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 Kim Coco Iwamoto, Democratic candidate for state House District 25, who is running unopposed for the seat that covers Ala Moana, Kakaʻako and downtown Honolulu. She has represented the district since 2024.

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?

Unfortunately, no one else applied for this job – so I am “best suited” by default; but for the sake of democracy, I promise to help recruit other candidates for 2028. I reapplied for the job because I have not exceeded any proposed term limits. I want to return to the House of Representatives so I can welcome new representatives who will expand the critical mass of critical thinkers and courageous actors that we need — candidates like Janel Fujinaka, Kekoa Kealoha, Nadia Alves and Kahi Pacarro.

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?

Housing security: condo owners face unexpected increases in fees & assessments; kūpuna in “affordable housing” face 15% rent increases every two years, causing them to go hungry; and the inventory of shelter beds is one for every two unsheltered. I will reintroduce three of my 2025 bills: Ombudsman for condo association concerns (HB 890), Kūpuna Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program under HHFDC (HB 1306), and vacant-homes GET surcharge (HB 489) to raise revenue for rental subsidies.

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

If no other shipper wants to serve our market, then we are stuck with what we got. The Jones Act requires all ships serving ports occupied by U.S. be American made – this allows American shipbuilders to jack up prices five-fold. Shippers pass that inflated cost onto consumers. Solution: U.S. Congress should give all residents impacted by compliance with Jones Act a refundable tax credit equal to the increase in consumer pricing.

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?

GOOD: passing bills to protect immigrant from ICE, challenging Citizens United by limiting corporations in state (SB 2471). BAD – killing bills: to collect Empty-homes G.E.T surcharge (HB489), adjust conveyance tax rates (HB2049), and to make public transportation fare-free across the state (HB2451). UGLY – passing bills that chill free speech: SB 2568 allows elected officials to have constituents arrested for being annoying and HB 1888 allows DOE/BOE to arrest students/parents for peacefully protesting.

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?

I introduced House Resolution 200, to re-establish the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct to examine the structural conditions of the State Legislature that may have contributed to the bribery scandal. House leadership killed this resolution. In 2027, I will introduce a resolution urging house leadership to apologize to the public for violating the Hawaiʻi Constitution when it convened a 2025 committee hearing to make decisions without allowing the public (or other House members) to attend the meeting.

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?

Most residents in my district live in tall, concrete structures that may offer pockets of protection from hurricanes and tsunamis; but, others live in older, low-rise, single-wall construction dwellings, or they live on sidewalks or parks. County and state emergency officials admit there are no emergency shelters designed to withstand level 1 hurricanes, let alone level 5, but we have many government buildings in my district that can and should provide temporary emergency shelter when needed.

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?

Continue to enact policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions – so no LNG. Similar to Big Tobacco and Big Pharma, fossil fuel companies profited by effectively hiding long-term-harms their businesses were causing; therefore, Big Oil should face the same liability standards – then use settlement money to mitigate costs of climate adaptation. All property along the coast, in sea-level-rise inundation zones, should be “leasehold” to clarify expectations that this coastal land will not be owned in perpetuity.

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?

Limit number of bills, focus on quality over quantity, and increase collaboration amongst lawmakers. The lack of “meaningful debate” is less about time, and more about fear of offending delicate egos. Just like pay-to-play corruption, the problem stems from a few individual legislators having unchecked power to unilaterally kill or pass bills. It will take a majority of lawmakers to say, “enough with ‘horse-trading’ and petty politics – let’s end this dysfunction and help more people!”

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?

Yes. The absence of fiscal analyses perpetuates the centering of power and discretion on the Money Committee chairs and leadership. Furthermore, every legislator should be required to introduce a fiscally balanced portfolio of bills – if they introduce a bill that costs $10M then they must introduce a bill that raises $10M in revenue or directs revenue away from another program – no more looking fiscally conservative while forcing taxpayers to pay for longer prison sentences or bigger prisons.

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?

Yes. I introduced HB 495 (2025), proposing a constitutional amendment to limit the number of years members may serve in the Legislature to a maximum of 16 years – no grandfather clause. I made it clear to my colleagues – after 16 years in the legislature, they should not run for another term. Many of these senior lawmakers sent a similar message to state judges: you are not welcome to serve another day after your 70th birthday. Some of these senior lawmakers are now over 70 themselves.

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

Past education “reforms” have been a distraction from the real problem – which is underinvestment in education. Paying teachers a competitive, professional salary will help recruit sufficient numbers so we can retain the most effective teachers. When private schools cherry pick students based on performance, economics and homogeneity, it leaves public schools with the higher expenses of meeting the unique learning needs of the broadest diversity of students.

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

Start with supporting farmers who feed our local families. The high cost of land, labor and water in Hawaiʻi makes farming challenging. Solution: legalize cannabis and only authorize local farmers (who are growing food to feed local families) to grow cannabis, but limit to only one-tenth of their farmland. Local farmers can use the immense profit from that one-tenth to subsidize growing food on the other nine-tenths of their land. This would result in more locally grown food and food security.

An estimated 60% of Hawaii 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?

Hawaiʻi has over 74,000 vacant homes. I introduced HB 489 (2025) to collect a G.E.T. surcharge equivalent to the revenue that would have been collected by the state had homeowners rented the dwelling to tenants who then purchased goods and services from the community. Some owners would pay the surcharge and that would fund housing subsidies; others would rent or sell. If just half of those dwellings flooded the market for sale or rent, it would drive market prices down because of supply and demand.