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Jason Schwartz interviews with JOSEPH SOUKI, Speaker of the Hawaii Housein Hawaii 2014. This was a memorable First interview of Joe. Up til then, only Candidates were doing interviews with Jason. (Some later told Jason it was because they thought he would try to “stump” them- Jason doesn’t interview like that. After this, and his reports to others, the flood gates of sitting and serving public servants suddenly were open to interview)
Summary & Timestamped Transcript Below…
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- Video Content Featuring Joe Souki, Speaker of the Hawaii State House
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- [00:10 → 05:09] Background and Legislative Experience
Joe Souki, Speaker of the Hawaii State House since first elected in 1982, reflects on his lengthy career and the evolution of Hawaii’s legislature. He describes his tenure as a continuous effort to improve, grading himself a B, with room for improvement. Souki emphasizes his role in advocating for Maui County, noting success in bringing jobs, funds, and support to the region.
- Earlier legislators often came from plantation villages and military backgrounds (notably WWII veterans) and focused on improving working and living conditions for laborers.
- Today’s legislature faces different challenges, such as addressing poverty, homelessness, and mental health, but the labor protections established historically remain essential to prevent regression.
- Souki critiques the “trickle-down” economic theory, referencing the Pope’s statement that it benefits the rich but rarely helps the poor, highlighting the need for compassionate governance.
- [05:09 → 10:14] Economic and Social Challenges in Hawaii
Souki explains Hawaii’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and military presence, with limited high-paying industrial jobs. This causes many residents, especially youth, to leave the islands in search of better opportunities.
- Many locals must work multiple jobs to support their families, leading to less parental supervision and increased juvenile behavioral problems such as attention deficit and artistic difficulties.
- The changing socio-economic landscape requires legislators to balance business sustainability with labor rights and social welfare.
- Souki stresses the importance of compassion in lawmaking, acknowledging that society includes many who are less capable yet still require basic support.
- He notes the disappearance of farming/agriculture-based livelihoods and the rise of entrepreneurship which does not always reward the laboring class equitably.
- [10:14 → 15:39] Legislative Engagement and Historical Perspective
Souki stays informed through conferences such as the National Conference of State Legislators and the Speakers Conference, where he even serves on executive committees and is slated to become president of the Speakers Conference.
- On legalizing marijuana, Souki views it as a positive development.
- He discusses efforts to replace sugarcane farming with alternative crops like hemp and explores its potential in building materials.
- Souki shares his plantation upbringing, describing the plantation camp mentality where communities cared for one another from birth to death.
- He contrasts past communal care with today’s challenges, highlighting increased desensitization and indifference to social issues like homelessness and crime.
- Personal anecdotes reveal a time when his family provided food and drink to homeless individuals, illustrating a more compassionate community spirit that he believes has diminished over time.
- [15:39 → 20:58] Social Services and Government Responsiveness
Souki is hopeful that despite worsening social problems, people will reach out to support those in need. He criticizes the federal government’s non-responsiveness and excessive mandates placed on states without adequate funding.
- The U.S. healthcare system, influenced by insurance companies’ profit motives, limits accessibility despite efforts like Obamacare.
- Souki calls for a balanced approach of increased revenue (taxes) and controlled spending to address growing needs such as mental health and homelessness.
- He praises Governor Abercrombie’s push for early childhood education, emphasizing the critical importance of ages zero to eight for future success.
- Souki notes the digital divide between children from middle-class families and those from poorer backgrounds who lack access to computers and technology.
- [20:58 → 27:45] Political Career and Leadership Dynamics
Souki considered running for Mayor of Maui but withdrew due to political challenges and opposition related to controversial tax reform proposals (raising excise tax and lowering income tax).
- He describes mentoring younger legislators, such as Kaniela, who has introduced progressive bills like same-day voter registration.
- Souki reflects on his relationship with his predecessor Speaker Say, highlighting mutual respect and emotional moments despite political rivalry.
- The shift in speakership after 14 years was motivated by a desire for new ideas and a more environmentally balanced legislature.
- [27:45 → 38:08] Legislative Process and Bipartisanship
Souki confirms that Hawaii’s legislature is more open and less dominated by backroom deals than in the past, with decisions made through persuasion, committee leadership, and caucus consensus rather than coercion.
- The Democratic majority prevails but listens to Republican minority voices, with some bipartisan coalitions formed.
