Enhance Quality of Life

Improve Employment, Education & Investment Opportunities

Upgrade Infrastructure and Review Our Master Planning Process

EMC Recommendations

Summary of Recommendations

2005 Final Report

Housing
Hawaii ranks 49th in the nation in home ownership.  The gap is widening between what a typical working family can afford and the median price.  Without adequate affordable housing, Hawaii will be unable to maintain a vibrant workforce.  A lengthy, overlapping and complicated government approval process leaves us with a limited supply of developable land, resulting in a lack of housing inventory. 

Recommendations:
1. Land Use Commission (LUC).   Its primary role should be to create a strategic, statewide land-use plan; the balance of land-use authority should reside with county planning offices.

2. Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Administration (HHFDA):   This newly created agency should play an advocacy role and support the counties and other public/private partnerships in providing housing. 

3. Kalaeloa Development: Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), in cooperation with the City & County of Honolulu, should plan an affordable community at Kalaeloa (Barbers Point) – a master-planned development with mixed-use live/work/play design.  All homes would be for owner-occupants and sold at prices that are “workforce affordable.” 

4.  Impact Fees:   State and county governments should adopt a standardized, transparent process for the assessment of impact fees and exactions for developers. 

5.  Rental Housing:   HHFDA should establish specific goals and timetables to increase the inventory of rental housing.

6.  UH Student Housing: The University of Hawaii system should use public/private partnerships to develop student housing on or near campus.

7.  Homeless:   Public/non-profit partnerships should develop transitional housing centers for the homeless with funding from both public and private sources.  Successful models include The Salvation Army, IHS and Maui’s Ka Hale A Ke Ola Resource Center. 

Education
A well-trained workforce is essential to sustain and diversify our economy, yet too many of our people are ill-prepared to enter the workforce. 

Recommendations:
8. Teacher Hiring:   The Department of Education should have the flexibility to hire the best qualified applicants for the growing number of teaching vacancies.

9. Teacher Standards Board: At least one member of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board should come from a non-teaching background.

10. Principal hiring:   The Department of Education should have the flexibility to hire the best qualified applicants for principals’ jobs.

11. School closing/consolidation:   The average public school building is 59 years old.  Nearly half of our school campuses (especially urban elementary schools) are underutilized, while 25% (especially in suburban growth areas) are overcrowded.  We have lacked the political will to close and consolidate older schools and transfer resources to growing communities.  The Board of Education should create an Education Facilities Revitalization Committee -- similar to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission that deals with military bases – to objectively examine future needs and recommend school closures/consolidations.  Proceeds from sale or lease of DOE surplus properties would be exclusively reinvested for school construction and repair.

12. Parent Education:   Pilot program to educate parents about the tragic effects of alcohol, tobacco, drug and substance abuse (ATDSA). 

13. Curriculum for Military Dependents: Military dependents have special challenges as a result of frequent relocations and parent deployments.  Many of these children transfer to Hawaii from Department of Defense schools elsewhere that use a comprehensive federal curriculum.  Pilot schools on military bases should be allowed to adopt this curriculum. 

Workforce Development
Current workforce training programs are fragmented and poorly coordinated due to independent bureaucracies at both the county and state levels. 

Recommendations:
14. University of Hawaii’s mission needs to be more fully aligned with the workforce needs of our state, especially in critical areas (i.e., nursing, teaching and engineering). The UH system should lay out a specific plan to train students to fill existing and future workforce needs. 

15. Adult Education: Administration and funding of adult education programs should be transferred from the DOE to the UH Community College system.

16. “Rapid Response” Training: Community colleges should establish “Rapid Response” workforce training programs tailored to community needs. 

17.  New Role for DBEDT:   We recommend merger of the workforce development programs of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations into the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

18.  Workforce Training Partnerships: Formation of a business/labor/education partnership council to work with the Economic Development Boards,  DBEDT and others to strengthen and expand programs.

Tourism
Historically, we have measured the success of tourism in terms of visitor count growth.  The tourism industry is making a fundamental shift in visitor mix from quantity to quality (or volume to margin).  To attract high-end visitors, we need a continued commitment to improve both private and public infrastructure.  An excellent example is the public and private upgrades in Waikiki; a poor example is Honolulu Airport.

Recommendations:
19. Airport Facilities: Honolulu Airport’s Wiki Wiki shuttle is dilapidated; customs facilities are overcrowded; there is no aloha experience.  The Department of Transportation should implement a redevelopment plan for all airports combining state-of-the-art facilities with an authentic Hawaiian experience. 

20. Zoning and permits: We recommend that :(1) the county permitting process continue to be streamlined and (2) zoning regulations be reviewed to eliminate those that inhibit upgrades to tourism plant infrastructure. 

Agriculture
With the decline of sugar and pineapple, agriculture has shifted from quantity to quality via diversified agriculture.  For agriculture to be sustainable, there must be changes in land designation, outdated regulatory restrictions and infrastructure.

