West Hawaii residents invited to town hall with state lawmakers
West Hawaii lawmakers will answer questions July 2 in Kailua-Kona, with housing, cost of living and public services still hanging over the 2026 session.
West Hawaii residents will have a chance to question six state lawmakers in person at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona on July 2, as lawmakers return from the 2026 session with housing costs, reduced federal funding and other unresolved pressures still weighing on Big Island households. The town hall is set for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Building A at 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, and light refreshments are planned.
Rep. Jeanné Kapela, Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, Rep. Nicole Lowen, Rep. David Tarnas, Sen. Dru Kanuha and Sen. Herbert Tim Richards III are slated to attend. Their districts stretch from Mountain View, Volcano, Pāhala and Kaū through Kona, Waimea, Kohala and parts of Hilo-adjacent communities, making the forum one of the few places where residents from widely separated parts of Hawaii Island can press the same lawmakers on roads, schools, taxes, housing and other state services that land differently from one district to the next.
The meeting comes after the Hawaii Legislature’s 2026 regular session began Jan. 21 and adjourned sine die by the time the town hall was announced. This year’s session was shaped by the high cost of living, housing shortages, overtourism and reduced federal funding, issues that continue to affect rent, public services and state and county planning on the island. Lawmakers are expected to recap the session and take questions from the audience.
The West Hawaii Civic Center is a Hawaii County government complex and a familiar public gathering place in Kailua-Kona, with multiple county offices on site. That setting gives the town hall added weight for residents who want to know how decisions made in Honolulu could affect daily life in Kona, Waimea, Kohala, Pāhala and the rural slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Tarnas authored Act 306, the 1998 law that created the West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area, which runs from Ka Lae, or South Point, to Upolu Point in North Kohala, excluding Kawaihae commercial harbor. The Department of Land and Natural Resources reviews the area every five years.
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