- Republicans received vice chairmanships in key committees, an unprecedented move showing collaborative spirit.
- Souki insists most legislators are honest and vote based on merits rather than external pressures.
- Leadership meetings occur regularly, involving policy committees and caucus discussions to shape legislation.
- [38:08 → 41:44] Policy Priorities and Maui Healthcare
Souki’s primary legislative focus includes:
| Policy Area | Details |
| Mental Health | Expand facilities and funding, especially adolescent mental health units |
| Healthcare Access in Maui | Address disparity: Maui has one hospital for the whole island versus multiple hospitals in Honolulu |
| Capital Improvement | Ensure equitable distribution of funds for infrastructure and healthcare |
He expresses disappointment in cuts to mental health services on Molokai due to funding shortages.
- Emphasizes the need for partnerships to secure sufficient resources for Maui County.
- Souki plans to retire in the next decade, mindful of the importance of not becoming a “lame duck” to maintain effectiveness.
- [41:44 → 44:25] Personal Leadership Style and Legacy
Souki attributes his human approachability to his personal life balance, especially the grounding influence of his wife, who metaphorically “holds the power” when he returns home.
- He has served 32 years in the legislature, maintaining freshness and relevance through continuous learning and engagement.
- Souki dismisses ambitions for governor, emphasizing the need for younger leadership while offering mentorship.
- He expresses concern about political candidates lacking opportunities to fully engage the public, praising forums like his own that allow for authentic dialogue over brief soundbites.
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- Key Insights and Conclusions
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- Joe Souki’s extensive experience (over 30 years) provides a deep understanding of Hawaii’s political and social evolution.
- The legislature today is more diverse, younger, and transparent but also faces new socioeconomic challenges, especially regarding poverty, homelessness, and mental health.
- Hawaii’s economy is uniquely dependent on tourism and the military, with limited high-paying jobs, resulting in families working multiple jobs and social consequences for children.
- Souki advocates for compassionate governance, balancing business interests with labor rights and social welfare.
- He highlights the importance of early childhood education and equitable healthcare access, particularly for rural areas like Maui.
- Bipartisanship and openness have replaced coercion in legislative processes, with respect for differing views despite majority control.
- Federal government shortcomings create significant challenges for state efforts in healthcare and social services.
- Souki is committed to mentoring future leaders and maintaining integrity and transparency in public service.
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- Timeline Table of Key Career and Political Events
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| Year | Event Description |
| 1982 | Joe Souki elected to Hawaii State House |
| 1983 | First legislative session |
| ~2000s | Served multiple terms as Speaker of the House |
| 14-year span | Previous Speaker Say tenure; Souki mentor |
| Recent years | Returned as Speaker with a younger, balanced team |
| Next decade | Plans to retire from legislature |
Glossary of Terms and Organizations
| Term/Organization | Definition/Role |
| Speaker of the House | Presiding officer of the Hawaii State House |
| National Conference of State Legislators | A national organization of state legislators and legislative staff |
| Plantation Camp Mentality | Historical community culture in Hawaii’s plantation villages, emphasizing mutual care |
| Excise Tax | Tax on goods and services, proposed by Souki to increase to balance budget |
| Early Childhood Education | Educational programs for children aged zero to eight, prioritized by Souki |
| Maui Memorial Hospital | Main hospital serving Maui Island, with limited mental health units |
Q: Why has Joe Souki remained in the legislature for so long?
A: He stays connected to the community, values compassion in governance, and continuously updates his knowledge through conferences and mentoring.
Q: What are the primary economic challenges in Hawaii?
A: Heavy reliance on tourism and military, limited high-paying industrial jobs, causing many residents to work multiple jobs or leave the islands.
Q: What social issues does Hawaii face according to Souki?
A: Poverty, homelessness, mental health needs, juvenile behavioral problems, and educational disparities.
Q: How does Souki describe the current legislative environment?
A: More transparent, open, and bipartisan compared to the past, with decisions made through discussion and consensus.
Q: What is Souki’s stance on marijuana legalization?
A: He views it as a positive development.
Q: How does Souki view federal government support for Hawaii?
A: He criticizes the federal government for being largely nonresponsive and for imposing unfunded mandates.
This comprehensive summary captures the core messages, context, and perspectives offered by Joe Souki in the interview while adhering strictly to the video transcript content.
