[applause] [applause] [ applause ] jamie, lieutenant governor, speaker, senate president, colleagues, governors, mayors, jamie, lieutenant governor, speaker, senate president, colleagues, governors, mayors,

council animals, -- members, cabinet members who have been so wonderful, state leaders and all the people of hawaii, aloha. our state suffered a tragic and devastating loss when fire swept through areas of maui. i would like to take a moment to honor the memory of those we lost that day in 2023. please join me in a moment of silence to honor them. i want to express a heartfelt to everyone who is held in support of the survivors of

this tragedy over the last 5 1/2 months. people have been so brave in the face of tough times. i also want to say i respect those who oppressed us to do more to help those in need. it has been an extraordinary and humbling experience to serve as your governor over the past year. jamie and i are deeply grateful for your support and encouragement. today i'm here to report that, although we faced great challenges and suffered even greater loss over the past year, we have come together as one to recover and heal. i am here to report that the state of hawaii is strong. [ applause ] fires. we lost 100 of our loved ones in the fire in the lives of thousands more were changed that day. first, response to the maui

fires. we lost 100 of our loved ones in the fire and the lives of thousands more were changed that day. hurricane force winds fan fires over the islands of maui and hawaii, causing the worst natural disaster in our state's history. words cannot adequately describe the devastation caused by the fires. it scorched thousands of acres and destroyed nearly all of lahaini. at this moment, i want to recognize the maui mayor who strengthened in the face of this disaster. is the most admirable. [ applause ] keahi ho and koa bonnell. please stands we can recognize you and all of your fellow fire two of the brave maui w firefighters are here with us today. please stand so we can recognize you and all your fellow firefighters who put yourselves in harms way. [ applause ] >> chief of police pelletier,

who can't be with us today was work, who was alongside the firefighters and first responders and you let his police force i the chief of police who can't be with us today was alongside the firefighters and first responders. he led his police force into the disaster area to help rescue people. few people other than the survivors from lahaini can fully understand what it was like that day on the ground for police and firefighters. we are honored to know you. one more round of applause for these heroes. [ applause ] these men and women knew what they were facing when they went into the fire. many new their own homes would be destroyed, and some didn't know if their family were safe. that is what they were facing. they went in any way. what they did was so truly heroic that i don't know if

there will ever be words to capture that. communities across the state quickly joined them, join together in support of the thousands of displaced visitors, survivors, forgive me. among the very first immobilize community members across maui, archie, you are one of our heroes. please stand. [ applause ] more than anyone coy imagine and that was chad buckoy and his ohana. and if the witness us generosity in my life and the kindness you another individual stepped up more than anyone could possibly imagine. that was chad buck. i never witnessed such jenna ryan city and the kindness you brought to this disaster. please stand and be recognized. [ applause ] the entire hotel community on maui, including jeff wagner, jerry gibson and my dear friend, thank you for stepping up in our community needed you the most a house

people who have been displaced. mahalo for your incredible work. [ applause ] as these heroes worked in the fire, state agencies, including department of education, health, human services, all began immediately working alongside fema and maui county with the red cross to provide meals, temporary housing and new schools, as well as supportive services for disaster relief program, which included financial recovery, medical and mental healthcare, which was so critically important. concerned citizens and organizations such as the hawaii community foundation, the red cross, and so many others immediately mobilized donation drives a brought tens of millions of dollars to the effort. imported from all over the world. working with these partners in the first two weeks after august 8 we relocated 8000 displaced people into hotel rooms and condos across maui.

