Full headline: Governor warns of impending insurance crisis while approving
Maui wildfires recovery aid
Gov. Josh Green on Thursday raised more fears of an insurance crisis in
Hawaii and said with climate change increasing the risk of disaster, the state
has to be prepared.
He said that could mean lawmakers must return to the capitol later this year.
The governor called back-to-back press conferences Thursday afternoon.
The first was to sign emergency Maui aid and to praise lawmakers for their
work, the second to say they may have to come back to head off a potential
insurance crisis.
“What you will hear in the coming weeks and months is that insurers will not
insure states like Hawaii, where there is high risk,” Green said.
Green said state must essentially be financially prepared to insure itself
against disaster.
He advocates for three pieces of legislation he proposed but were rejected
by lawmakers in this session: a $25 climate fee on tourists, giving HECO the
power to use money from customers to borrow with state-guaranteed bonds
and a state insurance fund in case insurers stop serving some condominium
and homeowners.
Maui Wildfires Disaster
“Without that, and having suffered a disaster of this magnitude, we could be
behind all the other markets in the country and pay the worst rates pay the
highest premiums,” Green said.
Green said he’s forming what he calls a Climate Advisory Team, headed by
former Alexander and Baldwin CEO Chris Benjamin, to analyze the risk and
the costs to mitigate it.
A&B is a major landowner, including on Maui where it is a player in the
island’s debate over water rights.
Hawaii News Now asked if there was a conflict of interest to having
someone tied to a major landowner as head of this team.
“No,” Green replied. “He retired and he’s actually been one of our climate
advisors.”
The legislature adjourns tomorrow - but the Governor said if HECO
destabilizes or insurers pull out of Hawaii, he may ask them to reconvene
this year.
Green began the afternoon on a happier note, inviting Maui lawmakers and
leadership to watch as he approved nearly $400 million in emergency funds.
The money mostly for housing fire survivors ineligible for federal aid and for
the Ohana Fund, to which he said 55 families have turned for quick death or
injury settlements.
The package, and another bill financing Maui costs in the upcoming fiscal
year, do not include any direct aid to Maui County. House Finance Chair Rep.
Kyle Yamashita, who represents part of Central Maui, said he determined
that the county can handle its costs, with federal support, for now.
“I would rather they work within their means currently and we help them
when they need it,” Yamashita said. “I think its going to get tighter for them
in the future.”
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen had asked for $75 million in cash and $50 million
from bonds which he said was needed to support housing and infrastructure
repairs and improvements.
Green also congratulated lawmakers them for a multi-billion dollar income
tax cut over the next seven years, which he said would save a family with
income in the $80-90,000 range $4,000 in taxes when it is fully rolled out.
“It helps with their cost of living,” Green said. “Really what its meant to do is
incentivize kamaaina to come home and that will stimulate our economy.”
Lawmakers who rejected the insurance fund and help to HECO said not
enough is known about the costs or whether the risk is real. Green said
that’s what his Climate Advisory Team will help determine.
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