Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Christopher Todd, Democratic candidate for State House District 3, which covers a portion of Hilo, Keaukaha, Orchidlands Estate, Ainaloa, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, portions of Kurtistown and Keaau. His opponents are Republican Kanoa Wilson and Libertarian Austin Martin.

Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.

1. What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?

The biggest issue in East Hawaii and most of the state is the gap between the cost of living and wages. Income in Hawaii has not kept up with inflation and many families are struggling to make ends meet. I believe there are three big factors that the government can and should address: tax reform, tackling our housing crisis and being a model employer.

We have made a lot of progress with our tax code over the past handful of years that has gone under the radar; since 2017, we have dramatically cut income taxes in our state while creating and increasing low- to middle-income tax credits.

Housing has been a tougher battle and we need to continue to prioritize investments in public housing, affordable housing tax credits and resources for DHHL to fulfill our mission of eliminating the waitlist. In addition, the state has to do more to be a model employer to help set the market for employment in the islands; we do not pay enough to retain and attract quality workers at all layers of government.

If we continue to make progress and take bolder action, then we can reverse the trend of residents leaving for better opportunities on the mainland.

2. How do you feel about the massive income tax cut just approved by the Legislature and the governor? Do you have any concerns that it will force reductions in state services in the years to come?

I believe the income tax cut laid out by legislative leadership is a bold and necessary step in the right direction, provided that we find a way to shift a large portion of that tax burden to nonresidents and our wealthiest residents.

We do not have the luxury of cutting core social services without massive consequences. Our tax code has been fundamentally broken from day one and I believe shifting away from income tax (which impacts residents) toward forms of taxation that target non-resident property owners and tourists is sound policy.

This year’s bill lays the foundation for a major shift in how we fund state programs, and the real test is the Legislature’s follow-through in the upcoming years.

3. Hawaii continues to struggle with pay-to-play politics and corruption in government. What meaningful reforms do you think would change state government for the better?

While I have mixed thoughts on some of the specific proposals for campaign finance reform, I do believe we can do a better job of providing a more robust public financing option for candidates.

In addition, I believe the state would be well-served by placing a cap on how much money a campaign can roll over after an election cycle.

As a sitting legislator, I try my best to take my lead from advocates and our Ethics Commission for best practices. 

4. Candidates often say they will support reform proposals in the Legislature. And yet major reform proposals don’t pass. Will you back good-government proposals even if it means going against leadership? If you are an incumbent, can you point to an example of a reform that you supported?

I support continued broad ethics and campaign spending reform at the Legislature.

While I haven’t done a complete analysis, I believe that reform bills actually have a significantly higher passage rate than other proposed legislation during any given session. Over 90% of all bills die during session, and we have seen dozens of individual reform bills pass over the past few years.

During my time in the Legislature, I have taken my lead from House leadership and supported the recommendations put forward by the Committee to Improve Standards of Conduct. In addition, I have done my best to present research on issues like public financing so that members are better informed when we take up campaign spending proposals.

5. Do you support comprehensive public financing of elections for candidates who choose to participate? Why or why not?

I generally support comprehensive public financing options for candidates, but believe we should put this issue to the voters through some form of citizen initiative process.

My primary hesitation when it comes to public financing is that voters in other states have voted down these proposals time after time. I would personally prefer to utilize a public financing option for my campaign, but I am not convinced that voters would support utilizing tax dollars to fund political mailers, signs and advertisements.

As I am unsure and this would be a very substantial change, I’d prefer we put this to a direct vote and let the public decide.

6. Hawaii is the only Western state without a statewide citizens initiative process. Do you support such a process? Why or why not?

I support a citizens initiative process. I believe there is an opportunity to learn from other states what specific guardrails we need to put on any future program to ensure its success.

There are several high-profile issues like campaign spending reform, cannabis and gambling legalization that we would be better off leaving directly to the voters.

7. Thanks to their campaign war chests and name familiarity, incumbents are almost always reelected in Hawaii legislative races. Should there be term limits for state legislators, as there are for the governor’s office and county councils? Why or why not?

I believe term limits are generally a good idea and I would support a proposal if it came to the House floor with a reasonable balance between encouraging fresh faces in government while ensuring we have a body with enough experience to make informed decisions. 

8. What will you do to ensure accountability at the Legislature? Do you support ideas such as requiring the Sunshine Law to apply to the Legislature or banning campaign contributions during session?

I support greater transparency for the legislative process. There are some aspects of the Sunshine Law that would be really difficult and counter-productive to apply to a body that’s as large as the Legislature, but I do think we can do more for the sake of transparency and accountability.

Civil Beat has had a couple articles on some legislative practices like “by request” bill introductions where it would be sensible for the Legislature to make some simple changes to better inform the public.

With that being said, I think one of the ways to increase transparency would be to lengthen the legislative session — 16 weeks to process 3,000 bills and craft a budget does not lead to a good work product and also makes it more difficult to provide appropriate notice to the public for hearings. 

9. How would you make the Legislature more transparent and accessible to the public? Opening conference committees to the public? Stricter disclosure requirements on lobbying and lobbyists? How could the Legislature change its own internal rules to be more open?

All of these suggestions are steps in the right direction, and we should take steps like lengthening the legislative session to make these changes more practical. A lot of what happens at the Legislature is due to harsh time constraints and deadlines placed on chairs.

With the legislative calendar so compressed, this means less notice and less consideration given to the public. The Legislature has taken many steps to improve transparency and access, including livestreams of all hearings on Youtube and allowing for remote testimony, but we can and should continue to make progress in this area.

10. Many people have talked about diversifying the local economy for many years now, and yet Hawaii is still heavily reliant on tourism. What, if anything, should be done differently about tourism and the economy?

There is no easy answer for diversifying our economy and I believe this conversation too often is focused on trying to find an industry large enough to supplant tourism instead of supplementing it.

I believe our primary focus should be reforming our current economic staples so that a greater percentage of profits and economic benefits stay here in Hawaii. This means promoting local business and entrepreneurship, incentivizing buying local and identifying key areas where we are exporting dollars to import expertise.

For tourism specifically, profits largely flow out of state to shareholders. Government should be taking a more active role in ensuring tourism dollars stay here in Hawaii to benefit locals while also finding creative ways to reduce the negative impacts of tourism that can be felt in overburdened communities.

I believe in and support a robust destination management plan that caps the number of visitors in sensitive areas, paired with reforms that do a better job of capturing revenue here in our state. 

11. An estimated 60% of Hawaii residents are struggling to get by, a problem that reaches far beyond low-income and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What ideas do you have to help the middle class and working families who are finding it hard to continue to live here?

Income inequality and the growing gap between cost of living and wages have been my top priorities since entering the Legislature.

We have had significant tax reform since 2017, reversing a trend where Hawaii had arguably the least progressive tax agenda in the U.S.

While I addressed it in an earlier response, I’ll go into a bit more detail in noting that due to having a statewide school district, we have the lowest property taxes in the country — this has meant having the highest state taxes in the country.

We need to continue to reform our tax code so that out-of-state investors are not incentivized to buy and hold land in our state. The Legislature took a major step this year with a substantial income tax cut, but this will be a multiyear process in shifting tax burdens away from local residents.