[ applause ] dollars of housing system to those who needed were affected and this is just beginning of the effort. in a few short months we have already dispersed over hundreds of millions of dollars of housing assistance to those who need it. those that this is just the beginning of the effort. disasters as severe as this one can take years to recover from. i am especially grateful to other individuals that have become local leaders and were already in our midst helping our state for years in the past. these individuals right now i would like to recognize our. let's give them a round of applause. [ applause ] viding leadership alongside all of our government and then today fema is rigid over 17,000 survivors they have been providing inspiring leadership alongside all of our government. to date, fema has registered over 17,000 survivors for services and will begin to provide them the long-term housing they need, 18 to 24

months of rental assistance, well into 2025. the american red cross also, in full partnership with us, is currently helping to house over 2300 families, more than 5000 individuals, in more than 30 hotels across maui. it is a team effort. as governor, i authorized an additional $100 million from temporary assistance for needy families to match what others were donating, effectively doubling the power of public contributions to help those affected families pay for housing, transportation, food, clothing, and any need that arose. [ applause ] because of legislature stepped up we also provide relief to local businesses the form of emergency grants to be distributed by t because ofau legislature steppi up, we provided relief to local businesses in the form of emergency grants to be disturbed by the maui economic opportunity team aimed at preventing bankruptcies. working with house and senate leaders him and a partnership

with maui county, we made $12.5 million available in the form of grants of up to $20,000 each to help local businesses survive and recover. [ applause ] what does this all mean? the road to recovery will be long. healing will take time. it will take courage and commitment from all of us. but we will get there as we come together as an ohana to help the maui community. [ applause ] now let's discuss the immediate recovery efforts on maui. we set aside up to $600 million in the budget for recovery costs that will continue well into 2027. i have worked with president biden and his administration directly to ensure that federal funds will pay for 100% of debris removal and emergency protective members -- measures and the disaster areas. support that will save us hundreds of millions of dollars

as we recover. in november we brought a coalition together additionally to create the maui recovery fund, which will rapidly provide funds to families who have lost a loved one or who have been severely injured in the fires. participation in this fund, as i have shared before, will be completely voluntary. the goal is to get as much money as possible to affected families as quickly as possible. we've already secured $175 million for the fund from our initial partners, including the state, maui county, schools, hawaiian electric, charter communications and hawaii telecom. [ applause ] this fun with pro bono services from first hawaiian bank and of the king and my and professionals can leaders across the country don't for example, with 9/11, and we expect to have this fun set up and running by march 1 to offer in order to operationalize thist fund, we have pro bono services from first hawaiian bank and other community minded professionals, leaders across the country who dealt with 9/11, for example, and we expect to have this fund set up and running by march 1 to offer support to the families in maui

who have lost so much. [ applause ] most central on the peoples mind in maui is housing. let's discuss the housing plan. earlier this month we announce the maui interim housing plan of $500 million to create a pool of more than 3000 housing units for at least 18 months to house those who have been displaced by the fires. this collaborative effort brings together the state, the county of maui, the hawaii community foundation, cna jay, fema and the red cross with the goal of moving all displaced families from short-term hotels into long-term housing by july 1 with most households moving in by march 1, just a few weeks away. thank you. [ applause ] appeal, every ownef the short-term rental propertyef on maui, join us in our mission to house those displaced by the

country. every owner of a short-term rental property on maui, join us in the mission to house those . we need your help to care for them. let me break down how it is on maui. there are 27,000 short-term rental units on that island alone. if we can just allocate 10% of those we could house everyone. we will cover the fair park it rental price for two years and provided property tax exemption that the mayor and his counsel thoughtfully passed just weeks ago to give them a consumption for property tax to house those who participate. this is the right thing to do and i urge everyone to join us

in offering their home if they can to house our people. now, if not enough partners step forward as we approach march 1, believe me when i say this, i will be forced to declare a moratorium on short- term rentals in maui until we find enough places for our displaced families. if you want to participate in this program you can email us today. email us at maui housing 2024@fema.gov and join in this effort. again, maui housing 2024@dhs.fema.gov.

