Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast

Does My Vote Even Count?! Rep. Matsumoto

• Dawn O'Brien • Season 1 • Episode 28

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We talk story with Rep. Lauren Matsumoto about how regular people can influence what happens at the Hawaii State Capitol through voting, testimony, and showing up when it counts. We also dig into what her community tells her most often about cost of living, public safety, and the need for real transparency in government. 
• why legislative balance matters when one party holds a supermajority 
• how controversial bills draw thousands of testimonies and can change votes 
• step by step ways to testify including Zoom and written submissions 
• why even clicking support or oppose shows up on legislators’ screens 
• how tight Hawaii races can be and why every vote matters 
• why voice votes and paper slips reduce accountability 
• what we learned from a statewide listening tour and 5,000+ surveys 
• the top concerns across districts: cost of living, crime and public safety, government transparency 
• Lauren’s personal roots in Mililani and the values that keep her grounded 
• a family story about entrepreneurship, faith, and what aloha looks like at home 
you can go to HawaiihouseGOP.com 
you can go to my website, repmotsmoto.com 


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www.ChooseAloha.org

Welcome And Why Balance Matters

SPEAKER_01

Aloha, welcome to Aloha Alive. And one of my favorite things is when I run into a former Miss Hawaii who looks and and is, I mean, just her person is as good as Lauren cheap Matsumoto. Because it's not former Miss Hawaii, it is forever Miss Hawaii. Aloha, my Lauren. Aloha, thank you for having me. And I slipped in the cheap Matsumoto. I know that was your maiden name before you got married. I love Scott Matsumoto, your husband, the father of your children. But it goes back to part of the history we're going to talk about today. So welcome to the podcast. Thank you for taking time. Oh, thanks again for having me. Now, first things first, congratulations. 14 years at the state capitol. Yes, I've been there since I was 13. Yeah. Since you're so she's 27 if you're doing the math, or 21 six times. Um, what's new and exciting now, 14 years in? Because you do, you look super young. It did not eat you alive. You have not aged dog years. What's new and exciting at the State Capitol?

SPEAKER_00

I think one of the things that's so exciting for me is I have been a part of our Republican caucus right from 2012 all the way to now. And we've gone from having seven members all the way down to two.

SPEAKER_01

Two Republican representatives.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, myself and and the Gene Ward.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Who was one of our he was on my board for my little nonprofit gosh? Yes. God bless you and Gene Ward, but down to two. And now you're up to, I think it's nine. Okay, nine representatives. And then we also have, I think it's three senators who are Republican.

SPEAKER_00

We were at zero. We were the only state in the nation with zero. And say one of the things that gives me the most hope is that we're actually creating a little bit more balance in the legislature. And most people, when they're voting, they're not thinking about that balance piece. But it matters so much. And I always say, and you know, I'm a Republican through and through. But if there is one side that has control and a supermajority, no matter what party majority. It's not going to be in great things because you're not having those conversations. No bills just fly through.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

Controversial Bills Need More Voices

SPEAKER_00

Um, and you know, one side being in power for so long is never a good thing. So the beautiful stuff is having nine now is we are able to have that balance. Yes. And able to actually have a lot more conversations on the floor about a lot of these bills.

SPEAKER_01

And just for example, some of the bills I was talking to Eva Andrade about what's coming up this session is like legalizing marijuana, right? It's legalizing sports gambling. Yeah. And a lot of us who are watching this program would say, I don't believe in legalizing drugs. We all know marijuana can be the gateway drug for things that are much more serious. If you think about the fact that if I legalize marijuana, we're talking about gummies for pre-K people, for little babies, for uh Keiki in schools. So when we have more voices at the table to say, stop, hold on, you know, I just saw Representative Diamond Garcia at an event and he said it was thanks to you, the people, showing up and showing out at the state capitol, sending in your testimonies, because a lot of us work two, three jobs. Lauren, thank you for being at the state capitol as our representative. But a lot of us can't get there because we're working so hard. So send it in via testimony. Now that's the topic we're talking about today. Does my vote even count?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. And so we're talking about testimony, and this is one of my favorite things to talk about because it does matter. Just like Diamond said, uh, we only have our nine votes, or there's 51 total in the House. Uh sometimes bills, when we have I said in committee, there's not one piece of testimony. However, if there's something very controversial like the legalizing marijuana, when people came out in droves, or there was also the uh the mandate for vaccines, we had over 2,000 pieces of testimony. Thank goodness. And that was a bill that I thought was this is gonna happen. You know, it's one of the initiatives from the executive branch. It has everything, it has everything behind it, this is gonna happen. And seeing everybody come out and being able to change the minds. Because when you have 2,000 pieces of testimony, you can't ignore that.