Transcript
00:10
thank you for doing this pleasure i’ve been doing this many years with you yeah hi I’m Jason Schwarz you probably seen me on TV talking with candidates many of them you don’t know this one you know this is Speaker of the House and here in Hawaii Joe Souki welcome to the show yes I always look forward to coming to your show you provide a wonderful service to the people thank you thank you you know and uh so do you i try now just as a reference I know you’ve been in the state house since when i got
00:55
01:38
if I was to grade myself I think we can always improve i would give myself maybe a B with some room for improvement okay um as a spokesman for Maui and be able to coordinate our Maui contingency up there you’ve been able to what’s the expression bring home the bacon and uh bring jobs bring money bring a lot of support for for Maui County um are things changing in the legislature or is it the same kind of way that you do business as before well of course it’s changing uh we’re more transparent
02:19
now you have a lot of younger people that don’t have any uh institutional knowledge of how things uh became what they are now and uh and that’s good and sometime it’s bad because I think first of all you have to give them some orientation as to why we are here now and and where we are going because uh they they have limited uh uh exposure of course to the past many they’re too young they’re in their 20s 30s just got out of school raised by most of them by by middle class families went on to good
03:02
colleges uh very different uh uh than those in the past the past they came from plantation villages they came from uh uh competing their tour in the in the service wars in a in the second wall like the 442 and other vets that serve and they had the GI Bill they went to college and they came from very modest so the role was to make changes as to the as to the living conditions in housing working conditions uh collective bargaining and those kind of things that’s the things that they were looking at to make life for the for
03:47
the laborer better and now it’s quite different the needs are different here but there we still have poor people that need to be served we still have homeless that need to be served we still have a lot of mentally deficient people that need to be served so there’s still much to do yet but it’s just that the the culture has changed where we are now to a greater degree not entirely because we still try to enforce them not enforce to remind them that what they did in the past in working conditions for labor
04:27
must continue because you still have labor because it can go back to the dark ages very quickly uh giving uh the flare for entrepreneurship and and profit being the motivator and not necessarily uh the uh using the profits to help the general pop population i think let me just add another thing i think the governor not the governor though the pope had some made a saying that uh this trickle down theory u historically has not worked well for the poor has worked well for the rich but it doesn’t trickle down and the pope did uh
05:09
did mention that in one of his speeches that uh somehow it has never benefit the general populace and I’m sure if he didn’t say it we can say it it’s because people don’t employ a golden rule if that was your wife or daughter or you would homeless be important then do people understand that factor i imagine that’s a big factor when you have to be governing because making cuts and we saw you guys take something that was upside down and now it’s right side up because of tremendous
05:48
amount of hard searching on what to cut and what to keep how do you go through and how do you deal with that process well we have to have a balance and uh you need a balance of course first of all you need to protect business business hire people so you got to make sure that they have s sustainability and and they can grow and so you have to develop a good business climate as you develop a good labor climate so that the labor can be protected and also can uh share in the rewards of the growth of
06:21
business why is it so hard to get a uh an increased minimum wage i know that employers want to keep their cost down but people having two jobs and three jobs and that becomes the income that HUD uses as a basis for affordable housing that’s all wacky how do we What do you do well here in Hawaii quite quite different we’re not Silicon Valley uh we’re not uh part of where they have major factories building airplanes tanks and etc we’re basically uh tourism driven and uh and and of course we have
07:03
military there are two major factors for uh for revenue we have military and and tourism now in tourism generally uh in the low sector of jobs they don’t pay that well of course they have been improving but we don’t have any industries that create good paying jobs i seen that we have some as far as in the high-tech but they’re very limited uh the MI research and tech technology the superco computer and other growth industries you have here but very limited uh as far as good paying jobs so
07:40
necessarily our children find themselves leaving the islands a lot live in the islands and those that choose to stay if they’re going to support themselves and reach the the American dream of having a house and two cars and those kind of thing they uh need to work two or three jobs and that has a failure too as the parents need to be working two or three jobs the children are left alone and that leads to a lot of juvenile problems that have been going up because a lot of us now you we’re looking at a lot of
08:18
different problems that we didn’t have before yeah we look at the artistic problems we look at attention deficit problems we look at a lot of behavior problems and all these of course need to be addressed but good portion of it is because the children don’t have attention at all because the parents are too busy eating out the living so they can’t support the family and put three square meals a day for the child and husband is that the way you’ve stayed in where you are because you stay in touch