now, they are currently in the process of leasing up to 1500 homes for survivors. as of friday there were 367 and that is a testament to the work that has been done. they are planning on designing two housing sites on maui to house up to 500 additional families. this operation alone totals $450 million to help our people. in many cases i don't and they are recognized enough so i would like to recognize the leader of fema and bob fenton, who has been a great working partner. please stand. in the coming weeks, in

addition to all of this work, the first shipment of marred -- modular transitional homes will be shipped to the island. we will add 480 units to provide people with a sense of stability and security as we implement further long-term housing plans. as we move forward we will continue to remove the debris in west maui safely and respectfully. the plan is to listen to the people of lahaina and rebuild the way they want us to rebuild. now i would like to pivot to affordable housing statewide. even before the fires on maui our state faced a shortage of housing. hours state is such a desirable destination and profitable investment that people from

around the world have purchased property to hold as investments or rent short-term rental to visitors making, on average, four times what they would make if they wanted to a local family. at 52% of all short-term rentals in hawaii are owned by nonstate residents and 27% of short-term rentals own 20 or more units. take a minute to do just that. 52% of all short-term rentals are rented by people outside of hawaii and making four times as much as if they were renting to someone that we love who lost a home. the housing crisis affects not only low-income families because there are so few houses. it also affects middle-class residents who make too much to qualify for help. local families are being squeezed out of the housing

market as 30 year mortgage was approached 7% and medium -- median home prices are too high. it has been complicated and costly in our state over the last three decades from unnecessary bureaucracy and possible permitting process as well as zoning rules that we had to take immediate action. to do that i signed the emergency proclamation related to housing last year and i appreciate your patience. this proclamation formed a si committee of our state leading housing experts and empowered them to cut through the red tape and improve new housing projects quickly and easily. we approve 10,800 units of low- income housing for struggling families and now we turn our attention to affordable housing projects in urban honolulu.

make no mistake. i know i ruffled some feathers when we took this action but we have to provide housing for ct local people. in october i listen to the environmental leaders across the state and issued an updated proclamation related to affordable housing allowing us to build more while protecting resources, preserving the process, and preserving the union character of hawaii. since then we have begun to reform housing bureaucracy. we will bring thousands of homes to teachers, nurses, working families across the state. our supplemental budget for fiscal year 2025 alone places an emphasis on infrastructure and housing with requests to the legislature up to $373 million and this remains the top statewide priority.

we need to have an honest moment here. building alone will not solve the crisis. we need to find new ways to make the building were renting a home affordable. we need to take action to return the thousands of short- term rentals that i mentioned earlier to the housing market. a challenge of this magnitude will require multiple solutions and approaches. there is no silver bullet. now, what can we do? greater enforcement of the laws regulating short-term rental markets are important. it tighter restrictions and tax changes are necessary. and emergency measures will be impactful. all of these can and should bring to bear the necessary --

for the long-term housing market for residents. today i am humbly calling on colleagues at the legislature to help us by implementing policies and reforms which will turn the housing units to our people. it this will bring down prices in the local market that is artificially and unnecessarily inflated. i will sign into law any bill the legislature sends to me -- owned by nonresidents into the local housing market. this will increase supply and bring down costs for our families. in addition, my team is crafting what we think will be a landmark piece of legislation that i will explain right now. it will provide tax amnesty to n

any owner of the short-term sell it r of the short-term to help us with the housing crisis. the sale of this kind to an owner, occupier, local family or that turns the home into a long-term rental for a family will be exempted from capital gains tax and general excise tax. we are calling this house hawaii ohana. during this -- [ inaudible ] -- let leaving. -- leaving. there are more people living paycheck to paycheck than before the pandemic, 44% of families are barely getting by and 63% of all hawaiian

families fall into the same category. let me say that again. 44% of all hawaii families are living paycheck to paycheck and 63% of our hawaiian families are falling into this category. this has to change. the cost of living in hawaii is too high. especially the cost of buying or renting a home. too many families are leaving for las vegas to find affordable housing. we need to reduce the cost of housing, food, healthcare and make hawaii more affordable for our people. i'm grateful for what the legislature did last year and the in the legislative session we look at phase 1 of the affordability plan. that provided $104 million per year into income tax relief to

our families. this phase 1 of the tax relief package supported working families by doubling the earned income tax credit and our food tax credit and that was great work by all of you. the next phase of the plan however, we need to go further and provide more tax relief for families struggling including the child dependent tax credit totaling $87 million annually. it is important so working families can live in hawaii and the next generation will have a future here. we are planning through our proposals away to index -- some modest relief from inflation. this is long overdue and this will change things for everyone in every tax bracket.