SPEAKER_01

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

And so we have a great uh on our Hawaii House GOP website, we have videos on how to testify. So people get scared going, I don't know how to testify. Right. What does that mean? Yes. And I always have- How do I submit it?

How Testimony Changes Votes

SPEAKER_01

Where do I go? I used to be one of those people, Lauren, until about 2013, when at that time it was the same-sex marriage that was gonna go into law here in the state of Hawaii against the will of the people over many decades being expressed, and against the will of God as I read it in the Bible. But back to what you're saying, I was scared, and here I was, a media personality. I didn't know how to give testimony. Yeah, I literally stood at the gate right by um Father Damien at the state capitol, and I said, Which way do I go? And they're like, Well, that side's the Senate, and this side is the um representative, so go this way. Yes. I had to ask the brown shirts, the sheriffs. So you guys now have that on the Republican caucus within the show.

SPEAKER_00

We have a video, or you can go to my website, repmotsmoto.com. We have a really fun um, I always joke, it's like a Hawaiian airline safety card. Uh you know, before you fly. So I will say it's a little cheesy. Um we love those. I love the safety videos that are funny and cheesy. You know, there's even me throwing my son a baseball. Nice. Um, because we're trying to make the point. We've COVID has had a lot of things that were negative.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

One of the positives is now, before you'd have to come to the state capitol, you'd have to sit for hours and wait to testify. Yes. Yes. Now you can testify via Zoom. Woohoo! Which one of my favorite stories I just have to tell real quick. Please do. Yes. It was uh the first time we were kind of we were doing Zoom testimony. I was sitting in the transportation committee, and one of the bills came up, and I can't even remember which one it is now, but there was a gentleman from Molokai who was zooming in. He is crouching in the bushes with his phone in full camo gear because he was in the middle of hunting. I was gonna say, hunt us. Where's the dogs? And I remember looking up going, if that is not access to the state legislature, I don't know what is. Yes, uh I stopped and I took a picture. I love that. Because it was just it just sat with me going, we have now made it accessible. And what was so exciting is our Republican caucus actually put in bills for four years to have remote testimony.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And it took, and we're saying it's not possible, and it took COVID to make it happen. So it's amazing. Out of all the negatives that can happen, there are those silver linings.

SPEAKER_01

So to include silver lining in what was a tsunami of negatives. But I love too that you saw Bradamolokai in the bushes with the dogs, in his camel, and there's you. How's you taking a photo of the screen? I love that you see the constituents that you represent as a representative.

SPEAKER_00

And that involvement is one of the things I care about so much. So even if so, if you go to Retmotsamoto.com, we have it for all, you have a video if you want. There's a PDF if you're somebody who likes to read. Uh, we also have a really cool activity book for kids. Yeah. Um, I had one of my community members, she turned me into a cartoon, so kind of my dream. I got to be a cartoon. Like an avatar, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Or emoji, bitmoji.

SPEAKER_00

Now with AI, you can do it in two seconds. But back in back in the day, six years ago, when we made it, somebody actually had a couple of things. A real graphic artist. Yes. Um, and she did an amazing job. And I have three sidekicks, right? I've got Honu, Ilion, Nene, and they teach about the legislative process. But even if you're an adult, yeah, it's super helpful to learn. Yes. We even break it down how to simply testify. We show you how to write it.

SPEAKER_01

I want to read this because I author children's books, and my whole point in targeting a three to five-year-old is that as my mentor said, if you take the cookies off the top shelf and put them on the bottom shelf, everybody likes cookies and everybody's gonna eat the cookies. But if you speak to highfalutining and too much terminology technology, then no one's gonna pay attention. Maybe a few, but I'd rather grab everybody and come get the cookies. So this is on the your website.

SPEAKER_00

It's on my website. You click on how to get involved and you have all of those resources right there. And that book is available with PDF. I love it. Or you can come to my office, room 302, come on down, state capital. State Capitol. We have the actual hard copies. I'm gonna come.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna take you up on it. And we have sessions starting up. You know, I always come and drop by and bring laid for you. Now I want to pivot on that. You're a daughter of Hawai'i. Your family has been here since the 1800s.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, 1859 is when my family came. Oh I just look like I'm from Oklahoma.