08:50
with what’s going on don’t you well you got to stay in touch and you also have to have compassion i think uh for legislator to be uh successful need to have some compassion things are not black and white sometimes you need to make decisions that are not necessarily the public will want we got to understand our society that we have is on uh on the entrepreneurship you work hard you get rewarded and that was fine in the old days when you you could do that when they had factories farming and agriculture when Jefferson
09:33
was there we had farms people work in the farms we don’t have that anymore now we have big combines and uh so there’s not that much of an opportunity to reap the rewards of entrepreneurship and and to be part of it especially in a society like ours generally the American society is uh work hard get rewarded following the French dictim that they had before and that’s good overall but it doesn’t help those who are lesser and we’ve grown to a country with a lot of those that are
10:14
lesser lesser in in competency lesser in capabilities but still need to be fed you cannot just discount them and this is where the legislator got looking at and trying to build this group up so that they become part of the middle class in spite of not having the opportunities like many other uh communities like maybe the triangle and not North Carolina and Silicon Valley where everybody prospers over there who have the but they need to have the mental capability the skills not everybody have the skills how do you
10:52
keep yourself fresh on you were just talking about you know North Carolina and and all that do you go to conferences and things you share with other legislators around the country and things like that well I do go to conference on occasion although lately I haven’t gone to for a while but I belong to the speaker conference national conference of state legislators and the board of the workers of the council of state government i’m in also in the executive committee and both in the national conference of state legislators
11:26
and speakers conference the fact they going to be put in a push so that I become the president of the speaker’s conference i was shocked but uh yes you need to keep a breath and and that requires reading and of course I have the luxury of being in for many years i have tons of information over the years that have been soaked in his old head in here and every now and then it comes out it’s stated there well you’ve been uh I don’t know if it controversial legalizing marijuana could make my list
11:56
legalizing marijuana probably what do you think of that plus or minus i see it as a plus in legalizing how about uh I mean we can go our laundry list what do you think of that one so could well be a plus i know there’s a thing on election day here about hemprete someone just invited me to about hemp making concrete making building material out of hemp well that trying to find a way of replacing sugar cane with other other things well someday sugar cane is going to be uh in the path going to move once
12:31
the uh the board of directors find that it’s not making a profit and they probably going to just cut it like anything else it’s not like the old days when you had the bowins and others who took care of the people and uh and it was kind of provincial not you know uh they they controlled and the controlling was bad but they at least they had somehow to see that the public was taken care of i come from a plantation camp mentality i was born in a home every time it rains I we come out with a bucket brigade i I grew up with
13:10
that so I understand that but I also understand those days they cared for you in some way from birth until death when you die they get one wooden casket for you i I remember a truck coming down and old wooden casket well you know it’s true plantation mentality in here and with limit with limited highpaying jobs and all the things that we don’t have we have a different culture here and it’s it’s a different kind of thing it’s a different thing now how much better it is if uh you’re a kind of a romanticist
13:48
like me and said it wasn’t that bad in looking at the real past it certainly get improved and that’s why it was improved from the 50s when you had the the the warriors who fought in the wars and they finished the college education first thing they did was improve in the working conditions to what we have now the amalo the David TR and the Naj Yoshinaga the Mamo Yamasakis all of these all contributed to what we have the the Mlang to what we have now and we have a good good governor’s
14:22
Arosi and you know and and we’ve been blessed with a lot of good good governors and good legislators to what we have now but things have changed uh they have changed now now there is not the caring that you had in the past why is that they become so blaz maybe watching television so much and desensitization to all the things going on yes all these things going on they become blaz they become bold and become cold indifferent and when you see the crime that’s going on and when you see homeless and in the old days my when you
15:02
had a homeless person uh used to come to my house and we had a very modest income and my mother always had a plate of food for for the for that person and my dad made homemade brew beer and it was during a time when he was supposed to not doing it but he made it anyway and he had a a glass of beer we call it he always say little macana little Macana macana is to give in Hawaii and little is a colloquial expression of just a little bit but my mother gave him a full plate during the holidays Christmas New
15:39
Year he come knock on the door little Macana my mother had a plate waiting for him or two or three other people that’s how we took care you don’t do that anymore we could well now too the the numbers have escalated oh but we have because those days most people were taking care of some way but now they’re not well I’m hoping that people will uh try extra hard now because there is an extra lot of need you see it i see it yeah people that we know that were living regular lives are finding themselves
