Representative Bert Kobayashi’s family has deep community roots in Kaimuki, having been a part of the neighborhood since 1915. He served 16 years in the State House and Senate from 1978 to 1994 and was re-elected to the State House in 2012. As an effective legislator, he helped to enact the first “living will” law, Nursing Homes Without Walls (community-based alternative to nursing homes), first HIV confidentiality law, school community-based management (SCBM) law, and others. He also supported the establishment of Kapiolani Community College at Diamond Head, from its initial planning in 1980 to the last major CIP funding in 1993.
Representative Kobayashi graduated from Kaimuki High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University. He has been an Assistant Professor of Government at American University in Washington, DC and is a former Administrator for the State of Hawaii Hospital System. He is married to Mary Lou and has a son, David.
