Lawmakers and citizens alike gathered at the State Capitol Building Wednesday to inaugurate the opening day of the 2026 legislative session.
The session — the second year of the 33rd Legislature — began with speeches by Senate President Ronald Kouchi and House Speaker Nadine Nakamura.
Kouchi told a gathered audience that included Gov. Josh Green, U.S. senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono and all four county mayors that last year’s legislative priorities remain the same this year.
He ran down a list of the issues facing the state — high energy costs, unlivable housing costs, insufficient local agricultural development and more — and highlighted the senators spearheading the committees addressing those issues.
Kouchi concluded by saying the state has “continued to show fiscal restraint” despite the state’s troubles over the last few years.
“While we have been criticized at times for not using more of the Rainy Day Fund, it’s really rained on us a lot,” Kouchi said, mentioning Covid-19, the destructive eruption of Kīlauea in 2018 and unspecified “events in Washington D.C.”
“And yet, we remain on what is solid fiscal ground and we are able to continue to keep our eye forward to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” Kouchi finished.
In the other chamber, Nakamura’s speech struck similar chords, although she began her remarks by commending state Attorney General Anne Lopez’s announcement that her office will investigate an alleged $35,000 cash bribe to an unknown lawmaker in 2022.
“The special investigation and prosecution division created and funded by the state legislature … is well-positioned to handle this matter with the independence and rigor it requires,” Nakamura said. “And I trust it will take appropriate actions in a timely manner.”
Nakamura wasn’t the only person to mention the $35,000 payment. Brenton Awa, Kāne‘ohe senator and Senate Minority Leader, began his remarks by saying he had received $35,000 — “but it wasn’t in a brown paper bag.”
Awa appealed to Native Hawaiians in the audience, lamenting that the state has become so unaffordable for locals and urging all Native Hawaiians in the chamber to stand up. While only a handful of attendees did so, Awa’s speech concluded with an enthusiastic chorus of cheers and chee-hoos.
House Minority Leader and Mililani Rep. Lauren Matsumoto told the assembly that the Minority Caucus will push for measures this year to address the cost of living crisis such as tax cuts for residents and a more efficient process for Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries to secure mortgages, for example.
Matsumoto also highlighted residents’ concerns about safety and said her caucus will introduce a measure increasing penalties for crimes against kūpuna and another that creates a specific criminal offense for “organized retail theft.”
As for actual legislative actions on Wednesday, both chambers introduced and waived through on first reading a slew of bills that will next go before committees.
This legislative session is set to adjourn May 8; a full schedule can be found on the Legislature’s website.
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