The Hawaiʻi Legislature’s Greatest Travelers

Hawaiʻi’s state lawmakers usually go on journeys between the islands, to the U.S. mainland and internationally in the middle of their work.

But some prefer to jet set greater than others.

Using the state’s public information legislation, Civil Beat requested the Hawaiʻi House and Senate for journey information to see which lawmakers made plans to spend essentially the most time away from their districts, the place they deliberate to go to, the rationale for his or her journeys and who would pay for them. State lawmakers are required to ask their management for permission to journey, so we requested for information on these requests.

One caveat in our information: If a lawmaker later determined not make a journey and didn’t notify their management, that journey would stay on the books with the House and Senate and can be represented in our information. (Asking for paperwork on precise journeys taken, like airplane ticket receipts, over the course of years for dozens of politicians would’ve been prohibitively costly.)

Our requests coated 2021 via September 2025.

Which Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Plan To Travel Most Often?

Sen. Donna Kim had the best variety of journey requests. Her scheduled journeys included a go to to Lisbon, Portugal, for a “Legislators’ Dialogue” in 2025. She used her personal legislative allowance and different unspecified funds for that.

But Kim was not essentially the lawmaker who deliberate to be gone from the state the longest.

Which Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Seek To Travel The Longest?

Over the course of an almost five-year span, Sen. Dru Kanuha ranked the best for requested journey time with 246 days – greater than eight months. The longest journey he requested to go on was an 11-day tour to New York for the annual Conference of State Majority Leaders in 2023.

Where Do Hawaiʻi Lawmakers Travel?

Many lawmakers requested to attend conferences and coaching alternatives on the U.S. mainland. Rep. Adrian Tam, as an illustration, requested to journey for greater than two weeks at a Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program close to Boston final 12 months.

Some ventured additional afield.

Japan is a well-liked vacation spot. Several lawmakers deliberate to go to the nation in 2023 for a “Hawaii Business Mission” alongside Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism officers, information present. Two lawmakers reported they might use their legislative allowance to cowl their journey whereas two others reported using “other” funds, which might embody state funds.

Six lawmakers took a visit to Israel final 12 months: Republican Sen. Samantha DeCorte, Democrat Rep. Mark Hashem, and his Republican colleagues Reps. Diamond Garcia, David Alcos, Julie Reyes Oda and Garner Shimizu. The group was a part of a 250-member delegation that joined 50 States, One Israel for a gathering with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The journey was supposed to “highlight Israel’s security, economic and social realities.”

Who Pays For Hawaiʻi Lawmakers’ Travel?

Each lawmaker has a discretionary fund to cowl their very own journeys. But journey might also be coated by state companies, personal teams or a mix. The most popular cost methodology appears to fluctuate over time. We’d must file extra information requests to get the precise breakdown for particular journeys and what precisely “other funds” means in every case.

Search Hawaiʻi Lawmaker Travel Requests

The journey request log offers some perception into what journeys a lawmaker thinks are worthwhile. Details on every journey – together with flight, lodge and itinerary data – would require extra public information requests for copies of kinds and receipts. If there’s a selected journey you assume is value digging into, shoot us a observe at [email protected].

Data Dives are Civil Beat’s fast takes on numbers and information units with a Hawai‘i angle. The undertaking is supported partly by the Will J. Reid Foundation.

“Data Dive” is supported partly by the Will J. Reid Foundation.