Recommendations:
21. “Important Agricultural Lands:” This year’s Act 183 established a process to identify “important agricultural lands (IAL)” and to encourage investment in agriculture on these lands.  The counties and Land Use Commission should be required to complete their analysis under Act 183 within 12 months.

22. Ag subdivision requirements:   Counties should amend inappropriate residential subdivision requirements for these agricultural lands.  For example, sidewalks and street lights are unnecessary for these properties. 

23.  Ag/residential developments: Owners of agricultural lands should be allowed to apply for rezoning to allow residential development on the periphery of agricultural subdivisions -- with a buffer green-belt separating housing from farming.  These areas should be designated “Important Agricultural Lands (IAL)” to perpetuate their exclusive availability for agricultural use. Rules should require that, in lieu of other exactions, a portion of the revenues generated from the housing be reinvested in needed agricultural infrastructure (irrigation water, roads, etc.)

Energy
Hawaii is the most oil dependent state and pays the highest energy prices in the nation, especially for electricity or automobile gasoline. 

Recommendations:
24. Peak electricity usage: The Public Utilities Commission should adopt a time/usage rate base formula to give consumers choice and to encourage conservation during peak hours. Hawaii’s utilities move with dispatch to put in place the technology required. 

25. Energy-efficient buildings: All new state buildings should meet energy efficiency standards set forth in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the UH Center for Smart Building and Community Design. Counties should adopt building codes that require increased energy efficiency in new construction and major remodels.

26. Renewable energy:   New legislation should: (1) encourage production and use of biofuels; (2) require biodiesel fuel utilization and (3) streamline the permitting process for development of renewable energy projects. 

27. Energy tax credits: Renewable energy tax credits scheduled to expire in 2008 should be extended and increased. 

Healthcare
America’s healthcare delivery system is marked by spiraling costs, inefficiencies, and unacceptable and uneven quality.  We need to control costs, while insuring that the providers of healthcare are adequately reimbursed by both private insurers and government programs.  

Recommendation:
28.  A Regional Health Information Organization should be formed to develop an electronic medical records system and digital connectivity among healthcare providers for individual personal health records for the people of Hawaii. 

Environment
The health of our economy and lifestyle is linked to the health of Hawaii’s unique natural resources.  Ninety percent of Hawaii’s 10,000 native plants, animals and fishes exist nowhere else on earth. 

Recommendations:
29. Watershed management.   Sufficient resources should be allocated to insure that our forested watersheds are managed and protected.

30. Invasive species.   The cost to control invasive species already in Hawaii, such as termites, fruit flies and Miconia, runs in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  Prevention costs far less.  User fees paid by importers/shippers to support Department of Agriculture inspection programs should be adequate to properly fund prevention and quarantine programs.  Additionally, state plant import regulations should be required to include an “approved list” approach for new plant introductions.

31. Marine managed areas. Marine life in near-shore fisheries has decreased significantly.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources should propose a statewide Marine Managed Area plan balancing cultural, community and recreational requirements with the need to replenish fisheries.

Tax Policy
The state is projected to have a significant budget surplus in 2006/2007 due to a much stronger economy than originally forecasted.  The debate will be how to spend/invest/rebate the surplus. 

Recommendation:
32. Tax rebate/food and drug tax moratorium.  A portion of the surplus should be rebated to taxpayers, as called for in our State Constitution.  One recommended method is a moratorium on the 4% General Excise Tax for food and over-the-counter medication.  Proportionally, this tax reduction would be of more benefit to those with lower incomes.

Infrastructure
Hawaii’s port system is of primary importance to this island state.  It is projected that Honolulu Harbor will run out of space for international cargo this year and for domestic cargo in 2010.  The last Harbor Master Plan for Oahu was prepared in 1997 and the needed improvements have yet to be implemented.  Master plans for most Neighbor Island harbors do not exist.

Recommendations:
33. Harbor Master Plan. A public/private partnership should update and implement a master plan for all commercial harbors, incorporating the views of harbor users, the community, and government.  The plan should have specific deadlines to hold the state Department of Transportation accountable for results.

34. Small-boat harbors.  Our small-boat harbors are at overcapacity and in disrepair.  The Legislature should pass a resolution giving the DLNR the ability to lease small-boat harbors to either the counties or private concessions, with requirements that: (1) a portion of the slip inventory must be affordably priced for local residents and (2) lessees must upgrade and expand these facilities.

Host Culture
The health of Hawaii’s economy, our quality of life, and ultimately Hawaii’s collective identity are founded on a vibrant Native Hawaiian culture and value system.  This in turn depends upon a host Native Hawaiian population that is: well educated, healthy, productively employed, adequately housed, and actively involved in perpetuating and sharing a vibrant Native Hawaiian culture.

Recommendation:
35. Support Programs for Native Hawaiians: Increasing legal challenges threaten to undermine significant programs in Hawai’i dedicated to perpetuating Native Hawaiian culture and practice.  These legal challenges also threaten programs providing quality education, health, employment and housing for Native Hawaiians.  The Commission endorses the Executive branch and the State Legislature’s support of the initiation, retention and expansion of these programs, including support for the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005.