Health & Social Services
43 Continue funding for human and social service programs for lowincome, disadvantaged, and needy individuals and families. Appropriate adequate funding for mental health and social problems resulting from economic dislocation.
44 Support the development and adequate funding of programs for child care, elder care, and the like. Support a financing mechanism to provide for the long-term care needs of the elderly and disabled.
45 Support programs to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Hawaii residents through discounts, rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers, and purchases from foreign countries.
46 Oppose measures using welfare recipients and “work experience” trainees to displace current public or private sector workers or to encourage or subsidize the replacement of existing workers.
47 Support the State Med-QUEST programs with adequate funding.
48 Support legislation and funding (if necessary) to provide for health insurance coverage and access to health care for all of Hawaii’s people.
49 Support requiring employers under insurance law to provide health insurance to those not required coverage under the Prepaid Health Care Act.
50 Support exploration of ways and means to reduce health care costs and medical insurance premiums.
51 Support funding to ensure the delivery of good health care (including adequate staffing) to rural areas of the State. General support for the statewide hospital system.
52 Continue support for protection of the elderly against physical, mental and financial abuse and neglect by family members and other caregivers.
53 Increase Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements to hospitals.
54 Support rehabilitation of prison inmates, including re-training to facilitate transition when released from prison.
Housing
55 Support state programs to provide affordable housing to low and moderate income families and individuals through grants and subsidies, including employee housing. Support development of affordable rental housing throughout the State.
56 Support funding to provide lower cost financing for moderate income home buyers.
57 Support legislation and funding for low-cost housing programs (i.e., homeownership and affordable rental) for residents of former plantation housing. Protect residents of employee housing from eviction due to lease changes or unfair rental agreements.
58 Support a non-recourse law to limit mortgage lenders from pursuing the borrower’s other or future,
Primary & Secondary Education
59 Support the integrated, statewide school system that ensures equalization of opportunity in education, especially for rural Oahu and the neighbor islands.
60 Oppose school voucher programs.
61 Support implementation of incentives (including teacher housing) to reduce teacher turnover in rural areas.
62 Support programs for drug awareness, teen pregnancy prevention, family crisis intervention, etc. in the public schools and the community.
63 Support implementation (including financial assistance) of universal early childhood education that promotes child care and optimal educational nurturing during the child’s first five years.
64 Support continuation of funding for class size reduction at the elementary and intermediate school level.
65 Support adequate funding for the A+ program for elementary-age children.
66 Support physical education and art and music education in the public schools.
67 Support education about labor unions, worker rights, labor laws, and labor history in the public schools.
68 Support legislation to provide for leave from work for private sector employees to attend parent-teacher conferences.
69 Support State and County cooperation to build covered bus stops, where feasible, for students using the State school bus system.
70 Support adequate funding for capital improvements based on a priority for permanent buildings. Support additional funding for needed repairs at existing public schools. Support upgrading electrical systems in schools to facilitate hardwiring of classrooms and more computers.
71 Support air-conditioning of all public school classrooms. Support alternative energy options to power air-conditioning.
72 Support secure and safe school environments.
Higher Education & Hawaii History
73 Support public higher education to ensure the priority of serving students, especially undergraduate instruction and career counseling.
74 Continue support for the Center for Labor Education and Research (CLEAR). Provide for sufficient funding and adequate permanent staffing. Support funding of labor-related television programming.
75 Support funding for preservation of Hawaii’s film and video historical resources. Support Ethnic Studies and Oral History research and education.
76 Support a four-year college on Maui.
Civil Liberties & Social Concerns
77 Support civil rights and oppose discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability.
78 Oppose capital punishment.
79 Oppose invasion of privacy. Support legislation providing necessary safeguards and protections (and bans, in certain instances) from unnecessary intrusions on privacy (i.e., lie detector tests, genetic testing, search and seizure, pre-employment and unrelated credit checks, etc.).
80 Reaffirm support for personal choice in reproductive decisions.
81 Support measures to simplify the voter registration process, including online and same-day registration. Support paper ballots and oppose voting by computer.
82 Support protection of “free speech” access at shopping malls, resorts and other similar “quasi-public” facilities for distribution of information.
83 Support legislation to protect homeowners from “predatory lending” practices.
84 Support “death with dignity” to allow individuals under specified circumstances the legal and medical option to end their lives.
85 Oppose “publicly funded elections.”
86 Support the Constitutional right to bear arms.
Taxation
87 Support continuation of centralized taxation authority by the State. Support necessary grant-in-aid to the Counties to provide for needed services in a manner that will allow the Counties some certainty for budgeting purposes.
88 Charge the transient accommodation tax (TAT) on the retail price of a hotel room rather than the discounted wholesale price. Charge timeshare units the equivalent amount of the TAT.
89 Oppose state taxation of retirement income.
90 Exempt local residents from payment of the TAT and the tax on car rentals. 91 Rail Transit. Reaffirm support for the rail transit project on Oahu by supporting, if necessary, retention of the .5% general excise tax (GET) assessed only in the City & County of Honolulu beyond the 12/31/2022 sunset. Oppose the State “taking” or “redirecting” the rail tax.
Transportation
92 Support continued protection of the Jones Act and the Passenger Service Act.
93 Continue to oppose deregulation of the trucking industry. Support PUC oversight and jurisdiction of trucking industry regulations.
94 Support alternative transportation solutions (i.e., rail, ferry, etc.) to ease traffic congestion. Support funding of fixed rail mass transit on Oahu. 95 Support improvements to State highways on all islands.