so, it is important that we move forward with the green affordability program. i would like to share what i feel about tourism in the economy. at the rapid return of visitors to the islands along with the influx of -- helped create a surge at the beginning -- at the end of the pandemic. it has decreased and stabilized down to 2.9%, which is a testament to small business in our state. as of october last year that is where we landed in this is the lowest rate of unemployment since the pandemic. with the closure of maui to tourism i was very concerned that the aftermath of the fires would devastate the county economy as well as the state economy for all of the families that we have. thousands of jobs in small

businesses --. i know this was difficult. it was a very difficult to decision to allow hotels to reopen while others lack permanent housing. people thought the opening was too soon. others believed it was necessary. most people felt the need to get back to work but all i can tell you is this. i care deeply about every family in hawaii and i listen to the concerns of people and i am sensitive of their fears but sometimes the governor has to make decisions that are tough and truly necessary for the health of the state. the county of maui began a phased reopening. currently, historic lahaina, the town and surrounding areas remain closed out of respect for residence and the relief efforts but the rest of maui

and the state is open. as a result of that decision, just two weeks ago the council adjusted our economic projection of from 1.3% growth up to 4% growth and this adds $500 million of revenue to the state so we can take on the challenges together. it will revolve around housing and the survivors of maui. that is how we came to that decision together. it has been a roller coaster ride since covid-19 with the economy rising and falling. i know that has made your jobs difficult. including appropriations and plans for the future. last year i made some budget cuts and i hope i did that

respectfully enough, saving over $1 billion over the next two fiscal years. we are able to balance the budget and i believe to preserve our rainy day funding. these cuts, just positive projections, will allow us to have access to affordable housing to prevent homelessness. thank you for understanding those tough moments. homelessness. just over one year ago when we came into office we faced at the second highest per capita homeless rate in the country. a 2023 census of the homeless community found that 6223 people in our state were living without a home. our state rate of homelessness at 43 per 10,000 is more than double the national rate of 18 per 10,000. many in the community struggle

with mental illness and addiction and they suffer on the streets and face a shorter lifespan averaging only 53 years. our team took immediate action with your guidance to reduce homelessness with resolutions. i made it our goal to reduce homelessness by 50% in four years. on january 23 last year, at the state of the state address i signed a proclamation to address homelessness. allowing us to begin rapid construction of up to 20 villages statewide in the coming year. for those that have not heard before, -- are communal villages for homeless individuals and small households. they provide shared space for cooking, eating, and recreation.

this is the reason we open the medical respite to care for those coming out of the streets. located in my backyard, it was a great success. we expect several new kauhale to open soon. this will revolutionize how we deal with homelessness. i would like to recognize the director of the program. we could not do it without you. please stand and be recognized.

i would like to again say you go to the legislature for approving $50 million last year for kauhale and $30 million this year. thank you for that. we extend our deepest mahalo to all those that helped us through this last year and now we place our trust in our friend, john ms. uno. he is joining me and our administration after decades of friendship and commitment. i cannot wait to see this mission completed with him at our side.