Zoom Testimony And Simple How To

SPEAKER_01

No, but you're you speak Olalo Hawai'i very nicely. It's not awkward. You don't sound like, you know, I'm just gonna say it, some howli person trying to speak pidgin, right? But you also bear the aloha mantle very well. Can you tell us, like, how did your family start here? And I did slip in the cheap Matsumoto because that's her maiden name. And she also made me laugh on that's how you used to run for office. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So what was fun is when I was cheap, you're gonna, if you have a last name like cheap, you gotta have fun with it.

SPEAKER_01

You gotta have a sense of humor.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and so my family had an egg farm in Wahawa, Peterson's Upland Farm, which unfortunately just closed a year and a half ago after 114 years of being in business. So I was the fourth generation, but we took a little chick um and we had a talk bubble that said cheap cheap, and I took half a dozen eggs door to door. Um, but I was saying earlier, what I loved is my second election, I had gotten married. Um, and so at every door I knocked, and I got to say, I'm not cheap anymore. I'm Hatsamoto now. And it was it was great because I would get a laugh at every door.

SPEAKER_01

And what a way to break the ice when you're walking door to door. Right, especially from a politician, which I'm sorry, but most times, even in this aloha state of Hawaii, it's just like one more thing, and you're like, huh. Yeah. But if you crack a joke like that and self-effacing humor, right? Self-deprecating humor is often the most popular because obviously it shows me you number one, have a sense of humor. Number two, you can laugh at yourself, not just make fun of other people. So I love that. I'm not cheapening this.

SPEAKER_00

And I've even learned in my time in office, I step out of that mold often. Like I dress up for our community parades, like I've been Elsa and Princess Peach and Joy from inside out. But I realize the more accessible I am, the more that I'm out there, the more that I'm jump roping in the schools. Yes. When something serious happens, people they know me. You're approachable. We're there. Yes, we've already built that relationship and salt of the earth, humble.

SPEAKER_01

You're the girl next door, literally. And speaking of that, um, you are representative Matsumoto of District 38. Yes, Mililani, which I learned on her website is um to praise heaven, right? Lani heaven, mililani to lift your hands and praise heaven. But you went to Mililani Waena Elementary, you went to Mililani uh medium uh middle school, and then she went to Mililani High School. Is it the Trojans? Trojans, Trojans, and she then went on to UH where she played water polo. Like you're the through and through Hawaii girl. Talk to me about some of your favorite things about living Hawaii.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and what's great about being able, I get to represent the community that I was born and raised in. That's amazing. So my teachers are still at the schools. One of the coolest things that just popped into my head that I got to do this year, and I give out certificates all the time. Yeah. Um, and this year, the Central Area Teacher of the Year was my seventh grade teacher. Wow. And I got to have him the very first day in the very first class that he ever taught. What's his name? His name is Chris Justo. So Mr. Justo. Oh you're amazing. You do a great job. At Mililani Middle school.

SPEAKER_01

Oh bless him.

SPEAKER_00

And he won that award this year. And again, I give out w awards all the time. And this is the first time I ever cried um during an award because that was something that came so full circle for me. Like, how special is it that I get to again represent, you know, the community that raised me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, which makes it so neat. And when I go door to door, um my district, reapportionment, that's a whole conversation. We could do a whole show just on reapportionment. But my district used to be Mili Lani to the North Shore. Yeah. Um, and my dad grew up in Wayalua, my mom grew up in Wahiwa, right, with Peterson Farm, and then I grew up in Mili Lani. And what was neat is every door I knocked on, almost every single one was, you know, oh, my son used to play soccer with your brother, or I used to work with your grandmother. And I'm like, Carol or Susie, which one? And so I think I always say I don't pretend that I went on my own accord. Wow. You know, just my family background. Yeah. And just luckily I have a really lovely, kind family.

Deep Roots And Serving Mililani

SPEAKER_01

But it's gonna be deep roots in the Aina. You are a keiki of the Aina, right? A child of our community, but you also give back a lot, Lauren. And so that's one of the things as I look at what we're talking about is your heart and and in a supermajority square building, the state capitol is a square building, we often refer to it that way. Yes. I was gonna ask you, you know, you're a Republican in a supermajority, it's a largely Democrat place, it has been for decades. How do you hold on to hope? I think but it sounds like you have your why with your community because you're right there. I don't know many people who grew up and are still in their same community, and everybody was Ohana back in the day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And I think it was two things. I think first and foremost, my faith is a strong foundation because I always say that square building is an alter reality. Yes, it is. It's very easy to do. Thank you for saying it, plain and simple. And it's very easy to get caught up, um, and I'm gonna say in the game of it all. Um, and so I'm very blessed that you know, to have that, I feel like you need that moral compass in order, and even with that, it is difficult.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but I also have a family that keeps me in check. One of my favorite things is um I tell this story. It took me, so when I ran for Miss Hawaii, it's a whole story in itself. Like, didn't even know how to do pageants. I was, you know, water polo player, I just did it for film school. You're more of a jock, as I would guess.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, see you as water polo is intense. Good for you.

