No Democratic Party priorities accomplished this season

“So are you saying that 90% of the state House incumbents basically suck?” This question was received in response to a recent blog post at garyhooser.blog.

“A fair question. Basically, I think that a majority either look at the world through a different lens and/or are too meek to speak out,” I replied.

Readers are invited to grade the state House and Senate themselves. Here are the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i’s top legislative priorities for 2019. Guess how many have been accomplished?

Tier One – Top priorities

• Raising the minimum wage and establishing a living wage;

• Increasing gunding for public education;

• Legalizing recreational cannabis.

Tier Two – Important policies that need action

• Establishing collective bargaining for graduate students;

• Investing in veterans treatment court;

• Developing neighbor island video conferencing for public hearings;

• Establishing single-payer health care (Medicare for all) in Hawai‘i.

Tier Three – Issues to begin working towards

• Improving access to behavioral-health services;

• Reforming the criminal justice and bail systems;

• Establishing publicly-funded elections.

The reality is that nothing on this list has been accomplished, and barely any meaningful movement at all has occurred.

Yes, both the Senate and the House are responsible for the ongoing failure to support the priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, but the House has stood out as the No. 1 culprit in preventing the No. 1 party priority from passing into law.

In 2019 the Senate was poised to agree to a $15 minimum wage, the governor expressed his support for a $15 minimum wage, and House Leadership killed it in conference committee. Meanwhile, the minimum wage sits at $10.10 per hour, while the cost to merely subsist exceeds $17.

So back to the original question: “Do 90% of the House incumbents basically suck?

The answer is clearly no. Are a majority in the House far too timid in their approach to supporting the very basic and straightforward issue priorities put forth by their own political party? The answer here would be yes, and too often that timidity looks and feels like negligence.

Fortunately, there are a handful of champions in the House willing to speak out, who support an actual living wage, who passionately fight for environmental protections, who believe in fully funding education, and that health care for all is a human right. And, thankfully, there are many others who also serve in the Legislature that, while less bold in their advocacy, would do the right thing and vote the right way IF their leadership actually led the way.

This all begs the question: How do we build a legislative body that has a majority who actually believes in this stuff (economic, environmental and social justice) — and is willing to fight hard for it?

The upcoming primary election on Saturday, Aug. 8 (with ballots being mailed out in less than three weeks), is the most urgent and obvious next step toward this goal. Statewide, there are at least 17 candidates running for election to the state House who do believe in this stuff and are willing to fight for it.

The other important part that does not go away regardless of who is elected and who is not, is the ongoing need for basic civic engagement. Each of us must be involved and make paying attention to our government a permanent requirement of our personal citizenship.

Please take action today, research the candidates running in your district and around the state. Find a candidate or candidates that you like and support them. Get informed, submit testimony, attend the hearings, write letters to the editor and talk to your friends and neighbors about the issues.

We have three weeks to meaningfully engage the electoral process statewide, and a lifetime to own our personal civic responsibility.

The choice is ours to make. We can remain complacent and accept the status quo, or fully engage the opportunity before us and win.

•••

Gary Hooser formerly served in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Council, and was the former director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control. He serves presently in a volunteer capacity as board president of the Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action and is executive director of the Pono Hawai‘i Initiative.