as we continue to invest in permanent solutions that create spaces for people to be housed and healed, you will see the results. thank you again everyone. you have been amazing. now let's turn to healthcare. our state has struggled with the shortage of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals so on september 9 we announced a -- to address this. the healthcare association of hawaii and helton, the state department of health and my team and funded by you, the hawaii education loan repayment program provides an unprecedented $30 million over these first few years of educational loan repayment for education professionals to keep them and bring them to hawaii. so why do we do this? many qualify for loan payment

up to $50,000 per ear. in exchange for a minimum service of two years. while they are getting into practice and caring for the patients that needed the most, these scholarships are targeted to providers who care for those that are low income and are usually on medicaid. we have received thousands of applications and that will touch 750,000 residents because of passing this legislation. we have received thousands of applications with deep ties to the state. this is just weeks into the initial stage and we have already announced our first 585 healthcare champions. as i listened to the concerns lt of the freshman class coming in,

we have all been worried about this along. we are placing an extra emphasis on selecting mental health care and address addiction treatment professionals to address the concerns we have and have seen e and that have arisen since the covid-19 era of the disaster on maui. within five years we will be the only state that does not have a shortage of doctors and nurses. again, an initiative of this sort ybrings an and disparitied we have suffered too long. a few years ago i met a doctor who said she is about to rt complete her education in pediatric psychology.

she grew up in hawaii and is still with her high school sweetheart and now she will be able to deliver a lifetime of care to local families instead of moving to the mainland to practice medicine. last year we strengthened our healthcare system by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements in rural facilities across the islands. these investments help us extend our commitment to care for underserved communities and those that suffer. i would like to say thank you to the chair for making that happen. in summary, lots of communities need help and the native hawaiian community has been most likely to experience disease. 10 years earlier and passing away earlier compared to other populations. d as we pass these programs we are addressing past injustices

and ongoing disparities that impact the community. this will be partnered with the work that we are doing with the department of hawaiian homeland that has receives $600 million to -- to native hawaiian beneficiaries. housing and healthcare go hand in hand. thank you for that extraordinary work. let's talk briefly about gun violence. gun violence has been a growing problem in hawaii and across the country. the tragic shooting of a 17- year-old moved us to take greater action. we hosted the first significant gun buyback event on october 21 last year and it was unprecedented. just a few hours, the department of law enforcement a public safety that hundreds of firearms off the streets for gift cards. there were no questions asked.

it was something to behold. we collected ghost guns, semi automatic weapons, we collected an uzi from the street and i have asked the directors of these departments to continue holding gun buyback events on a regular basis to get the guns off of our streets. this initiative and signing key legislation will make our community safer. it did not stop at that one tragedy. gun violence reared its ugly head just weeks ago when a disturbed individuals shot a woman and then went on an island wide rampage that wounded two police officers, both of whom will thankfully

survived. we must do more to protect communities from violence from those who have no business possessing firearms. i will not let this issue divide is. it means taking action on both sides of the political ideology and it means incarcerating violent criminals. preventing unstable people from having guns in the first place and providing more healthcare access to those suffering mental illness and drug addiction. thank you for helping me protect our community. education. our commitment to public education was demonstrated with your support this past april and we successfully negotiated a four-year contract with hawaii teachers. and the 13,500 they represent. at this contract, which is the

first thing that we prioritized, was important and it provided pay raises for new hires and bonuses for teachers. it has paid dividends already. i want you to understand how successful it has been. we are seeing fewer teachers pp retire and fewer are leaving the classroom. weise last -- cut the shortage by 22% in one year. investing in education will help us to succeed. so we are supporting hawaii public schools and we say thank you to the schools because you are including substantial funding for the department of education and it is not just food service. all of this is education for --

i want to take a moment to commend -- for her extraordinary work on this. >> i took this advice to heart. we are many people across the state asked me to dspartner and utili the lieutenant governor talent and capacity as a partner and i took that advice to hurt. we are friends and colleagues in the work that she is doing to make preschool available to all hawaiian young children will have a profound impact on youth for years to come. your work on these efforts is recognized and critical.

