Fighting The Unacceptably High Cost Of Living

Aloha, Friend. We Americans may disagree on many issues, but virtually all of us agree that our cost of living is unacceptably high and getting worse. Across our country, the costs of healthcare, food, housing, utilities, education, childcare and other life necessities are simply unaffordable for too many. This is of course especially true in our Hawai‘i, where our isolation, islands and other factors increase costs to start with, and where unaffordability was clearly your number one concern in my November 2025 Constituent Survey Sometimes I hear that things are better than they seem, or that there’s not much we can do about it. I reject both. People know their income, costs and budgets, and for too many it’s not adding up and they’re slipping behind. And no, it doesn’t just have to be this way; we must and can change to what we need and deserve. To fight unaffordability, we have to pursue two goals. One is to grow family incomes to be able to pay for life’s necessities. But that’s not enough, because if incomes aren’t keeping up with costs, life gets harder, and that’s exactly what’s happening for too many. So the other must be to reduce the costs themselves. I continue to work hard to improve Hawaii’s economy, jobs and family incomes while also reducing costs. My efforts are detailed on my website at case.house.gov, but I want to summarize some here (I’ll address more in future e-newsletters) and ask for your guidance. Growing Our Economy, Jobs and Incomes. To grow our national economy, jobs and incomes, I focus in Congress on federal policies that help businesses, improve education, protect workers and take care of those in real need. In addition, for our Hawai‘i, I focus on strengthening the drivers of our local economy, such as tourism, defense, construction, agriculture and education, creating new and diverse industries such as technology, and helping our small businesses. Among my efforts, my now-seven-years seniority on our U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is the most direct. Appropriations is responsible for all federal discretionary funding, including billions of dollars to Hawai‘i annually. I use my membership to improve Hawai‘i wherever and however I can; much more at case.house.gov. For tourism, a few of my efforts are: (1) funding for Brand USA, which markets US tourism internationally; (2) funding for workforce development; and (3) legislation with Sen. Schatz to improve the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act), which supports Native Hawaiian-grounded tourism. I work with other colleagues on these and other issues through our Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus and other efforts. For defense, my primary focus is through my now-three-year membership on our Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, responsible for half of our federal budget. This is not just about securing our country, but helping our Hawai‘i, where total defense spending per year is over $10 billion (with Hawai‘i ranked second in the country in defense spending as a share of our economy). Defense provides good, well-paying jobs (such as some 6,000 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard), sustains thousands of small businesses and other jobs in other parts of our economy like agriculture and technology, and is a major contributor to our construction industry, averaging over $1 billion of Hawai‘i projects per year. For much more on my efforts to grow Hawaii’s economy, jobs and incomes, please go to case.house.gov. Controlling Living Costs. To reduce our living costs, I’m focused especially on fixing some causes that worsen virtually all costs, especially housing and household goods. Here are two: Jones Act. Since over 90% of what we need to live in Hawai‘i comes in by ship from the continent, our shipping costs are a major contributor to what we must pay for virtually everything. The Jones Act is a century-old federal law which creates a monopoly on our shipping lifeline, with the average family paying some $1,800 per year more than they should. Although a very few benefit from the Jones Act, everyone throughout Hawai‘i pays this price. I have fought for reforms to the Jones Act to open up our shipping to real competition that would lower our rates and costs. More here.Tariffs. Earlier this year the Trump administration imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from other countries, including many of our friends and allies. Tariffs are a tax on goods and sooner or later are passed on to us all. We are starting to see the full effect of these tariffs in our costs, with one recent estimate calculating the average family’s tariff increase at $1,200. I oppose most of these tariffs on several grounds, and have both introduced proposals and joined a lawsuit now at the Supreme Court to reverse them.Here are just some of my efforts to reduce other main drivers of high costs: Healthcare. I fought for many years to lower the costs of prescription drugs by requiring the drug companies to negotiate prices; these efforts have partially succeeded as some drug prices are being reduced. I have proposed legislation and obtained funding to meet our critical doctor, nurse and other health care professional shortage across the country. Most recently, I joined a bipartisan group of House colleagues in proposing a fix to the Affordable Care Act insurance premium crisis facing almost 25,000 Hawai‘i residents. More here. Food. I have obtained funding to help our local farmers, since as we can grow our own food we will not have to pay unreasonable Jones Act shipping costs. I have also fought to continue, improve and fund key federal efforts like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to assist our state government with helping those facing the reality of not enough food.Housing. We all know that the cost of housing in Hawai‘i is way higher than virtually anywhere else in our country. While much of this is tied to shipping costs and local and state housing policy given our limited land availability and high demand, the federal government can and should help. I have obtained funding for various federal housing assistance programs; see examples here. I have also supported various legislative proposals to tackle housing affordability; more at case.house.gov. Energy. Our best federal answer to our high energy costs is to accelerate our transition from expensive, imported petroleum (with their extra shipping costs) to affordable renewable energy. Through my Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, made up of some 100 House members committed to supporting clean energy innovation, and otherwise, I have fully opposed the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on clean and renewable energy advancement. In Appropriations, I have sought to fund programs like the Energy Transitions Initiative to support improved, lower cost energy for isolated communities like Hawai‘i. Child care. We all understand the difficult challenge of affordable quality child care for Hawai‘i families with young children. I have fought to continue and improve the federal child tax credit, which is one of our most powerful and proven solutions. Education/student loans. Aside from supporting full funding for public education, I have advocated for programs such as need-based scholarship and public service loan forgiveness, increasing Pell Grant awards and improving the student loan program to provide more affordable repayment options. I also consistently seek funding for programs that provide direct financial support and scholarships to students, helping families manage the cost of college. These are just some of my efforts to fight our unacceptably high cost of living. I’m under no illusions that they or any other single action alone will solve our unaffordability crisis overnight or that there’s some magic silver bullet out there. But I do know that we can’t just accept what is, can’t just do nothing, and that if we honestly and deliberately persevere in identifying each of the causes of this crisis and take the steps needed to both grow our economy, jobs and income and control our living costs, we can get to a much more secure and affordable life. I especially welcome your questions and comments on my report. What do you think are the causes of our unacceptably high cost of living and what should we do about them? Please email me here: [email protected]. It is more critical than ever that I stay in touch with and hear from you as we work through this very difficult time and find the best way forward. The best way to keep up with what I’m doing, provide your concerns, get your questions answered and ask for assistance is by visiting my website at https://case.house.gov/. Please also feel free to call my Honolulu office at (808) 650-6688 or email me at [email protected]. My great DC and Honolulu staff and I remain here for you and all of our Hawai‘i. We wish for you and yours only the best of the Holidays and New Year.