SPEAKER_00

So that wasn't something I thought I'd do, but it took me four years to win Miss Hawai'i.

SPEAKER_01

Really?

SPEAKER_00

A long time. So I So is that four attempts?

SPEAKER_01

Because I've had friends who it was two times, I think, for Pili Aloha Geyson, yeah and for Le Ui Kaholokula, who is now on KITV, it was multiple times as well. Yeah. So for you it was four times. Four times. Wow.

SPEAKER_00

Um, you know, top ten, second runner-up, second runner-up, and then finally was blessed to win. And I always, when I tell this my story to schools, I go, especially at high school, I go, imagine your entire high school career working towards one goal. Right. Like that's a long time. Yes. And things don't always come easy. But the story that cracks me up is as soon as you win, you get the crown, and then your family's able to come up. And so my parents gave me a lay and they hugged me. My brother gave me a lay, and he looked at me and he said, Get over yourself. And I remember being like, oh, like what a typical little brother thing to say. Like, I was just like basking in this moment of like, hey, we finally did it. Um, get over yourself. But it's funny because that actually has stuck with me. Wow. Um, and going, recognizing that it wasn't just me, myself, that won, but it was a collective effort from so many. But that's just to say my family keeps me in check when they need to when there's a moment when you need to tell me to get over my things.

SPEAKER_01

That it it was a humility step of the Lord being spoken to your life.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but just having that foundation again of my family to keep me in check. It's good. Don't let the ego get too big.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and I always say, and I I think this came from uh Waxer from One Love, he would always kind of say a version of this, but I would say, you know, representative is not my name.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

It's not my title, it's good, it's my job description. Wow. Um, and so that has been something that has kept it there. But the the second thing that really gives me hope is my community. So I always tell my office, like, I like to get out of that square building as much as possible. Yes. To remind myself why I am doing the job. That's good. Because it's really easy to get lost. And so I have gotten myself like I now coach, I coach soccer. I used to help coach jujitsu. I have a jump rope team now, the Mid Louise jump rope.

SPEAKER_01

Because if you know Lauren, um, she won Miss Hawaii, and your talent portion was to do a jump roping routine to Hawaii 500. Oh, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. I just hummed that and she wants to get up and start jumping up. I've got a chair zone. So you have a jump rope team in the schools now, and that's why you're so fit. Now, what, 14 years into being at the state capitol as a state representative, and yet you're keeping the vitality and the liveliness, the joy of life, the joie de vive. Yeah. Or as we say in Hawaii, just buckle loose for broke, brah. She's gone.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I've learned if you're in that super minority, I've kind of boiled it down. I feel like you can go two ways. You can get super frustrated and jaded.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Or you can grow in patience and kindness. Wow. And that's kind of been been my focus. Yes. Um, because you could, it's very easy to just get frustrated to get when your bills don't pass. Like we haven't had one Republican caucus bill pass in my entire 13 years that we've been there.

SPEAKER_01

14. Now it's heading to 14.

SPEAKER_00

I'm hoping to make that different. I'm hoping we pass one.

SPEAKER_01

That's good. You're speaking live.

SPEAKER_00

And the other reason I get hope is I've been really working on the culture in the building. Um policy is very important, and we're we're focused on that. But now, as the minority leader, meeting with the majority leadership saying, Why are we not hearing Republican bills? How do we make everybody work more cohesively together? It's good rather than what we've been doing this whole time. So that's why we're going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01

Which is very black and white. How can we come into more of the middle and be moderate and treat each other with aloha in the aloha state? So it's not just a super majority and all on one side. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

It's not as split as people think. Like if you look at our bills, 90 to 95% of our bills have either unanimous support or have both Republican and Democrat support.

SPEAKER_01

That's good.

Faith Humility And Hope In Politics

SPEAKER_00

There's only those handfuls, and those are the ones you usually hear on the news. Right. Are the super controversial ones, but there is a big chunk. The vast majority of bills are things that everybody's working on that affect all of our communities. Um you just don't hear about that as often. Um so I'm really Well, and it makes more ratings, right?

SPEAKER_01

If we get you guys fighting and if you're yelling and screaming and upset, and somebody has a scandal, and so-and-so representative or senator has done this, you know, that's what makes the news. But I love, Representative Matsumoto, that you're bringing us back to the reality in the building is we do have a lot of allova. That's good to hear.

