We're an interesting group of people in Hawai‘i.
MSNBC recently ranked our Hawai‘i dead last in the nation for doing business.
WalletHub's ranking for Best and Worst States to Start a Business for 2026 places Hawai‘i 48th.
In 2019, Forbes Magazine ranked Best States for Business. Hawai‘i was ranked 47th.
Pacific Business News ran this headline in September of 2000: "Commerce Department lists Hawai‘i with the Worst Economy in the 1990s."
This documents in terms that businesses here and our local economy have been struggling for generations — as far back as the early 1970s, in fact.
We all know that a good business environment and vibrant economic vitality equal a positive community. It truly is the difference between surviving and thriving.
But over these generations there has been a dearth of outrage, of demands that we reverse direction and of calls for substantive improvement that would be a benefit to all from citizens. Instead, we are fed the same tepid swill from politicians who promise "change" while lording over one of the worst economic states in the country.
Let's call it as it is.
It is the single-party rule of the Democrat majority that is responsible for the across-the-board assessments from disinterested parties that Hawai‘i has failed its citizens for all these years.
But there are moments when the people of Hawai‘i took action for the ever-elusive change.
Republican Linda Lingle lost by a slim 5,000 or so votes in the 1998 General Election to Democratic incumbent Governor Ben Cayetano.
It didn't make sense. An incumbent democrat governor should skate back into office. Instead it became the closest gubernatorial election in Hawai‘i history.
Yes, Linda Lingle served as the mayor of Maui, but a Neighbor Island politician had never risen to the top of the state government hierarchy. Her background was antithetical to the formula of a winning candidate for Hawai‘i governor. She was single, Jewish female who worked briefly with the Teamsters Union and published a community newspaper on Molokai.
And she was a Republican.
We have to remember the cause for this political aberration.
"It's the economy, stupid." — James Carville, Democrat political strategist.
In 1998, Hawai‘i was experiencing its worst economic slump since statehood, marked by a seven-year recession.
Businesses faced devastating conditions driven by the 1997 Asian financial crisis that severely depressed tourism, the prolonged decline of the local sugar and pineapple industries, and some of the highest operational costs in the nation.
This was marked by the "Japanese Bubble" and the associated impacts to virtually all families on all islands. There was a sentiment critical of Governor Cayetano, but it was more of an uprising against the status quo. Keep in mind during Governor Cayetano's first State of the State Address succeeding Governor John Waihee — whom Ben served as Lt. Governor — he announced the state was in a $600 million deficit despite a previously reported $300 million surplus. Necessary changes were in the offing, and some folks were gonna be upset.
There were other issues that roiled locals, and that dissatisfaction was expressed at the ballot box first in 1998 then in 2002 when Lingle defeated Lt. Governor Mazie Hirono to become Hawai‘i's first female governor and she served two terms.
All the traditional barricades were erected to prevent changes, yet Linda Lingle's story remains a beacon amongst those who believe that change must happen again.
Fast forward 28 years later.
We are still mired in economic doldrums and cost of living in Hawai‘i is a primary issue.
"Hawai‘i is the most expensive state in the United States, and it is not close," writes DwellHawaii.com. "If you're researching the cost of living in Hawai‘i because you're thinking about moving here, retiring here, or just understanding what it would actually take — this is the honest 2026 breakdown." Housing on O‘ahu 200% above the national average it notes, groceries 53% above, utilities 70% above.
Specifically, we are on average 84% more expensive than the national average, all costs put together.
During this election year there will be many Democrat incumbents and candidates seeking your vote. They will promise to uphold local values, espouse the importance of standing together, vow to battle against the Trump administration and call for, wait for it, change. They will ask for your support and your vote.
I would then ask a very simple question, "Why?"
You and your political party have dominated and controlled virtually evey aspect of public policies and creation of laws. Yet when it comes to the very basic and fundamental aspect of a successful community, economics, why has it not improved and continues to languish over so many years? How are you going to fix it now when you've known of our conditions since the 1990s? It's 30 years later. Do you need another 30 years?
I do not belong to a political party. I am not a Democrat, and I am not a Republican. If the party roles were reversed, then the questions would be demanded from the Republican candidates and leadership. But it is the Democrat party that has had unilateral control of this state.
I get it.
There are some things we can't control.
We are the most geographically isolated and populated land mass in the world.
The increasing price of fuel, well, we don't control world markets.
But there are areas where we do have control.
Taxation and spending. This is the most direct way to give people a raise. Decrease taxation and fees and reduce spending.
Regulation increases costs and expense in the building of homes. It is estimated that up to 35% of a single-family home's cost is due to regulations. Reduce regulations and make housing more affordable which is the stated number one priority.
These are just two areas of responsibility government can control but they don't. Why not?
A good question to ask a Democrat incumbent or candidate this election year is this:
"We have an annual state budget of $20.3 billion, of which $10.5 billion is our operating budget. We have a state population of approximately 1.4 million people. Where does all the money go?"
I'd like to know, too.
Rick Hamada can be reached at rickhamada@aol.com.
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