The state of Hawaii ranks the first in cost of living index among all states, and the most important contributor to this high cost of living is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (the Jones Act), which prevented foreign ships from carrying cargo between two American ports.
Most U.S. consumer goods are made in East Asia, but because of the Jones Act, foreign ships inbound with those goods cannot stop in Honolulu. Instead, they must proceed directly to the West Coast, where distributors send the goods back west across the ocean by U.S ships.
Hawaiian consumers ultimately bear the expenses of transporting goods again across the Pacific ocean. By allowing foreign ships to stop in Hawaii before proceeding to the West Coast, the cost of living in Hawaii will be greatly alleviated.