16:14
compromised at extraordinary levels i know but the good part I hope is just what you said that people do reach out and I hope that that’s something that all of you remember that uh public service supplements what we do you know the government when someone needs help you can send them to the government or you can help them and then see what else is available that little bit of help you know it’s gigantic otherwise it’s just brutal out there all these agencies with different pieces of
16:50
help do you think that there’s going to be a time when all these systems now in the computer age get updated and everyone speaks to each other well I think our whole uh posture of government will have to change from the federal level especially on a federal they’ve been nonresponsive for the most part and uh I think they need to be more compassionate and looking at the the at the needs of of the people we have uh we’re one of the last nations on the supposedly first class countries that we have France and
17:29
England and Japan Russia Australia that provide medical and not only medical provide income for everybody we don’t Obamacare now is trying to reach that point but they had to make tremendous compromises to get out of Congress with the insurance company now I’m not opposed to insurance companies but insurance companies is run by corporations and their board of directors they need to make a profit the board need to share in the profit so that that limits what what uh you can do if you look at some of the other
18:05
countries in the medical it’s it’s quite different they give you a base and that comes out of the general fund and then you can augment if you wish they give you a Chevrolet plan if you want to go to a Buick or Cadillac i don’t know if you have a Rolls-Royce but you can you can upgrade you can upgrade your plan but they give you the basics everybody have the basics is there a higher taxation base to pay for that you would need to uh and I think the country need to realize that the revenue that’s
18:39
coming in is not sufficient to maintain all of the needs that we have this last 20 years we’ve had three or four wars that took a terrible toll on our revenue sure did they borrowed money from the social security now they blame the social security system but no they were they were taking money away to balance the budget so they could pay for the wall so now we have deficit spending we should not have deficit spending the public complain about we we have an unfunded liability in the state and why
19:16
we need to correct it and the irony is we have a terrible unfunded liability with the national government and they’re doing nothing to the Congress to change that around to take care of that and that would need an increase in revenue and a cut in cost you need both but uh I I don’t see too much cuts because you’re not getting it that much in the first place but you need an increase in revenue there’s poor to be taken care of the mental health people need to be that’s a growing problem every day
19:48
homeless need to be kicked off what is the Congress doing about this nothing what they do is they make mandates on the state they tell the state you go and do it have you uh obviously you know Governor Abocrai for a good long while yes have you ever had conversations about that about how he can be able to help in that way well you know the governor is quite a liberal and uh I’ve had many a conversation with him we we think alike on many things and uh between you and I wish him well but uh yes we’ve had and I we know that the
20:22
governor is trying to push the early childhood education and give everybody an opportunity to have a preschool program yes right now they don’t have that and I think it’ll be great for the future you got to the zero to eight is the most important year so this this early childhood education where you include everybody in the state everybody will have an opportunity will in the future give us lot of better children a better population mix as we begin to move up a lot of children now don’t have the
20:58
opportunity of early childhood education so when they go to school they’re three years behind already because they didn’t have the child and the thing that also is going on now that computers and the changes like here we are i’m using an iPhone thank you Apple to do these shows who would have thought the kids are growing up they’re learning computers better than their parents and their grandparents and uh the way information is delivered and everything is so different it’s so different but that’s
21:33
for those children that brought up from middle class upper middle class family and middle class families yes poor children too but poor children for the most part don’t have that advantages they don’t have computers what they do is they grow up on the street then they look at the idols the people who are pushing dope and those kind of things this is this the ones that we want to push up this is why everybody should have an opportunity at an early How come you didn’t run for mayor i mean honestly
22:00
you’ve been here you could all I’m thinking that your state understanding could uh be very helpful in doing things here any reason you just happy where you were well there was a time I was thinking about it uh some years back and uh and and I took a few polls but uh because of some of the stands that I was taking then like uh increasing the u excise tax and I wanted to increase the excise and lower the personal income tax and I caught a lot of help with that and so far over time you seem to be on the
22:40