SPEAKER_00

But for those ones that are super controversial, that's when we need people to come out. That's when we need better balance.

SPEAKER_01

How do we find out when that happens? Is there an alert that goes out? How do we bring in it?

SPEAKER_00

So when you go to Hawaii House GOP, okay we have Hawaii HouseGOP.com. We have our mailing list called the Republican Report. Okay. We send out the Republican Report once a week and we will list out the work that we're doing there, but also when we're in session, we list out and we don't say good bills, bad bills, we will call them good bills and controversial bills.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And you can decide because people are split on some of them. And people are smart. We can make a call for ourselves. But we will give you the information and when it's happening. And so we do have that once a week. But if there is, say, like when legalizing marijuana came up, right? We sent out a special one when it was time for people to testify.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate this because, and as somebody who's been at the state capitol yourself, and then I visit the state capitol quite often, things can happen in a matter of 24, 48 hours. It feels to me like, wait a minute, they're gonna go do a vote today. I have to get down to the state capitol to testify, right? Because usually you get how much hours notice? It's 48 hours usually. Two days, and 48 really feels like 24.

SPEAKER_00

Feels like I have to get down there on Tuesday. Technically, it is 24 to have your testimony be on time.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

So we try to pre-let people know it's happening. Thank you. Get your testimony ready. So all you have to hit is submit.

SPEAKER_01

Send.

SPEAKER_00

But the encouragement I wanted to give is even if you don't have time to write anything, just even clicking in and hitting support or oppose, just clicking a button makes a difference. Because on my end, as a representative, what I see on my computer is I will see everybody's testimony and they have it either red if it's in their name in red, if it's in opposition, green if they're in support. So a lot of times I'm taking a snapshot of how many people, if everybody's in support, I'm not too worried about that bill. I'm not gonna dig deeper. Yeah. If I see a whole bunch of red, I'm gonna start digging deeper. Oppose and put a yes, oppose in there.

SPEAKER_01

And so that's a good thing to know. If I don't have time to do the full testimony, which I do, Lauren, I have stuff pre-written, ready, and as you said, I just click submit. I just go and I cut and paste off of a Word document, put it in there. But even if we are to click before that, whether you are in opposition or for, right? Support, yeah. Support, then it's gonna be seen. Yes. Because our vote does count, and our representatives and senators do look and see, and I would dare say that's what um Representative Garcia said at the event the other night. He said that 13 or 14 Democrats also voted similarly to the Republicans, yeah, because they saw the amount of testimonies coming through on some of these more controversial bills. Either that or they didn't support, but they put a non-vote. Is that something that happens? A no vote.

SPEAKER_00

They can put a no vote, they can vote with reservations. We're also the only state, it's kind of weird, we're the only ones that I've met that can do that. Um, but that testimony matters. When you see a whole bunch of people coming out going, I can't, it's not as easy. We're elected officials. Right. You're public servants.

SPEAKER_01

You're literally a representative of your district. Yes. So I always go back to that that when I go to the big building, I feel intimidated. I'm Don O'Brien. You know, I look like this, I'm a massive Polynesian woman. And people think I'm a big mouth, I am. But when I get there, the little girl in me comes out and I feel like, well, they're important people, I'm not, or they're elected officials. And then I remember two words public servants. Absolutely. That they are there, that I'm almost like a boss there. I'm like, wait a minute, I'm a boss lady. What's up? What's up, Hamas? I'm here today. So that does help to change things. I like these practical steps. Now I want to bring to forbearance here or to bring to our attention, you were talking about one of our representatives. I voted for, I would have voted for him if I was in his district, but he won by a handful of votes. To talk about does your vote really count? Can you tell us that story?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. And so he won by 11 votes, but there have been votes in the past in the last six years that have won by six votes.

Alerts Deadlines And Clicking Support

SPEAKER_01

No. Literally almost a handful. If I was a big giant with six fingers, that would be a handful.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, you could literally, it could be somebody's household. Right. That you go, Yes. Let's all vote for so and so. And it makes and so the thing that's so difficult here in Hawaii is everybody looks at the federal, you look at the presidential elections, and yes, they matter. And but your day-to-day life is really affected by your state legislature. Yes. And so even if there is no big race, your state representative matters. And that balance I was talking about makes a huge difference. So we're at nine right now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

If we get to eleven, we can do roll call votes. And what that means is instead of just a voice vote where the speaker is able to say, oh well, the yes were louder.

