Edward Hike, nominee to the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund board of directors, told the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on April 11 that the fund's immediate goal is to attract reinsurance and create a broadly marketable product so policies can reach homeowners as soon as possible.

"The objective is to reach the greatest common denominator of potential insurance to help balancing all the issues and accessing the reinsurance market," Hike said, describing the fund's strategy to present a package that reinsurers recognize and will underwrite.

Why it matters: Lawmakers have pressed the committee and the hurricane fund for ways to blunt steep premium increases facing condominium and homeowner policyholders. Committee members repeatedly asked whether the fund should include eligibility limits — such as owner-occupancy requirements — to focus support on resident-occupied buildings rather than investor-held properties.

Hike told senators the fund and its consultant have been cautious about strict eligibility rules during the initial phase because such requirements can slow getting a product to market. He said an initial policy could target buildings in a valuation range that reinsurers are accustomed to underwriting, and cited a working threshold the fund discussed: properties valued above $10,000,000 and below $100,000,000. "We could get to market very quickly if we are covering, say, you know, above 10,000,000, below a 100,000,000," he said.

Senator Richard pressed Hike on the reinsurance market's appetite for Hawaii's exposure, noting the state's concentrated risk if an event hits Oahu. Hike responded that reinsurers operate at institutional scale and that the question is how the fund packages its demand: "Reinsurance is really in that pallet, you know, and the semi trailer end of the market…It's the same item," he said, arguing a larger, less-customized initial package is likelier to draw capacity and lower per-policy costs.

The fund's capital matters, Hike said. He confirmed the fund currently has roughly $171,000,000 available and noted SB1044 is seeking an additional appropriation; he said more capital would let the fund assume a wider share of risk and negotiate different reinsurance terms. Committee members also discussed a contemplated loan to the Hawaii Property Insurance Association, and Hike said financing, bonding or fee revenue could all be tools to increase the fund's capacity.

On timing, Hike said the fund was aiming to have a product in the market by summer and expected to have enough operational data to revisit eligibility or pricing by the beginning of the next year: "Cycles in, in the reinsurance market sort of revolve around beginning of the year and midyear. So I would I would think that, you know, by the beginning of the next year, we could have some more negotiations," he said.

Hike and senators repeatedly emphasized trade-offs between speed and targeting. Hike said an owner-occupancy rule is straightforward to understand but would complicate initial underwriting and delay market entry. "If you want that support from the reinsurance market, the first iteration likely needs to leave that clause out because it's it's it's more veil that won't, you know, be immediately forthcoming," he said.

Committee members asked about monitoring and follow-up; Hike said the fund plans iterative changes: start with broad, reinsurance-friendly parameters, build a book of business, then refine eligibility and product features in subsequent rounds.

Clarifying details discussed during the hearing included the fund's current capital ($171,000,000 mentioned by Hike), the pending bill SB1044 seeking additional appropriation, a possible loan or financing vehicle to expand capacity, a draft valuation band cited by Hike ($10,000,000–$100,000,000) as the initial target for policies, and an expected timeline to revisit policy parameters (by the next legislative session beginning of year cycle). Hike said the fund was not yet insuring policies at the time of the hearing.

The exchange followed a joint briefing the previous week with the House and Senate committees; senators asked the nominee to return with updates after early market rollout and said they expected the fund to report back with enrollment and pricing data in future hearings.

The committee took testimony from other nominees on the agenda but had no formal vote on Hike's nomination during this portion of the hearing; Hike's nomination was later included in a committee omnibus advice-and-consent vote.