right train a lot is that I mean but sometime not with the right to the public the public is not for it and so that that that didn’t help you and know and then there was a situation with Kame school so my poll went down a little bit and so I in fact I think that’s about the time I was remembering that we met and we started doing these interviews yes you came over here but in fact similar to uh with John Hills way back yes and I’m still working John Hill doing a lot of Facebook with me and uh
23:16
John and I go way back just like with you and uh two good people thank you i appreciate that you hear what I have to say i sometimes not only me but a lot of people feel they don’t get anyone really listening that you’re showing a compassion and understanding that I would be very welcome in some of these other candidates yeah well you need to listen and I usually count freshmen when they get in get the mouth and open the ears and speaking of a young guy that guy Kaneoa in Yeah you probably seen him um everyone says he’s
23:55
just cranking out bills when you’re young like that do you work with experienced people to come out with ideas oh yeah he touches base you must got to understand any bill to get out need not only one person sure they need the help of the uh committee members they need the help of leadership they need the help of the administration it’s a combination of things no one person can do it yes conneal has come up with some good ideas and I think the early uh voting registration same day registration on terrific is going to be
24:30
a great thing to increase the numbers of people and and and that’s his brainchild and we got to give him credit for that but he didn’t want to help me get in the truth too if in some old time I didn’t like it they would they would deep fix it very easily right well I’ve watched and he’s just a ball of fire but I always think you know he’s talking about um your speakerhip versus the last speakerhip and that there’s somewhat of factions and stuff politics you know we all think politics and we you know we
25:09
think of all kinds of underhanded stuff is politics more open with others than it was before i think it is uh uh let me say this about speaker say I have great love for him and and of course we have differences but uh speaker say was a protege of mine when I was the speaker and in fact when I was a finest chairman speaker say was kind of in a doghouse in those days I would say he was he chose the wrong we had a a change in speakership from Henry Peters to Kawakami henry Peters was a real strong speaker people wanted a change
25:53
they chose Kawakami i was on a Kawakami side speaker could say was on Henry Peter side so he was kind of in a doghouse but I used to go and visit him every now and then i and I liked him younger man of course so when I was the finance chairman I got him to be my vice chairman in finance then when I became the speaker I made him my finance chairman and you and he did a good job at finance however like a lot of legislators uh they all have ambitions and then there was then he wanted to be the speaker
26:29
they probably went a number of people went to talk to him they had a coalition and so he he got to be the speaker and and I got to take a vacation from being the speaker albeit it’s a very long occasion about 14 years but it you know during that time I contributed I was in many committees in transportation in house leadership so say was very fair in that in fact when I lost the speakerhip he cried and let me tell you this time when I met with him I went and tell Cal I’m going to be uh uh looking in fact I have the vote to
27:08
dispose you of being the speaker we both cried That’s how strong we feel for each other and and he never did condemn me for that he understood and yeah he wasn’t happy you’re never happy when you’re taking on power he was the speaker for I think the longest speaker ever in ter in Tur 12 years a speaker so when you lose that you lose a lot so those around him too were even more hurt but those things happen and I felt that it was a time that they needed a new speakerhip with new ideas
27:45
so I came in with a younger group a more environmentally inclined group a little bit more balanced we also had business oriented and more environmental my finance chairman is quite conservative my majority leader is is more on the liberal side so it’s a balance that we have i got it and but it was a lot of young people who was an out for many many years some of them 15 20 years on the out suddenly they became in wow and they’re still around so are there new people coming there’s some
28:22
but are there new people do you finding proteges coming along oh yes yes yes every election we look at the cast of characters that they’re running for office and then we see those that that have promised and of course we try to bring them in as we bring them in we try to educate them into the process and bring them along so that they be the future leaders i’m not going to be obviously with my age I’m not going to be around that long uh as speakerhip hope we leave a little bit longer after
28:50
that i hope so i was going to say time to the stuff i love when I’m out in the community and I can see I see someone coming incognito trying to There’s Joe Suki um I’m gonna bring up a few issues just because if you don’t mind gmo labeling i um never mind right now we have an initiative coming and uh a lot more discussion has to happen because I think we can do it all i don’t think we have to lose jobs i have lots of opinions but the GMO labeling I thought that would have been
29:26
a real good first step and I am really surprised it didn’t just race through why well it’s going to be very difficult i think if you’re going to have GMO labeling have to be on a national level most of the products that we get on are national companies that come in here when you look at the uh at the supermarket they all come from the main national you buy your cereals and etc it’s all national so we cannot change it over here they got to get a national they’re not going to change it only for
30:01