SPEAKER_01

Nays.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Now it has to be a roll call vote where you actually have to be on record.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for saying that because I've been there in the house when you guys do that, uh, the yes, the nays, and I sit there thinking, I'm a Chi Who champion. I'm gonna say yay really loud right now. I don't even care that I'm not down on the floor. I'm a person that they're representing. But I always thought, isn't it true that whoever's louder is gonna get the vote then? Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and so it's just not the best way to do it. The other thing I've been pushing for is we're one of the few states that don't use buttons. So in our state legislature, you are presumed a yes vote.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

As long as you're in your chair, it's a yes vote. Wow. Unless you stand up, get recognized by the speaker, and ask for a no vote.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, bro, super cool. I know we are way back country. We are in the back of the backs country.

SPEAKER_00

And we and you have to turn in slips of paper. Oh no, you're joking. No, I'm not joking. To the minority floor leader who is now representative Garcia. I used to have that job for I'm sorry. And they have to stand up and read everybody's votes off of the slips.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my lanta.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So I've been pushing that we have bring ourselves.

SPEAKER_01

A more formal accountability.

SPEAKER_00

That you don't, you can't just be an automatic yes vote. You have to push the green button. Yes. You have to actively be involved. And then for everybody sitting in that gallery, you'll be able to see a board and be able to go, oh, that's what's happening. Right now it's super confusing.

SPEAKER_01

No, and it's very convoluted. It's like swimming in murky water. Nobody, you can't spot nothing in there. And that's, I think, one of the issues. I just pumped my brakes a little bit on the mouth and on the breathing. Um, because I it's it it's a lack of accountability.

SPEAKER_00

That transparency is a big piece. And I'm just gonna throw in one of the cool things our caucus did for the last two years is we did our listening tour.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, which I love. I loved it, I loved it so much. I know one of the places you went to was Honol Uli Uli Middle School, and you had yourself and all the guys, right? Because unfortunately, you're the only chick representative until right. Until Julie Reyes. Yes, so the next year. Now we have more, but at that point it was you and the guys. And it was good to see the panel at that time. But you guys went on a listening tour to hear what the people's concerns were, and you really did listen.

SPEAKER_00

And so we did we I call it kind of the reverse town hall. Normally, somebody at a town hall will ask a question, and I always joke, the politician at the front gives a one-minute, pretty unsatisfactory answer. Pretty much, and then thank you for being honest. I mean, that's what happens. So we flipped it and we said, We're gonna ask you questions.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

So we started the night with what is the most important issue to you? And we're gonna spend 15 minutes on that. Then we went, What's the second most important issue facing the state? And we went through and we didn't know.

SPEAKER_01

What were some of the issues, if I may ask?

SPEAKER_00

And this is what's super interesting. We did five locations. Yeah. We did it from Monday through Friday. Yeah. So we did um around island. Yeah, so we did mini Mili Lani, Moanaluo, Waiani, Eva, and then we went to Hawaii.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And what was so interesting is in I mean, Wai and I to Hawaii Kai.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

The top three issues were the same. Every single place. Number one, cost of living.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And we dug deeper. So we then asked questions, what about cost of living? Right. What areas are hitting you the most? And of course, housing fell under that. Absolutely. The number two issue was crime and public safety. Wow, which is so real. And number three was government transparency. Holy smackdown. So that was our three.

SPEAKER_01

And so what cost of living, crime, and then government transparency. And each and every one of those, I would have said.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'm pretty sure those watching with us would have said the same thing.

SPEAKER_00

And so what what did you do with that? Is we also gave we did surveys. So we had over 5,000 surveys come back from each of our districts. Same top three issues.

SPEAKER_01

So it wasn't just the people showing up in the building. You also had 5,000 other surveys to come back.

SPEAKER_00

Every single representative sent out the identical survey to their district. That's good. We were working together, we got all of that information back. Wow. And so now if you take a look at our caucus package this year, which we are putting in, those are our the three issues that we're covering. Cost of living, crime and public safety, corruption, and government transparency.

When Elections Come Down To 11

SPEAKER_01

Thank you very much. Because we have been known, and I've said this quite often, if you've watched a number of my podcasts, unfortunately, according to a national survey, we, the state of Hawaii, is the number one most corrupt state in the United States of America. But on the flip side, that's a huge charge. That's a huge statement. And it's year after year after year. But on the flip side, what I'm hearing you, what you just said, is there's unity coming in the Republican Party. I believe that's a big part. And thank you for your part in helping to um bring this unity and to set up, and there's been a number of other people, it's not just Lauren Matsumoto, but a number of other people helping to get more candidates, viable candidates as Republicans. But then to work together, as you said, getting those surveys, listening to your um cong uh people in your area, your community. And then here's the deal is it's our first name, the United States of America. And we often say united we stand, divided we fall. But there's not just a spiritual aspect of that because divided we will fall, but when we have unity on the things that really matter. So thank you for doing those things, Lauren. Now, again, if you want more information on that, it's what's your website representative?