Aloha, Friend.

We Americans may disagree on many issues, but virtually all of us agree that our cost of living is unacceptably high and getting worse.

Across our country, the costs of healthcare, food, housing, utilities, education, childcare and other life necessities are simply unaffordable for too many. This is of course especially true in our Hawai‘i, where our isolation, islands and other factors increase costs to start with, and where unaffordability was clearly your number one concern in my November 2025 Constituent Survey

Sometimes I hear that things are better than they seem, or that there’s not much we can do about it. I reject both. People know their income, costs and budgets, and for too many it’s not adding up and they’re slipping behind. And no, it doesn’t just have to be this way; we must and can change to what we need and deserve.

To fight unaffordability, we have to pursue two goals. One is to grow family incomes to be able to pay for life’s necessities. But that’s not enough, because if incomes aren’t keeping up with costs, life gets harder, and that’s exactly what’s happening for too many. So the other must be to reduce the costs themselves.

I continue to work hard to improve Hawaii’s economy, jobs and family incomes while also reducing costs. My efforts are detailed on my website at case.house.gov, but I want to summarize some here (I’ll address more in future e-newsletters) and ask for your guidance.

Growing Our Economy, Jobs and Incomes. To grow our national economy, jobs and incomes, I focus in Congress on federal policies that help businesses, improve education, protect workers and take care of those in real need. In addition, for our Hawai‘i, I focus on strengthening the drivers of our local economy, such as tourism, defense, construction, agriculture and education, creating new and diverse industries such as technology, and helping our small businesses.

Among my efforts, my now-seven-years seniority on our U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is the most direct. Appropriations is responsible for all federal discretionary funding, including billions of dollars to Hawai‘i annually. I use my membership to improve Hawai‘i wherever and however I can; much more at case.house.gov.

For tourism, a few of my efforts are: (1) funding for Brand USA, which markets US tourism internationally; (2) funding for workforce development; and (3) legislation with Sen. Schatz to improve the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act), which supports Native Hawaiian-grounded tourism. I work with other colleagues on these and other issues through our Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus and other efforts.