let's turn our attention to climate change and the environment. as caretakers of the islands we are committed across the board to pursuing climate change strategies that are equitable and culturally responsible. hawaii must continue to invest in sustainable cultural and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. this is why i joined the u.s. climate alliance. a bipartisan group of governors securing the net zero future of the united states. we have to do more to protect beaches, our national treasures from extreme weather, field by climate change without raising taxes or fees on hawaii residence. let me talk to about how i hope we can do this. this responsibility to protect this environment should extend to the islands. i am excited about this session coming up. the climate impact on visitors would provide session increase

the awareness of climate change. i will renew our efforts to pass climate impact fees to help us steer down the terrible impact of climate change. imagine how hopeful -- would have been to help with the disaster on maui if we hadn't. we need to do better this year so today i am simplifying the proposal and proposing a $25 fee on visitors when they arrive and check into a hotel or short-term rental. we collect fees from travelers and this modest fee will generate $68 million every year from visitors. we will invest these funds the way you think they should be

invested. for beach preservation and other prevention measures to prevent tragedies like the one that we have lester on my way. i believe that this is not too much to ask of visitors to the island. i am open to other proposals that will achieve the goal including the increase in the accommodation tax. we will find a way to compromise on these issues because we are surrounded here by everyone who cares about this state. whether they have one position or another on an issue does not mean we don't come together so we passed this fee this is an essential part of the culture and our way of life. this impact fee would help us protect them so thank you for considering this proposal. i know it will help our state. redhill, we have made important

progress on draining that. the military began moving -- and have gained 104 million gallons from the team is. the goal of the redhill task force is to remove all of the fuel. the last of it will be removed early next year and that we will close the facility permanently so it does not pose a threat to health or the safety of water. i need to say keiki every environmental advocate , worker, everyone. you brought hundreds of millions of dollars to the effort. we will continue to take every necessary action to protect our

natural resources, especially water and to hold those accountable who have threatened in the past so thank you to everyone for coming together. thank you for ringing us all together as one on this issue. a few new opportunities. with a heavy focus on the maori recovery and affordability in housing it would be easy to forget to mention other important opportunities that will help us diversify the economy. this year we launched the aloha proposal stadium. we opened high-level discussions with japan to create an open travel corridor between japan and hawaii and we are seeking right now to expand the film industry with a greater emphasis on local production in developing our own kids to be film professionals. we will invest in sustainable

agriculture. we want to bring more food security to our state and we will prioritize energy, research, and development with the goal of becoming a hydrogen hub someday in the future. we have begun important discussions with those in japan to partner with our universities and provide new pathways to fully sustainable energy for hawaii. finally, our board of regents will selected the regent president in 2024 these are important moments that we can all celebrate in the coming year. finally, our path forward. we will never forget the day that the fires took our loved ones and change the lives of so many on maui.

the people of maui have shown strength in the face of adversity but, the days ahead will not be easy and they will continue to need our support. over the past 5 1/2 months we have shown the rest of the country and the entire world the true spirit of aloha. we have come together around our shared values and a common purpose to support maui as they begin to recover and heal and to house our people and and homelessness and to make life in hawaii more affordable so that the next generation can build a future here at home. again, i want to express my deepest gratitude to the people of hawaii for your resilience and commitment to one another. it is an honor to serve as your

governor. mahalo and aloha. [applause] today fbi director christopher ray testifies on the 2025 budget request before a house appropriations subcommittee. online at c-span.org. celebrated the 20th anniversary

of our student camera documentary, middle and high school students have been asked to look forward while considering the past. they were given the option to look 20 years forward and 20 years in the past. we received documentaries from over 3200 students. the top award for grand prize goes to nate coleman. their compelling documentary innocence held hostage navigating past and future conflicts with iran. >> in the next 20 years the united states must make policy that places heavy restriction on americans traveling to iran because not only would we see less hostage making within the united states would not have to participate in negotiations with iran. spectra sure to watch the top 21 wedding documentaries on c- span every day this month

available on student cam.org. c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for five years and here is the highlight from the key moment. spa, although the city was the nation's capital for a short time. from the early days, the eyes of the world have continued the on new york. one year ago, this great center of history, enterprising creativity suffered a cruelty and showed itself to be a place of value valor and generosity and grace. here where so many innocent lives were taken the world sought acts of kindness and heroism that will be remembered forever.