Governor Abercrombie says he will not change his direction after a recent poll suggested he was the least popular governor in the country.
The governor says his "New Day" plan and platform will remain the agenda of his administration, even after a change in top advisers, but he says he’ll try to communicate better
Public policy polling conducted an automated telephone poll of nearly 600 voters earlier this month and found Abercrombie’s approval rating as 30 percent, down from 48 percent in March, the lowest approval of any governor as of that poll.
"I suppose I could take some comfort that I think the congress rates even lower than I do," Abercrombie said. "I’ve, even in public life now for almost four decades, I’ve been up and I’ve been down."
In his first press conference since the poll and since returning from a trip to Asia, the governor says he respects the results.
"It’s disapproval, I think it reflects concerns and anxiety on people’s parts as to what is happening today and whether their future is going to be better. You have to respect that, I do," he says.
But he says the poll and the recent departures of several top advisers won’t alter the course of his administration
"Rather than change direction, I believe what I need to do is to keep going with the plans that we have underway right now," he says. "I think I can communicate better about what we’re doing…we’re in the first quarter, we’ve got four quarters to go."
The governor also foreshadowed his administration’s priorities for the next legislative session saying a pension tax could be off the table.
"We’ve come out of the sinkhole of fiscal challenges that we had."
But he says he reviewing a tax on sodas and sweeteners, with the money benefiting health care and education.
"We’re not trying to tell anybody what to drink or what to eat, all we’re saying is if you engage in that, if Neil Abercrombie is going to eat that dish of ice cream, he ought to understand there’s a consequence if you eat too many of those."
As for a wrap up of the Asia trip, the governor says to expect some more momentum toward Visa waivers or at least an easing of the Visa process sometime after APEC.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
