Playing it safe. That is a takeaway from Gov. Josh Green’s fourth State of the State address.
The Conversation invited Senate President Ron Kouchi to talk about the governor’s plan to pause tax breaks intended to help with the cost of living. Kouchi says he wants to see more details.
Here’s what Kouchi said about Green’s speech and the current legislative session.
Interview highlights
On takeaways from Gov. Josh Green’s speech
RON KOUCHI: It was very aspirational, but it's the 16th State of the State that I've listened to in person as a state senator. And most of them are usually not filled with a lot of details, and the details come in the administrative package — I'd signed all of the bills yesterday, right after the State of the State. So now we're getting to look at some more details of what the governor is talking about. But we all agree that the cost of housing is top of the list as far as the affordability of Hawaiʻi, about keeping our people here, and also recruiting employees to come to Hawaiʻi, and the cost of housing is an immense obstacle because it's so high. Obviously, he has committed money for homelessness, which we recognize is still a problem. We've talked about mental health issues, and at this point, he acknowledged the lieutenant governor and her efforts to get more pre-K classroom seats, investing in K through 12, and our higher education pathways to jobs, making sure there are vocational pathways in our high schools for those who are not going to college, but the plumber you absolutely need and you pay more than your CPA in the hourly rate, so they are good paying jobs, and we need these craftsmen to make a go of it. And then really, how are we going to deal with the impacts of what has been happening on the federal level? So we've still not seen a spreadsheet at $250,000 and below, how many people and above, how much money would that generate? If we forgave or if we kept the tax break in place for below, and we removed it from the top, and right now, the governor is saying, freeze everything, not this year, but in the next two years, and then redeploy some of that to help those who are challenged. And so at this point, it's really taking a hard look at what those numbers translate out to and what specific program will generate, what specific saving or benefit for the most vulnerable in our communities.
On the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
KOUCHI: The one thing that I think we're all walking aligned, the House, the Senate, the governor, lieutenant governor, is that in the [One] Big Beautiful Bill, as they called it, the wealthiest in our country received a tax break, and policies that have been put in place are affecting the most vulnerable in our community. And so, how do we make sure that the most vulnerable receive the benefit that the wealthiest have received? And I think we're going to put that lens to the decision making, and then whether it's continuing the break for whether it's $250[,000], $300[,000] and below and not above, or whether it's freezing everybody, but taking some of that money and redeploying it to the most vulnerable, and it winds up to be a better economic benefit for them that way. That's where we'll be going. But again, the point is, the wealthiest got a tax break at the federal level, and the most vulnerable have been so adversely affected with the policies right now.
On a potential government shutdown
KOUCHI: I think a great example of being nimble and being able to react to take care of our community [is] how quickly we deployed the $250 one month SNAP benefit so that those who were so dependent on it when the shutdown occurred, they were able to bridge that month of November. And if the shutdown happens again, which is being discussed right now, we would know how to go do that and take care of at least that community. And hopefully it doesn't come to that. The shutdown affects at the end, everybody. And with air travel being so important for us, the shutdown would just, again, create great havoc here and on our economy.
This story aired on The Conversation on Jan. 27, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
