Senior Policy Advisor

Senior policy advisor Linda Smith is at the frontlines in shaping the Administration’s initiatives. With extensive experience in the public sector and a rich business background, Smith takes the leading role, with the Governor’s policy team, in developing legislation with a balanced agenda.

Smith provides Governor Lingle with nuanced perspectives on issues, bills and initiatives, forging avenues of collaboration between departments to identify core challenges and solutions.

Assisted by her background in business, Smith co-owned and managed, with her husband, a diversified plastics manufacturing company in Kapolei from 1989 – 2003 (Pacific Allied Products, Ltd.). 

Smith’s strong fiscal track-record includes several prominent positions at all levels of government. As Director of Finance for the City and County of Honolulu, she managed an annual budget of $900 million in operations and capital improvement projects and also oversaw the city’s Department of Finance. She also served under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as director of administration for the President’s Office of Management and Budget, the office that advises the President on national fiscal policy.

Smith navigates the challenges facing our state’s communities with an investigative spirit. Her excellence in gathering information and differing opinions on a multitude of issues helps the Administration to make decisions that contribute to expanding the economy and job market, improving health care for all residents, enhancing the state’s energy independence and reducing crime and illicit drug use statewide.

Smith’s efforts contribute to a system in which finances are managed in a manner most beneficial to all residents of Hawai‘i. Her commitment to fiscal responsibility and fairness in all state policy practices emphasizes the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s focus on trust and integrity in government.