Greens are committed to a new approach to the state government

Gov. Josh Green added new detail to a number of ideas, including how to collect more tourist fees for access to state parks and hiking trails, while renewing his promise that his administration will be transparent and “quick.”

“Sooner or later people will realize that we shouldn’t do things the old way. That didn’t work,” Green told Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s livestream program Spotlight Hawaii on Monday. “The government is different now. We’re becoming more agile.”

Green said he plans to “move forward much more aggressively than people are used to.”

He remains open to how tourists can pay for their impact on Hawaii’s climate and environment — whether it’s a flat fee for each arriving passenger or fees paid for specific attractions. Several bills suggest charging tourists as young as 15 a yearly $50 “license.”

Airlines are reluctant to collect the fees, as are hotels, which are now levying a new county temporary accommodation tax, Green said.

Revenue is estimated at $400 million a year regardless of the size of the fees — in addition to the $100 million from the general fund Green has proposed to also address climate change.

If the new fees go into a special fund, Green said every $10 in government spending could be converted into $100 worth of bonds that would multiply Hawaii’s fight against climate change and environmental damage.

“By the end of the legislature, we’re going to have dollars for the impact that travelers are having on our climate, and that’s the most important thing,” he said.

He makes no apologies for imposing new tourist-only fees, especially given the millions of people who came to visit from 2020 and had to undergo COVID-19-era tests that cost $130-$140,” and they still came in droves.”

To address climate change, Green said, “we don’t want to have to try and raise people’s taxes to pay for it.”

“It will work,” Green said, calling himself “an environmentalist at heart. … The key is to take care of the environment.”

When asked about his cabinet nominees, some of whom have been grilled by senators who need to confirm them, Green said 90% appear to be on the way to confirmation.

The other 10% includes former City Council Chairwoman Ikaika Anderson, Green’s nominee to head the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands after receiving a record $600 million from the Legislature to clear the backlog of Hawaiian home beneficiaries to eliminate.

As council chair and previously as a council member, Anderson “tangled” and “butted heads” with a lot of people, Green said.

But like Green, “he wears his heart on his sleeve like I do.”

Rather than appointing political insiders, Green chose Anderson, who has extensive permitting and development experience.

“If you want change, don’t expect me to do it the way it’s been done for the last 20 years,” Green said. “These are not political insider picks.”

He has also proposed $312 million in tax breaks for households earning as little as $41,000 a year up to $129,000 for a family of four, and a blanket ban on food and drug excise taxes for low-income families.

“They barely survive,” Green said. “They pay too much just to survive.”

Green also wants rent and healthcare subsidies, an increase in childcare tax credits, and a doubling of the standard state tax deduction from $5,000 to $10,000.

The plan should result in an extra paycheck for struggling families every year.

“Everything goes right back into the economy,” Green said. “Every single dollar … will go straight back into small businesses. … This is the right way.”