Gov. Josh Green has until the end of the month to release his intent-to-veto list, but he says even the usual suspects like the state budget are unlikely to be on the chopping block.
Eighty-seven bills from this past legislative session have already been signed into law, including measures to limit corporate spending in elections and protect reproductive healthcare.
The Conversation spoke with the governor on Thursday, and he was definitely upbeat about the results of this year's legislative session.
HPR also asked him where the agreement with JERA stands to explore the potential use of liquefied natural gas.
Interview highlights
On bills that went through this past legislative session
GOV. JOSH GREEN: They gave me 268 bills that will become law. It's highly likely almost all, if not all of them, will be signed by me. I have to say, I really appreciate their super hard work on protecting the tax breaks for our working families and our ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families. That was amazing. So they did great work on that. Usually, there is at least one bill that goes on to the intent-to-veto list, which is the budget, because you might do some line-item vetoes of smaller projects. I might not even do that this year. I mean, they really worked hard to give me a balanced budget and to make sure we have enough revenue, so that was great.
Also, the Legislature gave us some landmark bills. ... These bills they gave me, but they gave us a bill to block dark money the best we can through a state process, and that was quite innovative, and I appreciate it.
On flexibility in the budget to deal with natural disasters
GREEN: We first authorized $175 million of monies that had been previously restricted. We always saved money towards the end of the year, just in case. And we had a just-in-case moment when we had a month of rain and 2 trillion gallons of water that flooded a lot of our beautiful state. So we handled that part, that kind of intermediate phase of the recovery, but they also gave me $100 million of latitude to deal with the upcoming fire season and what is going to be likely five to 13 hurricanes this coming year. So it's serious.
On Hawaiʻi's fuel supply
GREEN: I met recently with Par (Hawaii), as recently as last night, and I just wanted reassurance that we have a supply, and we do. It's usually several months out, and they feel comfortable with where we are. If the war does go on for several more months, everyone in the country and across the globe is going to struggle somewhat. I will tell you, I also have gamed out the possibility (that) if gas prices continue to stay high, we might suspend the state and county gas taxes, which would lower the price of gasoline by somewhere between 30 and 50 cents a gallon. We could do that for 30 or 60 days, just to help people out in the middle of summer, if necessary.
I'm hoping the war ends. I'm not a supporter of this war, and if the war goes on and there's still conflict in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz doesn't open, we're going to have a lot of bigger problems because it will begin to curtail. Well, first, it's going to hurt people. Innocent people are going to die, and our soldiers are going to be in harm's way. Second, it's going to curtail travel to Hawaiʻi because of the premium cost on air travel, and you will see a downturn and a softening of our economic picture if that goes on.
On building a broader energy base
GREEN: I think we're going to have a deal between JERA and HECO as soon as June 8, and maybe a couple of weeks later, but I'll be meeting tomorrow with some of the HECO leadership. I (am) constantly in communication with both parties. The reason we want a broader energy base is because of things like this war in Iran, because we lost a lot of the subsidies for solar, both of the federal and including some at the state level. ...
And I think diversification to our fully renewable future is smart, and that includes gases, which eventually is going to be hydrogen gas. So what will happen, I believe JERA will build a 500 MW power plant, which ultimately HECO will have an opportunity to be a full partner in. Also, I believe they will reach an agreement on a significant investment in the state of Hawaiʻi, likely $2 billion, and that's how you make all this affordable.
Conversations I've had at the national level include with the Secretary of Energy, and Secretary (Chris) Wright is working on a massive, very low-interest loan for HECO, so that they can modernize our energy grid. It does include the use of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), because that is one of the biases of the current administration, but I'm trying to make sure that we have a very balanced, broad approach, and that includes a massive amount of solar and a massive amount of renewables, and then a bridge set of bridge fuels, which includes using less oil and some LNG.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 4, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
