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Working Families
Creating the Affordable, Caring Hawaiʻi Our Keiki Deserve
From Waipio Acres to Wahiawā to Waialua, our families work hard every day to care for one another and keep our communities strong. Yet too many working families face rising costs, stagnant wages, and systems that make it harder—not easier—to stay rooted in the places we love. As elected representatives, we are responsible to challenge the structures that drive unaffordability and to fight for policies that honor the dignity of working people, kūpuna, and keiki. That challenge and responsiibility initially took shape, for me, through my connection with my own labor union, HSTA.
Protecting Homes for People, Not Profits
A Hawaiʻi our keiki deserve begins with housing our families. Inspired by my involvement with Aikea, I have been fighting to make housing more affordable by pushing for renter protections, accountability for corporate landlords and luxury STR operators, and permanent affordability strategies that prevent speculation from hollowing out our communities. Protecting our agricultural lands from speculation and conversion is also essential, because when farmland is treated as a real estate asset instead of a community resource, it drives up housing costs, destabilizes local food systems, and erodes the very foundation of a livable Hawaiʻi for our keiki. Families in Central Oʻahu deserve safe, stable, affordable homes—not a market dominated by outside investors and REITs.
Local Food, Local Jobs, Local Resilience
Affordability also means ensuring that every family has reliable access to healthy, local food. As someone who grew up on a subsistence farm, I know that strengthening our food systems through regenerative agriculture, local producers, and community food networks reduces vulnerability, supports local jobs, and builds resilience in a changing climate. That’s why I’ve championed farm-to-school and farm-to-state procurement reforms that prioritize buying local, ensuring that our public institutions invest directly in Hawaiʻi’s farmers and keep food dollars circulating in our communities rather than flowing to off-island distributors. I have also worked to strengthen regulations and support workforce pipelines for restorative aquaculture grounded in ʻike kupuna—from revitalizing loko iʻa to expanding limu cultivation—creating pathways for local residents to steward our nearshore waters while growing sustainable, Hawaiʻi-raised protein for our communities. When our food systems are strong, our families are strong.
Investing in Care: Investing in Our Future
Working families also need a care-based economy—one that values caregiving as the foundation of our society, not an afterthought. My connection to working-class communities across Oʻahu through public education and labor union activism grounds my support for expanded early childcare, public pre-K, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), as well as policies that allow kūpuna to age in place with dignity. Care is not a cost to contain; it is the infrastructure that allows families to thrive. Health care is essential to family security, yet our community knows what it means to lose it: the closure of Wahiawā General Hospital was a devastating blow to our region, creating a medical desert for working families who rely on nearby emergency care. At the same time, recent cuts to Medicaid and ACA subsidies have placed additional strain on families already struggling to afford basic care. New federal rollbacks to Medicaid eligibility and reductions to ACA premium subsidies mean thousands more families in Hawaiʻi are now at risk of losing coverage or facing unaffordable out-of-pocket costs, widening health inequities and deepening financial strain for working households.
Local Food, Local Jobs, Local Resilience
I am fighting to reverse these cuts, expand access to care, and build a system where no one is left behind. This fight is going to take all of us, a strong sense of solidarity with those who are really struggling in Hawaiʻi - and I know, from joining other community members to support local workers, that when we fight, we win. That is why I am introducing a Constitutional Amendment (ConAm) declaring health care a human right and advancing legislation to create the Hawaiʻi Medicare for All Task Force, ensuring we move toward a universal, equitable system that centers patients—not profits.For Wahiawā, Waipio Acres, and Waialua, affordability, care, and community resilience are inseparable. Working families need stable housing, reliable food systems, accessible health care, safe transportation, fully funded schools, and a government that honors their contributions.
My commitment is to fight for a Hawaiʻi where families can afford to stay, where kūpuna are cared for, and where our keiki inherit a future filled with possibility.
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