Civil Beat has asked candidates for the Hawaiʻi General Election on Nov. 3 to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following comes from Nadia Alves, Democratic candidate for State House District 28 which covers the urban Honolulu communities of Sand Island, Iwilei and Chinatown.

Her Democratic opponents are Reno Abihai, Ernest Caravalho, Anthony Nagatani and incumbent Michael Ratcliffe.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for the job? And why do you want the job?

The people of District 28 have long felt ignored, and I’m running to change that. As the only House District 28 candidate with years of experience working at the Legislature — running an office, drafting bills, facilitating committee hearings — I can hit the ground running on Day 1. Also, as the only candidate in my race who has pledged to refuse donations from corporate PACs, large developers or their lobbyists, my community can be sure that I’m in office to serve only the interests of my constituents.

What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected?

Homelessness and crime are top priorities, and housing is at the root of these issues. With over 34,000 vacant housing units in Honolulu, allowing a unit to sit empty during our ongoing housing crisis must be heavily discouraged. In my first session, I’d support a vacant homes tax to incentivize property owners to rent or sell vacant units. This would increase our housing stock and rapidly lower market rates as we continue the long-term process of building more sustainable, affordable housing.

Here’s one question from your constituents: Do you support maintaining a monopoly for interisland shipping?

While I’m open to hearing alternatives, I think it’s preferable to an unregulated, market-driven model. The state-regulated monopoly on interisland shipping allows us, via the Public Utilities Commission, to have some level of control over shipping rates and make demands about efficiency and quality of service. This is very important for managing the cost of living in Hawaiʻi, especially for our neighbor islands, which are heavily reliant on the shipping of goods to and from Oʻahu.

What do you think were the most important bills to come out of the 2026 Legislature? What failed that should have passed? What passed that you wish had failed?

Passed: SB 2471, banning corporations from spending money to influence our elections, and the slate of bills to protect our immigrant community (ex: HB 1839, HB 1548, HB 1838). Died: HB 2458, a bill to ban “surveillance pricing,” a practice of raising prices based on consumers’ personal data – a form of price gouging. Flawed: SB 2544 established the Hawaiʻi Builds Pilot Program, but the bill exempts its projects from the state procurement code, leaving no safeguards against wasteful no-bid contracts.

The 2026 session was also overshadowed by an issue of public trust: $35,000 in the brown paper bag given to an “influential” state lawmaker. What do you think the Legislature needs to do going forward to rebuild public confidence in state government?

A common refrain I hear is, “What you’re saying sounds great, but how do I know you won’t change once you’re elected, like all the rest?” The perception that legislators don’t keep their promises and listen to donors and lobbyists over their constituents is a problem. To restore public trust, I support publicly financed elections to create a viable pathway for candidates to get elected without relying on special interest donors. I’d also remove the Legislature’s exemption from the Sunshine Law.

In recent years, Hawai’i has experienced a series of damaging and dangerous weather events that have exposed weaknesses in our planning, preparation and response. What could you as a lawmaker do to help your district be better prepared?

I helped draft HB 2637 in 2024, which would have required all new public buildings to double as Category 5 storm shelters, of which we currently have none. Wildfire experts, scientists and HIEMA administrators continue to request better preparedness measures, and every year we fall short. We need to get serious about investing in storm shelters and supplies. As a State House office manager, I’ve helped organize disaster prep information and outreach, and I would do the same for my district.

What would you do in office to address the here and now of climate change? And how would you address the costs to taxpayers, property owners and businesses to adapt?

The lesson from the recent floods on Oʻahu and the Lahaina wildfires is that failing to invest in prevention and climate resilience costs us more in the long run, both in terms of money and in lives lost. As a legislator, I’d support directing funds collected from visitors via the new Green Fee program to assist local families and small businesses in making climate resilience upgrades to their properties. I’m committed to ensuring that our working families aren’t the ones left picking up the tab.

Over 3,000 bills are introduced every session and there is always frantic horsetrading in the final days of session. Do you think there should be a limit on the number of bills introduced to enable more meaningful debate?

The issue isn’t having too many bills, but rather not having enough time. With only 60 days of Legislative Session to get everything done, we always end up rushed, with many good bills dying as a result. I’d support moving to a year-round session, where bills can be introduced at any time, giving the Legislature room to be more deliberate. Also, seeing how the Legislature just gave itself a big pay raise, I think it’s fair to demand that a full-time salary should require full-time work.

Hawaiʻi lawmakers are often in the dark about how much a piece of legislation will cost because the Aloha State is the only one in the nation that doesn’t require a fiscal analysis for bills. Should lawmakers be forced to put a realistic price tag on the legislation they introduce?

As a proponent of government transparency and accountability, I’m in strong support of this. I helped draft HB 2022 in 2024, which would have established a non-partisan Legislative Budget Office to produce fiscal analysis on bills impacting state and county finances. Currently, the job of analyzing the fiscal impact of bills is left up to the Chairs of the House and Senate money committees. Whatever review their staff performs is not public, it’s partisan by definition, and may be prone to bias.

There are no term limits for state legislators in Hawaiʻi, so incumbents tend to win. Would you seek to change that? Why or why not?

A career in the legislature should not be a lifetime gig. We have term limits for almost every other elected office – County Council, Mayor, Governor, and LG – and for good reason. Being in office for decades fosters complacency, and a mentality of “we can always try again next year”, with no sense of urgency in enacting the types of changes our community desperately needs. You should go in, do good work for the community, and then leave to make room for a new person with a fresh perspective.

What would you do to help improve the state’s public school system?

Fully fund our public school system, treat our teachers like the professionals they are and pay them accordingly so we can retain them long-term. Invest in universal free school meals, universal Pre-K, and extracurricular programs to keep our students engaged. Also, Capital Improvement Projects should be more equitably distributed so that all schools have their needs met, regardless of which elected official represents their area. The future of our keiki should not be subject to horse-trading.

Hawaiʻi is heavily reliant on tourism. What would you propose to diversify Hawaiʻi’s economy?

I don’t accept the premise that tourism and the military are the only viable economic drivers for our islands. With a sizable population for pilot projects, Hawaiʻi could be at the forefront of cutting-edge research in renewable energy technology. We have favorable conditions for everything from solar power, to wave energy, to ocean thermal technology. Hawaiʻi should be a sandbox for scientists to explore creative new renewable energy ideas that we can export to the rest of the world.

An estimated 60% of Hawaiʻi residents are struggling to get by. It’s a problem that reaches far beyond low-income folks and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What would you do to help?

I feel this squeeze on a personal level. As someone who makes a relatively good wage as a state worker, I still need a second job to make ends meet. To help working families, I’d support removing GET from things like groceries and medication, establishing rent-to-own programs for home ownership, and indexing the minimum wage to increase automatically as the cost of living rises. We also need to promote higher levels of union membership so workers can advocate for themselves more effectively.