HONOLULU (KHON2) — Governor Josh Green officially took office Monday, Dec. 5 with First Lady Jaime Green and their two children by his side. The governor’s administration said this will be a new start for the state, with making Hawaii a more affordable place for all as a top priority.
Just as Hawaii State Law requires, the new governor took the oath of office on the first Monday of December at noon.
The Royal Hawaiian Band provided the music and entertainment for the ceremony, with the inauguration’s theme “Huliau” or new beginnings.
This is a theme the Green administration plans to follow for the next four years.
Green told attendees, “You’ve always been there for me and I love you so much, thank you for being here today and welcoming Sylvia and I into the administration.”
During his first speech as governor, Josh Green said he wants to give residents a tax break on food and medication.
“The tax on food and medication is onerous. It hits people disproportionately if they are poor, and it would be a way to kind of blunt the high cost of living here. Of course, we have high fuel costs. We got to work on energy, but this is something within our power,” Green said. “It costs probably about $200 million against the base budget, but that money is coming out of our poorest people’s pockets.”
The no tax on food and medication is a bill that has been introduced in past legislative sessions, but the governor said this is the time to get it passed.
He said, “Now is the time with some surplus and with people clearly living right at the edge of poverty; this makes sense. It’s kind of the low-hanging fruit that we should take up.”
Building affordable housing for Hawaii residents and housing the homeless are also among Green’s top priorities. He said more details on those plans will be shared during his State of the State address early next year.
Green said, “We have to build thousands and thousands of homes, so I’ll be working with the legislature. I am absolutely open to using emergency powers if necessary like we did with the homeless proclamations if we can get a lot of the red tape out of the way so people can build housing.”
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke will focus on expanding preschool for Hawaii’s keiki and improving the state’s technology infrastructure.
