News Release from Hawaii Republican Party      October 11, 2014

Yet another week has gone by where Senator David Ige found himself defending tax hikes and broken promises to voters, while Duke Aiona unveiled more common-sense plans to provide affordable housing.

The contrast couldn't be more clear: one candidate has made it more expensive for Hawaii families over the past four years and the other is working to solve the cost of living crisis in the Aloha State.

IN THE NEWS...

Ige Came Under Fire This Week For Breaking His Promise To Hawaii Voters Not To Raise Their Taxes (Hawaii News Now, Star Advertiser). "State Sen. David Ige has been criticized by local Republicans for not honoring a pledge to Americans for Tax Reform not to raise taxes. The Democratic candidate for governor says he may have signed the pledge more than a decade ago, but does not recall exactly what year. The conservative Washington, D.C. interest group considers the Taxpayer Protection Pledge a permanent commitment not to raise taxes while in office... The curious question in this partisan scuffle is not whether Ige broke the pledge or not -- he has voted for tax increases over the past decade -- but why he would sign the pledge at all."

In The KHON2/AARP Debate, Ige Had To Defend Trying To Raise The General Excise Tax 25% And The Failing Health Connector (Star Advertiser). "Both Aiona and Hannemann criticized Ige for favoring an increase to the state's general-excise tax in 2011 to help close a projected budget deficit. The idea stalled, however, when Ige's own Senate Ways and Means Committee refused to advance the bill... Aiona also said Ige and majority Democrats have foisted the troubled health insurance exchange on Hawaii because of party politics. He said Ige and the Democrats were behind the insurance exchange and the federal health care reform law 'simply because it was something that was implemented, and was passed, by the Democratic Party.'"

Ige Continued To Receive Criticism For His Failed Leadership On The State Hospitals' Fiscal Crisis (Star Advertiser). "The plight of public hospitals has surfaced as a policy issue during the past two televised debates in the governor's race — on KITV and on PBS Hawaii — with Aiona and Hannemann both faulting Ige, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and former chairman of the Senate Health Committee, for not doing enough to help or to stand up to labor unions."

Meanwhile, Duke Aiona Revealed More Solutions For Affordable Housing In Hawaii (Civil Beat, Star Advertiser). "In a potential partnership with local developers, former Lt. Gov. James 'Duke' Aiona said Wednesday that he supports a new initiative that would enable renters to build equity toward down payments on home purchases... Aiona had previously announced a proposal to divert 25 percent of the money collected through the state's corporate income tax to the rental housing trust fund to help expand the number of affordable rentals."

The Cost Of Living Continues To Soar Under Ige And Abercrombie's Policies Over The Past Four Years (Civil Beat). "Adjusted for the cost of living, the household happiness threshold in Hawaii is tops in the nation, at $122,175. That amount was on par with the annual income recently calculated by the Wall Street Cheat Sheet, a financial news content partner of USA Today, to 'live comfortably' in Hawaii: $122,000. Unfortunately for residents here, Hawaii’s median family income for 2012 was $77,781 — or about $45,000 less than the cost of living-adjusted happiness threshold — according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The National Review And Fox News' The Five Both Like Duke Aiona's Chances Heading Into November. "Aiona is certainly a moderate Republican, but he has released compelling position papers spelling out how he would right the state’s financial boat without raising taxes as well as address the state’s burgeoning homeless problem — the worst in the nation, by some measures."