Hawaii can we um I guess I I think you can uh you can label products that are grown in Hawaii i think it would be easier in many respects to label organic and the rest would be GMO you give and right now they are lab organic so when you go into a store and to a market and you looking for organic they’ll stay organically grown okay you buy that you don’t have to buy a GMO you have that choice right now i uh just that’s a very good and simple solution isn’t it well I’m a simple man
30:41
very but no but your point about federal you know um how do we influence that do you have any way I mean do you in in a local house have any influence or does an abocrombi have influence in such a way to be able to help make that happen this you hear the outcry here we’re a state we’re a state which uh two congressmen and of course every state have two senators and two congressmen who are very with no seniority very little seniority so our clout in the Senate especially with Denny no gone
31:23
is just about zil now right remember there’s 435 members in the house and they are Republicans now I’m not condemning them Republicans are on balance they’re the ones who who had Abraham Lincoln free slavery is okay but most of their mentality are quite different the tea party mentality is less of government a lot of republicans less of government they believe in protecting business so to make the changes in the congress in the house especially probably going to be very difficult and I don’t think our two is
31:58
going to have much make much of a dent there then then you look at this have to come from the larger states like in California where you have a lot of agriculture grow Now they would have a say in what’s going to happen you get you get that uh San Fernando you got Sanwa King Valley you get already the crops in there and a lot of crops are grown there and found a lot of them are GMO and rice is GMO oh yeah wheat GMO diabetes insulin is GMO so milk is GMO the word GMO doesn’t need to be the the
32:39
problem it’s more it gets very specific i think the the specifics we need to get into it is to look at the now if the the concern about the pesticide because the pesticides can lead to illnesses disease cancer right that’s not GMO but it’s obviously but but it’s part of the process of course most of us are using different forms of pesticide Roundup you know I use Roundup now and there i keep it away from my toes but I try to spray it a little bit most of us do that now they claim that GMO but
33:16
maybe some of the path some of the pesticides they use need to be changed i think this where what you need to have kind of the scientific community I think the Congress and even the legislature need to look at it and make a detailed study as to the uh as to the kind of chemicals they’re using and to the degree how it’s affecting the population are we dying sooner because of that somehow we living longer in spite of the GMO many of the people I’ve seen here who have been the most conscious and careful of their foods and
33:51
intake dying of lung cancer and breast i mean I don’t know the numbers but it’s extraordinary to me how do you smoke they don’t smoke no well I know it’s sad hospitals money for hospitals and medical i mean when I speak to you I feel really good because you just tell me like it is no heming and hawing no maybe I um what do I say not seeing what happens behind closed doors but you seem real open are you do you find yourself not needing to I mean I I let me see if I can ask this in the right way
34:33
it’s often assumed that things go on behind closed doors people get money from different campaign sources and everyone thinks that somehow decisions are being pre-made and predisposed when I don’t feel that when I speak to you i’m sure you get you know contributions from all kinds of people you’re seem to be an independent guy how the end result is the legislature and I like to say this great majority of legislators are very honest they look at the issues and they vote on the on the merit of the issue
35:12
and closed doors certainly not nearly as much before i remember when I first came in uh in the house my old friend Representative John John Madera he came up to me Joe you watch out when you vote he said you vote the wrong way the speaker don’t want at night when you’re walking by the rail they’re going to grab you by a coy and throw you over the rail so one day I hold it against what the speaker wanted that night I’m walking against the wall i’m hanging to the wall not staying away
35:45
from the rail that was then you don’t have that now you don’t have that now you get it through persuasion you sell your ideas we have leadership meeting i have leadership meetings twice a month i have meetings with the chairmans i have meetings with the members we have caucuses we meet with the democracy both the Senate and the House we have a respectful democracy we go from from leadership well actually begins with policy we have a policy committee made up of various groups they make a
36:18
recommendation to leadership leadership looks at it and then it goes they make the recommendation to the caucus and the caucus is made of all the the majority members and the Republicans have their own caucus the Republican caucus guys work together pretty much do you on on some issues we do on on some issues we’re we’re quite different and well it should be otherwise you won’t need different parties so so philosophically we’re different in some way we just need to respect both both different and right
36:55
now because the Democrats are in great majority the Democrats prevail but it doesn’t mean that we don’t listen with them in fact you know that I had a coalition with the Republican and that’s how I had the leverage uh to become the speaker right i had the votes to become speaker with the with the coalition of of the Republican let me say this about that they’ve never come to me and demanded anything you mean any of your uh anything extra anything extra but we agreed in the beginning there will be some quit pro
37:31
