've been alive, there's been barely no resistance in this building. None for the past 10 years. So we will be the ones. We will be the ones to resist all decisions that force locals to leave.

When lawmakers want to bring in out of state nurses to replace our own, we will resist. When they try to take our rights as parents, we will resist. When they force local businesses to shut down, we will resist. When the life of the land is not being perpetuated in righteousness, we will resist.

Where there is greed, we will resist. And we will represent everyone who has had to move out of state. We represent the hundreds of thousands who don't believe in government. We represent all of the people who are covered by health insurance but still can't afford to go to the Doctor.

We represent all of the locals who turned down the jab and lost their job. We represent. I realize this is getting long. I could go on and on about the policies we're pushing. But historically, because of a lack of balance in this state, the Legislature does not pass bills from our side.

If we're lucky, they'll take our ideas and run with it on. Mahalo Senator Mike Gabbard for introducing a copy of our about time Bill to stop foreigners from owning agricultural lands. Gotta be Tulsi's dad after all. We hope one day another one of our colleagues will adopt our Helion Bill to stop states from sending their homeless.

Here we have a project that could be a breakthrough solution to solving our cesspool crisis that won't cost you your house. But most importantly, this year, we'll bring transparency into the Capitol like never before. For all the brothers who is saying Trans what that means. We hired Mr.

Mean over here to broadcast to 400,000 people every day what's going on. You know, on a side note, last year we shined a light without. Without all of that falling. We shined the light on one of our bills and we just took it through the process.

And we're blessed that the Senate passed our Bill to ban foreigners as a study. We passed it over to the House, we showed people the process. When it got to the House for political reasons, they decided to not let the people speak on it. And when we showed that to the people, the reaction, many people were triggered.

And I'm side noting off the speeches because it's so important. There was threats on Representative Linda Ichiyama's life and it doesn't have to come to that, it shouldn't come to that. And while many locals have been forced to take flight and leave the state, the ones who've stayed, they'll fight to stay.

And so the more they sell all our land, the more they sell all our people, the less aloha there will be in the state. We have a Governor who is leading it. Maybe we can save the aloha. Before we go, just want to clear up a few misconceptions about our party. Get ahead of it.

They'll tell you we represent the rich. I had to move back in with my parents just to afford to do this job and I didn't take a single dollar to get reelected. They'll tell you we don't care about environment and convince you with terms like climate change.

But they resist when we plant food trees to feed our people. And they tell you that we'll hate mahus. But just ask Kumuhin up in the gallery who one of her favorite politicians is. I'm Brenton Awa, leader of the minority. Good luck. God bless. Mahalo.

Thank you, Senate Minority Leader awa. I'd also like to thank Nalani Brun. She is always great to do the national anthem and Hawaii pono. She requires no instruments, no backup, but just her powerful voice and beautiful spirit. I'd like to thank the minister who came from Lahaina.

And again, the message to Mayor Bisson who's here is that Lahaina and Maui are still very much on our minds and will be certainly an important issue as we go forward. At this time, we're going to set up for the musical entertainment and let those on my left and right go over to hear House Speaker Nakamura.

So if there are no objections, we'll call for a recess.

Will the Senate please come back into order? Madam Clerk. Nominations are now open for the office of Vice President of the Senate. Senator Moriwaki.

Mr. President, I nominate Michelle N. Kidani for Vice President. Senator Kim. President. I second the motion.

Senator Ihara.

Mr. President, I move that the nominations be closed.

Senator San Buenaventura. Mr. President, I second the motion. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Any objections? If not, the motion is carried. Senator Michelle N. Kidani is elected as Vice President of the Senate.

Madam Clerk. Senate resolution number one, electing officers of the 33rd Legislature. Be it resolved by the Senate of the 33rd Legislature of the State of Hawaii, regular session of 2025 the that the following persons are hereby elected officers of the Senate for the 33rd Legislature, State of Hawaii. Carol T. Taniguchi Clerk.

Ainoa A, Naniole Assistant Clerk, Bienvenido C. Villaflor Sergeant at Arms, CM Park Kalevahea Assistant Sergeant at Arms offered by Senators Drew Kanuha and Brenton Awa. Senator Aquino.

Mr. President, I move for the adoption of Senate resolution number one.

Senator Hashimoto.

Mr. President, I second the motion.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Any objections? If not, the motion is carried. Senate Resolution number one has been adopted. Will the officers of the Senate approach the rostrum? Will you raise your right hand? Repeat after me.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Hawaii and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as officers of the Hawaii State Senate to the best of my ability. Congratulations.

So we have about four minutes of business and then we'll take a brief recess to have our entertainer be able to set up. We have the Hoku Hoku Hanohano Award-winning artists from Kauai who will be performing when we get done with the business. Clerk.

