Editor’s Note: In July 2012, Civil Beat sent six questions to each of the candidates registered to run in the Aug. 11 primary for Hawaii State House of Representatives District 33. Two out of three candidates responded, including Sam Kong. The questions and answers are reproduced below in full. Read the response by his competitor, Mark Takai. Heather Giugni did not send in her questionnaire. Click on each topic listed below to read Civil Beat’s question and Kong’s response.

• General Excise Tax
• Environmental Regulatory Review
• Gambling
• Sunshine Law
• Best and Worst Legislation
• Overlooked Issue

Preferred Candidate Name: Sam Kong

Senate/House District Number: House 33

Date of Birth: 12/14/1959

Place of Birth/Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

Current Profession/Employer: Aiea Florist, Owner

Education/Alma Mater(s): Kalani High School, US Air Force

1. With the exception for Honolulu rail, the state has not raised the general excise tax in decades. Would you consider increasing the GET to help the state meet its budget demands?

No, we should not raise the general excise tax. It is a broad base tax, so though it may seem small, it is far reaching. People must understand, The GET is a tax on doing business in this state, whether you make a profit or not, and that it is a process. This process should involve generating revenues for the businesses, which in turn generates revenue to the state, not the other way around. ↩ back to top

2. Lawmakers proposed relaxing environmental regulatory review to spur development and job growth in the 2012 session, and the issue is expected to resurface next year. Where do you stand?

No, we should not relax the environmental regulations, after all, these quick decisions may affect our ‘aina’ for generations. There are delays in permitting that I don’t even understand, maybe we could look into those sort of delays in the process, but otherwise, protect our ‘aina’. ↩ back to top

3. Gambling — are you for it or against it? If not, why not? If so, what type of gambling and with what kind of restrictions?

No gambling on our lands. Horror stories are just that, stories… until it hits you close to home. Then it’s easy to understand the perils of gambling.

But, if the Cruise industry would go 3 miles out to sea and we allow gambling, that may be similar to flying to Vegas, for 3 miles or 2000, what’s the difference, as long as it’s not on our lands. ↩ back to top

4. The Sunshine Law is a hallmark of an open democracy accountable to its citizens. Yet, the Legislature exempts itself from this requirement. Do you support more transparency in government operations, or are there legitimate reasons to conduct some of the people’s business behind closed doors?

Yes, we should have a sunshine law on all levels of government, and there is, except the legislature… we need to fix that. ↩ back to top

5. What is the best legislation — and worst legislation — that the Legislature has approved in recent years? Please explain.

Best Legislation was the settlement with OHA with the Kakaako properties. We have owed the Hawaiians a long time…

Worst legislation has to be the $450 Million dollar tax increase the other year, with the elimination of certain exceptions in the GET system. Like I said, it may seem small, but it sure is far reaching. ↩ back to top

6. What is an issue that you would champion at the Legislature — one that perhaps has not received much attention, or an issue that is important to your district?

We must lower the cost of living in Hawaii. Families are struggling to survive. But how? Repealing the $450 million is a tough sell with those in charge, so how about we start small. Eliminate the HI5 Bottle tax. I hate buying 3 cases of water but have to pay for 4! That’s $5.32 I can save each time I replenish my disaster preparedness water! Then eliminate the $1 added tax to each barrel of oil we use. It used to be $.05! Then we keep eliminating or cutting taxes, because we will still have more than enough to maintain a limited government. How can that be, remember, the GET is a process. People have more money, they buy flowers, my revenues increase, then the state’s revenue will obviously increase. So give the people back some of their monies! ↩ back to top