but other than that there not like give them a little bit let them share in a capital improvement project like like everybody else so they would have a share in a capital improvement yeah and we we provided uh vice chairmanship that we they never had before uh Johansson the minority leader was and maybe will still be the the uh vice chairman of finance one of the vice chairman two vice chairman a very powerful committee so yes we we did that but but doing the cost as far as certain bills that they
38:08
need they never come up with that we had differences they got up on the floor and they speak against it speak strongly against it as well they should um what subjects am I not hitting there’s so many which are your pet things that you in this time want to share with people that you think are important i don’t have any real path my my my path is to fill the pukas uh that we have the the pukas in providing more money for mental health to to expand the facilities for mental health to provide more financial
38:45
assistance to Maui Memorial or in the case if the state is unable to because of the unwillingness to maybe raise taxes or whatever we need to do to reach the point then maybe we need to look at partnerships with someone But we need to see that people in Maui get the same care that the people in Honolulu does in Honolulu right in one square mile you have five big hospital exceptional medical yeah and exceptional medical five hospitals one square mile maui one hospital island of Maui for all of Maui
39:23
you live in Ko you get a heart attack your market when you get here right or even in Lahina in Kahana and worse yet if there is a traffic sn one one helicopter if two people get helic get a heart attack at the same time we need an operation one one die right you flip you flip a coin and one die that’s the choice we make when we choose it but that need to change right and I I think they I think we look at it that I’m disappointed with Mario memorial in stopping the uh the uh the the Morokai
39:59
unit as far as the uh adolescent mental health but they they did it because they had to make choices they don’t have enough money and so this is where I the failure and we need to work harder is that they got to look until we get a good partnership we need to make sure that Maui has the money and opportunity and that’s would be one of my paths to see that Maui is taking care of Do you think you’re going to retire in the next decade what are you thinking you I mean you’re still in good health
40:34
obviously you’re approaching uh middle age thank you very much i mean I hope we all live in a long time but I don’t think you I imagine you’d rather not work till you drop get to time to enjoy your wife and your family and this whole thing and kind of I want to say bring on the new guys um well you know one thing you learn in politics never be a lame duck when you’re a lame duck and you say “This is my last term.” Oh yeah your your effectiveness is gone why are they going to listen to you
41:10
they’re going to listen to the person that’s running for speaker to take your place i see or the new organization that will be taking your place so that’s the irony if I will retire in the next of course I will and not to be here for 10 more years okay and uh thank you for making that understandable you know I’m open about things but you’re right a lot of people are looking to get positioned everyone’s working around position they they they position themselves how have you stayed
41:44
how have you stayed so human so approachable the people that know you and love you know you’re a really gentle open caring guy right how do you do that all this year because I know you have a position of such power you have to make a lot of decisions that are not always popular well let me tell you something the power ends when I get home shift of power the shift of power then the speaker of the house is my wife and she brings me down to to the to her level and to the to the public level very early i see and that keeps me
42:18
levelheaded so when I go back I’m tempered by everything I say and do so I lead two lives almost one of course to keep my wife happy and the other one to make sure that the the state is in good hand and sometimes tough decisions can be made this has been many many years has it been 10 what is it 20 25 well I’m going on 83 i’ll be finishing it i’ll be finish in 32 years 32 years this this November that’s extraordinary you’ve kept it fresh every time I speak to you what I always feel I always is
43:02
amazing to say but you are the most informed of all the candidates that I’m around you are on top of everything so I really commend you for um setting a a really important standard well you know as as speaker you need to do that otherwise because you look at the whole picture look at the whole picture any thoughts of being governor no that’s all pass if I was a younger man I would maybe look at those things just like how I is running against Abberi and and very tight race right now but uh no at my age they want a younger
43:45
person who’s going to be full of vinegar and vinegar although I have some yet you got vinegar i know you got You got some yet but no I think you need that younger and I’m willing to teach and do whatever to pass on to to a younger person and to the ears of the future thank you for joining me here you’re always a pleasure thank you my my my pleasure your plate thank you thank you for joining us i know that uh one of your favorites Joe Suki one of my favorites too i’m uh glad we do this
44:25
i hope that somewhere something can get put in so few of the candidates I’m seeing now have a lot of money and it is so hard for the public to get to share this kind of time if you have an iPhone and you’re a candidate sit with someone share and explain a little bit of who you are these little three minute forums are kind of very disappointing and this way you get to see who someone is thank you for joining us and we will see you again aloha aloh thank you