SPEAKER_00

So the two is HawaiihouseGOP.com and repmatsumoto like the shaveice.com. So repmatsumoto.com.

SPEAKER_01

I can't remember. She doesn't have eggs anymore, but and God bless Peterson's Upland Farm. But now she references Matsumoto Shave Ice. If you're local, even if you're not local, if you're watching from the mainland and you came here on a tourist trip, you know Matsumoto Shave Ice. Yes, I wish we were related. I know we could tithe off of that. Um, but I love that you recapped. The Republican report is available. That's where we get those alerts. It's happening in two days, it's coming up, and that's on the website Hawaiihousegop.com. Yes. HawaiihouseGOP.com. It's going to be there in the lower third on your screen. Or you can also go to Representative Matsumoto's website, which is RepMatsumoto.com.

SPEAKER_00

And I have my own e-newsletter too. Um if you'd love to get it. It is catered towards people in my district. But so if you live in Mililani, Mililani Mauka, please sign up. YPO. Yes, and the YPO area. We have a just a few streets in that, but everybody's welcome to come to our town halls, to our events, whatever we have going on. And the last piece of community engagement I want to make sure I plug is every year we do our Capital Talking Tour. And so I open that up to whoever would like to come. So you can go to repmatsumoto.com. We're gonna have the pop-up soon. And I open up the Capitol to you. So we give you a full tour.

SPEAKER_01

I'm coming.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and actually the lieutenant governor and the governor have been really great. They have opened up their offices for our tour. They let us go into their ceremonial rooms. Oh they've been really wonderful. So this is probably our eighth year doing the Capitol Talk and Tour.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for doing that.

SPEAKER_00

And I do it twice a year.

SPEAKER_01

It makes it less scary.

SPEAKER_00

It does when you're gonna see what it's like. And so we do it twice a year, and we do it during fall break and spring break.

Roll Call Votes And Real Transparency

SPEAKER_01

So if you have kids very timely, you can bring them too. And students and schools or other nonprofit organization. I know there's other special interests. Uh I know Ho Ola Napua, which is anti-sex trafficking, they're often lobbying for greater laws to be made. So thank you for doing that. The Capital Talk and Tour and sign up on repmatsumoto.com.com. Yes. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

And I'm gonna say March 12th, but that's just off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Some of the things we're not sure when this is gonna air, but in mid-March. So spring break, fall break. Spring break, fall break, yes. Now I'm gonna pivot. And she is married to a wonderful gentleman, Scott, and they have two beautiful hoppa kids. Now, this is your firstborn, Noah.

SPEAKER_00

My son asked us for about eight months to start his own business, and he kept wanting, and he had different ideas. At first, he wanted to write books and sell them on the side of the road, so we workshopped that. Um and then I don't know if you remember the beads that you iron and they fuse together. And he so they're like little beads you put together and you iron it, and he could make keychains. And I told him, Well, it takes you 45 minutes to make one. Realistically, you can sell them five dollars. Right. Um so he looked up other ways to make keychains and he saw being able to engrave. And so he has been doing that for a year now. And how old is he? He's eight. Oh my god. So he was seven entrepreneur at seven. But I kept putting it off because I go, that's a lot. And I remember so clearly we were driving home, and because I would ask him, Why do you want to start a business? And he'd always tell me to earn money. And I go, again, it came up, and I go, Why, Noah? And he goes, I have a plan. I go, Well, what's your plan? And he said, I want to buy Bibles for people who don't have sorry. And I was like, Oh, just hit me right here. And I was like, My seven-year-old, to to say that. So he wanted to buy Bibles and give them to people. His second one is he wanted to stay for college. He's like an old man already. And then number three is he wanted to take the whole family on a snow trip because he's always wanted to see snow. But it just was one of those. I remember so clearly driving home going, okay, we're starting a business. Half of my garage is gonna be your so literally, half of my garage is his workshop now. And so he it's been cute to watch him, you know, do these different things and be able to talk to others. And um, and if you look at the bottom of his thing, he does have, you know, his his verse is Psalm 121, 3 The Lord guards you, the Lord protects you, as the shade protects you from the sun. His middle name is Kamaluho Okele. Um, and Kamalu means to shade or protect. Oh, so to just go with that verse, but just his mission. Once he said that, I went, Okay, Scott, we're opening, we're helping him open a business.

