Sen. Donna Mercado Kim takes helm as senate president, Rep. Joe Souki installed as House Speaker

"I hope first and foremost there will be no tax burdens thrust upon our citizens,”

said Senator Donna Mercado Kim  as she took charge as senate president.

She didn’t waste any time cautioning about opening taxpayers’ wallets to fund new proposals.

She did give a nod to the majority's platform of self-reliance in food and energy, and the need to protect prime agricultural land.

But she was lukewarm to the governor’s preschool priority.

“What I am afraid of is if we implement that program and it is going to be mediocre like the rest of the education program then it does not make good sense,” said Kim.

Kim was also lukewarm to the administration’s Public Land Development Corporation as it explores using underutilized land around public schools.

"How do we use those lands dedicated for education in a way that will be productive for education and at the same time perhaps provide a revenue stream,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

 "The PLDC should be repealed, not amended," said Republican Sen. Sam Slom.