Pioneered "paperless Legislature" & government transparency
Q: Hawaii's public records law mandates that public records be made available whenever possible. Yet many citizens are unable to afford the costs that state and local government agencies impose.
Would you support eliminating search and redaction charges and making records free to the public except for basic copying costs?
A: Yes. We need to limit charges to basic copying costs.
I pioneered the use of technology in state government to help transparency: the paperless Legislature that increases information access and eases the burden of submitting testimony; and creation of the
Capitol Public Access Room that provides assistance to individuals participating in the legislative process.
For those who haven't noticed, innovation, fuelled by technology, is driving the global economy at breakneck speed. We simply must create an economic environment that enables
Hawaii's entrepreneurs to turn ideas into products and services so that we can compete in today's global economy. And we know that deploying a strong broadband capacity is critical to that kind of environment.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Hawaii legislature
, Jan 25, 2016
State was unprepared for accidental emergency alert
Hanabusa attempted to make the race about leadership, by focusing on lapses such as the Jan. 13 missile alert that caused a public panic, and the 38-minute delay by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency in notifying the public that it was a false alarm.
From the start of his administration, Ige's critics tried to portray him as indecisive and ineffective. When HI-EMA took 38 minutes to officially cancel the false alarm, that played into the political narrative of Ige's opponents.
Ige admitted the state was unprepared for the accidental alert, but said steps were taken to make sure it would never happen again. The worker who triggered the alarm was terminated while two others resigned, and Ige said his administration
was "open and transparent" about the inquiry into the false alarm. Later in the election season, Ige clearly benefited from the state's handling of flooding on Kauai and the Kilauea volcanic eruption in Puna.
The pandemic has accelerated economic trends that were already underway. They include the rise in remote work and the demand for digital skills. The pivot to a digital economy will serve as a foundation for our economic resilience. In a digital
economy, it doesn't matter where your workstation is located, Hawai?i's workforce can compete globally. I am calling for the creation of a program of action to not just reboot but to upgrade our economy. To create a Hawai?i 2.0, if you will.
I can assure you that broadband will be a priority for the state in the coming years. Part of our task is to make sure that a student in Nanakuli can access an online lesson plan as easily as a student in Kahala--and that, in a digital Hawai?i,
everyone's connected. Likewise, with an FCC grant, we will support a telehealth initiative to connect low-income patients with high medical risks to healthcare providers. DHHL will receive at least $30 million in federal funds to benefit Native Hawaiians
Internet expansion to connect all main Hawaiian Islands
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's about the crucial role that the internet plays in all of our lives. That's why we're leveraging state resources to maximize federal funding for Broadband and proposing the largest investment in technology
in state history--a total of more than $400 million. We're calling it Apakau Ka La, "spreading of the sun's rays." It is critical infrastructure for the future connecting all of the main Hawaiian Islands.
Source: 2022 State of the State Address to the Hawaii legislature
, Jan 24, 2022