Listening Tour Top Three Concerns

SPEAKER_01

Like this is what we're doing. I'm just gonna go ahead and claim Lauren's child right now. Noah Matsumoto, who wants to raise money for Bibles, has a Bible verse on here, uses his middle name. But you know what? Um, your children, as Proverbs 31 says, your children will rise up and bless you because you have invested so much. And it just makes an old auntie cry because this is what we want more of in the aloha state. This is what we want more of for our keiki. So thank you, Lauren, for what you have invested in your son. We want to see this in all of our kids. And then back to business because we're running out of time. But um, you know, we used to have a lot of cottage industries, is what it was called back in the day, right? Now we see a lot of pop-ups, is what we call it, or makeke markets. And we also used to have a lot of mom and pops. You just referenced Peterson's Upland Farms was your literally your fourth generation. That was your pre-great-great-grandpa, right? And then the grandpa, and then your dad and mom. And and nowadays with big box stores, and I'm not even gonna name them because I don't want to. I mean, I shop them often enough, but I try to support local, otherwise, we're not gonna have locals. Yeah, we try to support each other's children, otherwise, our children are all gonna go to the continent or around the world, and we want kids of Hawaii, Keikioka Aina, like you, Lauren, to stay in Hawaii. Yep. Last question that kind of goes in with our little aloha hero, Mr. Noah Kamalu Matsumoto. Um, who is your what is aloha to you, Lauren? Because you're a daughter of Hawaii, fourth generation. Um, what is aloha to you and who's an aloha hero? Somebody who lives pure aloha, either past or present, that you look up to?

Capitol Tours Family And Living Aloha

SPEAKER_00

The first thing that popped into my head when you said that is I just it was a picture, and I just imagine um my family, and there's oftentimes when it's in July, July 4th is the time we go out, and there'll be probably 60 of us because after, you know, so many generations, there's a lot. One of those, you know, typical the wedding's super big. Um, but just all of us out on the north shore, um, at a family home, and I just remember all of us being out in the water, and everybody's on something different that floats, but to me is that just that that sense of being together. There's all the neighbors are out too. And that I don't know why that's the first thing that popped into my head. And that's not typically, I guess, what you think when you hear aloha, but to me it is that that love that everybody is sharing when we're out in the water together. Yes. Um, and uh the aloha hero that I have is I'd have to say my grandmother, um, Suzanne Peterson. But I mean, her story is crazy. She came here on a one-way ticket from California, um, not enough money, like lived at the YWCA, was working, you know, tried to go to school for a little bit, ended up getting married to my grandfather, had three kids one year in a row, um, and then went back to college when my mom went to college. Um and she ended up becoming the first female department head of agriculture in the state of Hawaii under Aryoshi and Weihei. But why she's Aloha hero to me is that no matter who she met, she I mean, there's still people who tell me stories about how they loved working with my my grandmother, and I mentioned that before when I go door to door, they talk about that. And she just was happy all the time. One of those where she goes, I'm not you guys aren't gonna have an inheritance, I'm spending it on everybody now. Oh my god. Where she just wanted to to give to everybody around her, to be there for the community around her, and so that for me is my aloha hero.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, Suzanne Peterson, what a living legacy she still has in her life.

SPEAKER_00

And she, and we're we're blessed, she's 95 years old now. Oh my lad! She lives wonderful. She's now at my parents' house, so she gets to see her great grandkids all the time. I mean, it's just so special.

SPEAKER_01

Strong generational patterns and strong future promises. And this is the kind of ohana we bring to you, your screen, your home, because this is what we all can do when we connect, connect, connection with one another. Representative Lauren Matsumoto, thank you so much for spending time today. I'm gonna be checking out room 302 at the Square Building a whole lot more. You can also find more information on repmatsumoto.com, or you can also go to the hawaiihouse G O P dot com, but I recommend going to Lauren's own one, repmatsumoto.com. You've got a lot of information and resources there. We we ran out of time. We're gonna have to have you back. Thank you so much again, Lauren. Not just a former Miss Hawaii, but a forever Miss Hawaii. And there's an old quote that says, Love makes the world go round, but representative Matsumoto makes it go square at the square building. I'm putting out my own little I'm gonna use that, I'm gonna use that quote. Opening day at the legislature. It's gonna be there. I re you really are one of my Aloha heroes, friend. Thank you for fighting the good fight at the square building. And I'll keep dropping in on you and dropping prayers and lay and just letting you know that the people love you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you. Thanks again, everybody, and shock a fly. Cheo.