Gov. Josh Green delivered his fourth State of the State address to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature on Monday morning.
HPR's Bill Dorman has listened to each of Green's annual addresses. Here's what HPR is taking away from this year's address titled "A Vision for Hawaiʻi's Future."
1. Policy is cumulative
There has been a slow build in approach and specific steps that can be traced along the arc of his annual remarks to the state Legislature.
In Monday's address, the governor returned to familiar themes — and cited progress that his administration has made on lingering issues — from the state’s high cost of living to stubborn issues of affordable housing and homelessness.
On affordable housing, Green ticked off a series of numbers to back up his assertion that “We are building new housing in Hawaiʻi at a scale not seen in decades.”
As for homelessness, the governor mentioned the growth of his kauhale program of tiny homes grouped in small communities with shared spaces for cooking and growing food. What started with a single community when he took office has now grown to 25, with plans for five more by the end of the year.
2. What happens in D.C. doesn't stay in D.C.
The governor reminded lawmakers of issues that they have dealt with together with his administration to maintain programs and funding that would otherwise have been slashed by federal cuts. And he made it clear the state’s budget needs to remain nimble in order to deal with further potential turbulence.
He referred to “the federal government’s severe cuts and other actions” that “took over $3 billion out of our state’s economy, leaving us with an unforeseen budget shortfall.”
At the same time, he spoke of a recent policy victory related to Washington: the extension of Federal Emergency Management Agency housing for Maui wildfire survivors. That funding was set to lapse next month, but late last week, the governor said he personally reached out to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to extend that deadline for another year.
3. Maui is still wounded, and not forgotten
The governor gave an extensive update on the status of other spending related to Maui, and used the opportunity to review progress that has been made by both the executive and the legislative branches of government in supporting Maui's recovery, what he called “the largest coordinated humanitarian response in Hawaiʻi state history.”
And those efforts are not limited to dealing with challenges of housing; there are also plans for fire mitigation around the state, and that “our commitment to Maui endures.”
4. 2026 is an election year
This is not taking a shot; it's stating a fact. This is an election year, and as with elected officials anywhere, there's no reason to waste the opportunity of a speech in a campaign year.
This year's State of the State was a mix that included a list of accomplishments, a series of hopes and dreams, and a reminder of who's been running the executive branch of the state government since the state and the country officially emerged from the pandemic in the spring of 2023.
This story aired on The Conversation on Jan. 26, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
