Governor Josh Green, M.D.

 

Aloha,

As we started the 2024 legislative session, I delivered my second annual State of the State address on January 22. The address proposed legislative and executive action to support further recovery for the people of Maui; to make housing more available and affordable for Hawai‘i residents; to reduce homelessness, and to lower the cost of living in our state.

I also highlighted a few of my administration’s successes:

•      We started phase one of the Green Affordability Plan;

•      My team negotiated a new four-year contract with the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association;

•      I signed the Emergency Proclamation on Housing to immediately approve approximately 10,800 units of low-income income housing for struggling families;

•      We created the Maui Recovery Fund to rapidly provide funds to families who lost loved ones or who suffered serious injuries in the fires;

•      We initiated Pūlama Ola, the first medical respite kauhale that provided invaluable lessons which will be used at additional kauhale set to open across the state to address homelessness;

•      We conducted the first significant gun buyback initiative in the state and removed some 500 firearms from O‘ahu’s streets.

Looking forward, I plan to continue taking bold action to add­ress my main priorities — Maui’s recovery, affordable housing, homelessness, health care, and climate change.

Although we have faced great challenges and suffered even greater loss over the past year — we must continue to come together as one ‘ohana so we can recover and heal.

I know that if we continue to support each other, we can build a better tomorrow for our next generation.

Mahalo,