Introduction of Senate Bill numbers one to 419. Senator Wakai.

Mr. President, I move that the Senate bills numbers one to 419 pass first reading by title and be referred to Committee.

Senator Favela. I second the motion. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Any objections? If not, the motion is carried.

Senate Concurrent Resolution number one requesting the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court to address the Legislature assembled in joint session for the State of the Judiciary Address offered by Senators Kanuha and Awa. Senator Rhoads.

Mr. President, I move for the adoption of Senate Concurrent Resolution number one.

Senator Gabbard.

Mr. President, I second the motion.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Any objections? If not, the motion is carried. Senate Concurrent resolution number one has been adopted. Are we not at referrals, Madam Clerk? Referrals and re. Referrals. Referrals and re-referrals are made in accordance with the supplemental orders of the day that may be filed later today.

At this time, the Senate would like to take a moment to make a special presentation to our newest Member. In conjunction with the 55th anniversary of statehood in 2014, we presented a very special lapel pin to current and past Senators.

This pin is a symbol of our service to the Senate and to the people of the State of Hawaii. Under Senate Rule 92, the Senate pin shall only be worn by current or past Members of this body.

Again, as I say, every time we do this, I'd like to thank former President Kim who took the initiative to have the pin created. So we appreciate this momentum that each Member will be able to take with them whether they are here or when their time here has ended.

At this time, I'd like to invite Senator Decourt to come to the rostrum to receive her Senate pin and Senator Kidani to assist me with the presentation. And now I figured out that the Deputy Clerk was sent off scurrying because we do not have the pin right here at the Ross Note.

So please come up, Senator DeCorte, and when you see the Deputy Clerk running in, you'll know that it is here. Congratulations. That's where I know I went from.

The Senate President offered to give me his pen if he doesn't come back in time.

Madam Clerk, the Assistant Clerk got back just in time. So there'll be no reconsideration on the vote for officers. No further business, Mr. President. So we have Kainani Kahaunaele. Gosh. I played basketball against one of these Kahuanaili boys. A 12-time nahoku hanohanu awardee, and is a Hawaiian song enthusiast, singer, songwriter, teacher, and musician.

She was born and raised in Anahola, Kauai and has lived in Hilo, Hawaii, Lorraine and joy for 27 years. As an advocate for Hawaiian language revitalization and the perpetuation of Hawaiian music through education and performance.

While earning her Bachelor's of Arts degree in Hawaiian Studies and master's degree in Hawaiian Literature, this talented songstress started singing professionally and composing traditional songs as Hawaiian language curriculum for Ahupunanuleo program for the Aha Punanuleo program. She was also part of Project Kuleana's inaugural videos. Kuleana Napua and all Hawaii stands together.

And like the one you saw at our opening this morning where her mother was featured, Lady Ipoh, may I present to you Kainani Kahaunaele. And apparently the sound check and everything was done. So you're ready to go. So David was 75 grand that I played basketball. Yes.

[Hawaiian Song] We can sing long time. So we get one Hana Ho ready to go. And mahalo for this honor. To be able to spread the genius of our kupuna through our mele that speak of our aina, our responsibilities and our relationship to Hawaiine, we'd like to end this set.

Oh, I better introduce my fellows here. This is my daughter. This is Kanialono Ha'apai. She took the day off from school so she could serve our lahui today. Over here. And this is Emma Coloma Nakano, also from Hilo. She took the day off too, to come and serve today.

As we know our role in Hawaiian music, in Hawaiian literature and Hawaiian stories in Hawaiian mele, it helps us to know the way, to know the path and how to navigate the future. So we take our mele seriously and we sing every song with intention.

Especially today with our mele of our land, of our politics, of our relationship to Hawaiine. So here's a song written by Dennis Kamakahi song called Na Lii Puolani.

Like to also thank Adrian Kamali for helping arrange for the musical performance this morning. For those of you who have been in the Senate for a while, if you remember, Loki, Cecile, I think maybe in 2019, performed with her daughter Sharkarillo.

And Loki also is from the small village of Anahola, which, while not large in population on Kauai, clearly is very large on talent. Are there any announcements today? Since I never recessed, Madam Clerk. If. Not, the Chair has one announcement. The list of Senate leadership and Standing Committee assignments was distributed to the Members on November 262024.

The Clerk is directed to place the same in the journal.

Senator Wakai, let's have a great spectacular session. I move to the Senate stand adjourned until 11:30am tomorrow.

Senator DeCorte

I second the motion.

It's been moved and seconded. If there are no objections from the Members, the Senate will stand adjourned until 11:30am tomorrow.