Policies for the People

Citizens United was a sham of a ruling that essentially enshrined the idea that “money equals power” by concluding that spending money constitutes free speech. Do you think that one person’s voice should seem like a million voices just because they pay others to repeat their words? Hawai’i’s recent state law against Citizens United was a great win, but we shouldn’t stop there; we need every tool at our disposal to combat money in politics. That’s why I would propose a simple tax on political contributions. This tax would not be in danger from nonsensical court rulings that have struck down past challenges to Citizens United because it does not attempt to regulate speech in any manner. It is simply taxing the money that campaigns receive. If the support is there, we could also propose taxing political spending from campaigns.

Where would the proceeds from this tax go? It could be used for public campaign funds similar to many developed countries. Or it could simply go back to we the people as compensation for the assault on our time and attention by political ads.

If elected, I would propose federal tax breaks on money earned and spent on things that are pono, which in this context means things that have been scientifically shown to increase societal health and well-being. Some examples of pono things are education, healthcare, food security, clean environments, walkable neighborhoods, carbon neutral energy, arts & culture; to name a few.

The PONO (People are Over Negative Occupations) Act would help people make decisions that further their pursuit of happiness without having to resort to selling their labor to profit-driven soul-crushing corporations.

Similar to the PONO Act, the MATCHA Act would match federal funds to State of Hawai’i and Office of Hawai’ian Affairs expenditures that go towards policies that strengthen resilience against climate change. For example, state refunds for things such as solar panels or atmospheric water generators would be doubled via federal matching.

In Hawai’i, active duty service members in the military receive an average of $3700/month, tax-free, to be spent on rent or mortgage payments. That works out to $45400 in one year. The annual minimum salary in Hawai’i is $33280. If elected to Congress, I will work to end this handout so that out of state military do not unfairly compete with locals in O’ahu’s limited housing market.

O’ahu’s habitable land is already much smaller than many cities on the mainland, but military properties account for 30-35% of habitable land. Despite the vast acreage that the military owns on O’ahu, only 60% of active duty service members are housed on bases. Local housing gets burdened with the other 40%, which total about 20000 (other family members not included). Adopting a policy of 100% on-base housing for active duty service members would lower housing costs for locals by increasing the supply of housing.

Almost all active duty service members remain a resident of their home state for tax purposes. Therefore, their state income taxes go to their mainland state of residence and not Hawai’i. That is absolutely unfair and it needs to be corrected so that our state gets the appropriate funding to upkeep our infrastructure that resident service members use.

Health insurance companies are the middlemen who have pushed aside doctors’ order in favor of the bottom line. America spends more money per patient to get worse results than any other developed nation. Not only that, tying healthcare to employment limits entrepreneurialism because people can’t take the risk of starting their own ventures without leaving their full-time jobs. It’s time to put our tax dollars towards Medicare for All to get the healthcare we deserve.

Our sitting president has clearly demonstrated that the presidential pardon cannot be trusted to any one person. Despite its well-meaning intention, the presidential pardon has been thoroughly abused in order to reward the president’s friends for acts that would keep most of us in prison. Congress must perform its duty to check the executive branch and abolish the presidential pardon. If elected, I will work to abolish the presidential pardon.

The Electoral College was one of the costs of the 3/5 Compromise. In addition to its racist origins, the Electoral College today disenfranchises pretty much all American voters that don’t live in a swing state. It is one of the most insidious forms of voter suppression. No other nation on earth has an electoral college. If elected, I will work to abolish the Electoral College and install a national popular vote for president.

This is one of the most popular measures amongst all Americans, and yet, Congress never passes legislation that limits how many terms someone can serve in Congress. I believe in giving other people a shot at governance because who knows what ideas they may have. If the presidency can be limited to two terms, a representative can be limited to three and a senator can be limited to two.

The current number of U.S. Representatives is limited to 435 by an almost 100 year old law. As of 2026, that means Hawai’i has one representative per 700,000 people. Such a large ratio of constituents to representative fails to serve the needs of the people adequately. The neighbor islands all have to share a representative with the west side and north shore of O’ahu. If elected, I will work to pass a new Apportionment Act that requires states to have 1 representative per 100,000 constituents. For Hawai’i that would mean 10 representatives for O’ahu, 2 for Big Island, 1 for Kaua’i, and 1 for Maui, Moloka’i, and Lana’i. Each Congressperson would be more representative of their constituents. Community needs would be better served. More everyday citizens can participate in federal office. Political ad spending and donations, and therefore their power, would be diluted.