Ilagan’s Priorities

Hawai‘i’s economic recovery will require the state to balance the return of inter-island travel while ensuring hospitals have the capacity to respond to an increase in infections. Testing visitors before they hop on a plane is of paramount importance alongside proper social distancing, personal protective equipment, and clean hygiene. We can identify countries that have managed to contain the spread like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand where the total positive cases is under 40,000, while the United States as a whole has more than 2 million coronavirus cases.

I agree we need to focus on people over profits, but we cannot stay in this current situation forever. The hospitality industry has been hit the hardest with only a total of 4,564 visitors traveling in April 2020 to Hawai‘i compared to 856,250 visitors in April 2019. The lack of visitors has greatly impacted the Big Island’s unemployment rate, jumping to 24 percent in April. There is no question that we need to focus on economic recovery, not only for our island but for the state.

We need to explore other economic opportunities to develop with increased urgency.

Successful agriculture takes into account commerce and distribution markets. Farmers need to be able to make a reasonable and sustainable return on investment for their efforts when farming or ranching. As your state representative, I will advocate for agriculture by factoring in energy costs, food safety requirements, agricultural labor, access to capital, the price of goods, consumer taste and preferences, tax programs, water access, land use regulations, and methods of farming and ranching. As well as, I will ensure the path for young people to enter farming is as easy as possible. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture offer incentives to encourage the youth to choose food and agriculture as a career. Working the land to grow crops or herd cattle is hard work, but I firmly believe real progress in agriculture will move Puna, Hawai‘i Island, and the State of Hawai‘i toward a sustainable future of food self-sufficiency.

Hawaiian Paradise Park is one of the fastest-growing communities in the state and a park has been a much-needed capital improvement project from well before I was elected to the Hawai‘i County Council in 2012. When I served on the Council I worked to have the County acquire a 20-acre parcel in HPP but funding is needed to make it a reality.

Families in the park need a place to go with their kids and grandchildren. The park does not have to be built at once; it can be built in phases, and the first phase is to have it cleared, graded and provide a walking and running path for residents.

I will continue to advocate for funding for Hawaiian Paradise Park for it to host its own public park.

I envision a Puna free of abuse and violence, a place where families can live safely in our community. The amount of social services available for domestic violence in Puna is inadequate. My plan is to work collaboratively with the Hawai‘i State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and take a deep dive to ensure the restraining order law in HRS Chapter 586 is adequate to serve all victims, whether a victim has been stalked, harassed, or hit. There needs to be a consolidation of domestic violence laws in a single chapter rather than laws related to domestic violence scattered throughout different statutes. Advocates would have a better chance of justice through education and consistent enforcement of domestic violence laws. Law enforcement agencies will also be better equipped to have the tools to care for victims.

Puna must be vigilant against crime and remind its residents to report, report, and report. Social media presents new ways to communicate regarding criminal activity. Our community needs all of us active and involved to prevent crime and foster a network that looks out for each other. Puna is the most resilient community on the Big Island and being the eyes and ears of the police force – while respecting one another’s personal privacy – will help deter crime. I will work with the community groups to expand the Neighborhood Watch Program that will ensure public safety.

Hawai‘i County received $80 million in relief funding from the state Legislature that is part of a $1.25 billion from the CARES Act. There are strings attached to the funds that require coordination with the state Department of Health and Hawai‘i County Council oversight to use the funds for expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic. I will proactively reach out to the Puna community to establish a committee to help ensure the residents and businesses are ready with receipts, projections, and paperwork once the applications are released to the public. The money must be spent by December 30, which leaves Hawai‘i County little time to distribute the funding. I will work to ensure Puna is ready.

In recent years Puna has been affected by Hurricane Iselle, two eruptions of Kīlauea, and now the coronavirus. Even though each disaster presents a different challenge, the key to recovery in all cases is communication. How is information being shared to the community? If services are available to help Puna residents, are they aware of them? There is still an albizia problem; curbing those dangerous trees will mitigate impacts from the next hurricane. There are grants available from the FEMA’s Section 428 Alternative Public Assistance Program for the lava flow. It ensures that those funds take into account long term planning to prevent future eruptions to destroy essential infrastructure. The unemployment insurance system has proved inadequate to handle the surge in claims. Bulk processing, particularly for those companies in the tourism industry, should have been priorities to reduce the backlog that occurred. There should have been a way that business owners could have flagged unemployment claims to bulk process laid-off workers in order to lessen the burden on the whole system. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from these past disasters. It will be important not to make those same mistakes again.