For defense, my primary focus is through my now-three-year membership on our Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, responsible for half of our federal budget. This is not just about securing our country, but helping our Hawai‘i, where total defense spending per year is over $10 billion (with Hawai‘i ranked second in the country in defense spending as a share of our economy). Defense provides good, well-paying jobs (such as some 6,000 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard), sustains thousands of small businesses and other jobs in other parts of our economy like agriculture and technology, and is a major contributor to our construction industry, averaging over $1 billion of Hawai‘i projects per year.

For much more on my efforts to grow Hawaii’s economy, jobs and incomes, please go to case.house.gov.

Controlling Living Costs. To reduce our living costs, I’m focused especially on fixing some causes that worsen virtually all costs, especially housing and household goods. Here are two:

Jones Act. Since over 90% of what we need to live in Hawai‘i comes in by ship from the continent, our shipping costs are a major contributor to what we must pay for virtually everything. The Jones Act is a century-old federal law which creates a monopoly on our shipping lifeline, with the average family paying some $1,800 per year more than they should. Although a very few benefit from the Jones Act, everyone throughout Hawai‘i pays this price. I have fought for reforms to the Jones Act to open up our shipping to real competition that would lower our rates and costs. More here.

Tariffs. Earlier this year the Trump administration imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from other countries, including many of our friends and allies. Tariffs are a tax on goods and sooner or later are passed on to us all. We are starting to see the full effect of these tariffs in our costs, with one recent estimate calculating the average family’s tariff increase at $1,200. I oppose most of these tariffs on several grounds, and have both introduced proposals and joined a lawsuit now at the Supreme Court to reverse them.

Here are just some of my efforts to reduce other main drivers of high costs:

Healthcare. I fought for many years to lower the costs of prescription drugs by requiring the drug companies to negotiate prices; these efforts have partially succeeded as some drug prices are being reduced. I have proposed legislation and obtained funding to meet our critical doctor, nurse and other health care professional shortage across the country. Most recently, I joined a bipartisan group of House colleagues in proposing a fix to the Affordable Care Act insurance premium crisis facing almost 25,000 Hawai‘i residents. More here.

Food. I have obtained funding to help our local farmers, since as we can grow our own food we will not have to pay unreasonable Jones Act shipping costs. I have also fought to continue, improve and fund key federal efforts like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to assist our state government with helping those facing the reality of not enough food.

Housing. We all know that the cost of housing in Hawai‘i is way higher than virtually anywhere else in our country. While much of this is tied to shipping costs and local and state housing policy given our limited land availability and high demand, the federal government can and should help. I have obtained funding for various federal housing assistance programs; see examples here. I have also supported various legislative proposals to tackle housing affordability; more at case.house.gov.

Energy. Our best federal answer to our high energy costs is to accelerate our transition from expensive, imported petroleum (with their extra shipping costs) to affordable renewable energy. Through my Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, made up of some 100 House members committed to supporting clean energy innovation, and otherwise, I have fully opposed the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on clean and renewable energy advancement. In Appropriations, I have sought to fund programs like the Energy Transitions Initiative to support improved, lower cost energy for isolated communities like Hawai‘i.

Child care. We all understand the difficult challenge of affordable quality child care for Hawai‘i families with young children. I have fought to continue and improve the federal child tax credit, which is one of our most powerful and proven solutions.

Education/student loans. Aside from supporting full funding for public education, I have advocated for programs such as need-based scholarship and public service loan forgiveness, increasing Pell Grant awards and improving the student loan program to provide more affordable repayment options. I also consistently seek funding for programs that provide direct financial support and scholarships to students, helping families manage the cost of college.

These are just some of my efforts to fight our unacceptably high cost of living. I’m under no illusions that they or any other single action alone will solve our unaffordability crisis overnight or that there’s some magic silver bullet out there.

But I do know that we can’t just accept what is, can’t just do nothing, and that if we honestly and deliberately persevere in identifying each of the causes of this crisis and take the steps needed to both grow our economy, jobs and income and control our living costs, we can get to a much more secure and affordable life.

I especially welcome your questions and comments on my report. What do you think are the causes of our unacceptably high cost of living and what should we do about them? Please email me here: [email protected].

It is more critical than ever that I stay in touch with and hear from you as we work through this very difficult time and find the best way forward. The best way to keep up with what I’m doing, provide your concerns, get your questions answered and ask for assistance is by visiting my website at https://case.house.gov/. Please also feel free to call my Honolulu office at (808) 650-6688 or email me at [email protected].

My great DC and Honolulu staff and I remain here for you and all of our Hawai‘i. We wish for you and yours only the best of the Holidays and New Year.

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