Hawai‘i is unaffordable because powerful interests have shaped our laws in ways that protect profit instead of protecting people. Families feel squeezed not because Hawai‘i lacks resources, but because those resources have been captured by a small group of investors, corporate landlords, and lobbyists who know how to work the system to their advantage. As a former civics teacher, I feel a responsibility to name these structures honestly and to push for governance grounded in transparency, solidarity, and aloha — not insider politics that keep working families on the margins. Legislative reform is not procedural housekeeping; it is essential to building a Hawai‘i our keiki deserve.

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As a Democrat, I believe our party has both the obligation and the opportunity to lead with integrity — to choose working families over wealthy donors, to choose long-term affordability over short-term political comfort, to choose truth over convenience. My reform agenda is rooted in the understanding that meaningful change must come from within: by challenging norms that have allowed concentrated power to steer policy; by refusing to look away from corruption, loopholes, or sweetheart deals; and by insisting that the Democratic Party live up to its values of justice, equity, and care.

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Building a Hawai‘i our keiki deserve means confronting the systems and practices that make our state unaffordable — including pay-to-play politics, opaque decision-making, and backdoor maneuvers that leave the public shut out. It means ensuring that hearings are accessible, bills are trackable, and negotiations are visible to the people affected by them. Unaffordability thrives where influence hides. A future worthy of our keiki depends on a Legislature whose workings are honest, accountable, and accessible to all.

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This work also requires redefining what responsible governance looks like. That is why I have fought for progressive revenue reforms, budget transparency, and constitutional amendments that protect basic rights our families need: the right to a fully funded public education, the right to health care, and the right to communities not governed by corporate landlords, luxury STR operators, REITs, and speculative investors. Legislative reform is how we make these rights real — by ensuring that public decisions serve public good.

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Within the Democratic Party, I advocate for a politics rooted in integrity: telling the truth about extraction, naming who benefits and who pays, and refusing to allow procedural maneuvers to mask moral choices. Floor speeches have become my public testimony; I've seen hearings become civic classrooms; and votes are becoming moments of clarity about the kind of Hawai‘i we are building — and for whom. My goal is not to divide our party, but to strengthen it by aligning our actions with the Hawai‘i our keiki deserve.

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A legislature rooted in aloha, integrity, and accountability is the foundation for a livable future. When our political system operates honestly and our party leads with courage, we can build a Hawai‘i where families can afford to stay, where the history of this place informs our path forward, and where every child has the chance to thrive. Legislative reform is not a side project — it is how we create a Hawai‘i our keiki deserve.