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 Anthony Nagatani, Democratic candidate for State House District 28 which covers the urban Honolulu communities of Sand Island, Iwilei and Chinatown in the Aug. 8 primary election.

His Democratic opponents are Reno Abihai, Nadia Alves, Ernest Caravalho 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?

I’m suited for this because I’ve done the work. I’ve organized and campaigned across several states, and I’ve lived the problem I want to fix. Born and raised in Honolulu, after college I did what too many young people are forced to do: I left to build a career. The pandemic let me work remote, and a room at my mom’s place let me move home. Best decision I ever made. A month later I met my wife. In 2023 we bought our condo at Kukui Plaza. I’m running to make homecoming common again.

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?

The biggest issue is affordability. People are doing the math on whether they can stay, and too many young people leave to find opportunity. Rent and housing costs are spiraling. In our district, new housing has to be built over sewer and flood infrastructure laid before statehood, so builders have to fix what’s beneath, and that cost gets passed to us in higher rents. In my first six months, I’ll fight for the government to fund the infrastructure modernization our district needs.

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

Young Brothers is a regulated monopoly, and Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi can’t function without it. I’d push for tougher Public Utilities Commission oversight after a 25% rate hike and $26 million in diverted state fees. The Jones Act is the bigger federal cost driver, raising prices across Hawaiʻi, Alaska and Puerto Rico. As a state rep I’d advocate for relief and back our federal delegation in fighting the policies that raise our costs at home.

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?

Most important: the budget’s $250 million for the Rental Housing Revolving Fund and kūpuna housing, plus new tools letting counties bond and capture future tax growth to fund infrastructure housing needs like roads, sewers and water. Government should pay for the pipes so builders don’t pass the cost to renters. What should’ve passed? Modernizing our building code to cut wasteful mid-project redesigns. What I’d have stopped? Locking in automatic inter-island rate hikes on island families.

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?

Trust isn’t rebuilt with statements. It’s rebuilt with sunlight. When over 900 residents petitioned to investigate the $35,000 paper-bag case, the House filed it away with no debate. That’s a problem. I’d stand up the proposed Office of Legislative Ethics and Accountability, bring lawmakers under the same ethics code everyone else follows, and support public funding for elections.

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?

House District 28 knows our aging infrastructure won’t hold up well to a direct hurricane, tsunami or another run of Kona lows. Iwilei and Sand Island are especially exposed. The government needs to step up and finance new sewer and flood mitigation infrastructure down the Skyline corridor and across our makai areas. That modernization will protect us from storm surge, and over time it bends the cost of housing back toward affordable. Disaster preparedness and affordability are the same fight here.

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 Green Fee already raises ~$100 million a year for climate resilience. My job as a legislator is making sure it reaches the front lines, not the general fund. The makai parts of HD28 — Iwilei, Sand Island and the harbor — sit in storm surge zones, and our aging water and sewer systems are exactly what fails in a big storm. I’d fund first responders and the engineers who harden that infrastructure. The cost to adapt can’t land on local families. Visitors and big emitters should pay their fair share.

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?

No. Capping bills treats the symptom, not the cause. The frantic horsetrading happens because we cram the people’s business into a part-time, 60-day session. The answer isn’t fewer ideas. It’s more time to weigh them. I’d push for a full time Legislature so bills get real hearings and real scrutiny instead of dying or passing in a last-minute scramble. We ask a handful of people to run a multibillion dollar state in their spare time and then act surprised when things get rushed.

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, but with discipline. This can’t become more red tape. We’re the only state without a real process to price a bill before we vote on it, and flying blind is what’s actually expensive. I’d favor one nonpartisan analyst’s office, with notes required only on spending and tax bills so we don’t clog up the calendar. We want honest math. One office is cheap insurance against the multimillion dollar surprises we keep voting for without seeing a price tag.

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, but done right. Institutional memory matters, and a body with no experience is easy for lobbyists to run circles around. I’d favor a limit that’s longer than people expect. Cap legislative service at around 20 years, with members allowed to finish the term they were elected to. That’s long enough to learn the job and build expertise, but short enough that no seat becomes a lifetime appointment. We need both fresh voices and hard-earned knowledge.

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

Teaching runs in my family. My mother-in-law taught English at Kaiser, my wife is also a teacher and a few years before he passed, my father taught ESL classes at Kaimukī High School. Good educators leave because they can’t afford to stay. That’s the same affordability fight at the center of our campaign. I’d add housing support for teachers, and fund school repairs the DOE keeps deferring. And I’d pursue stronger earned increment raises so we keep teachers in their profession for a lifetime.

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

Three pillars. First, food security. We can’t feed ourselves if the boats stop coming, so rebuilding agriculture is the best long-term answer. Second, I work in the media and creative arts industry. With more studios, soundstages and tax incentives, Hawaiʻi can create jobs for our artists, storytellers and technicians right here. Third, remote work brought me home. I’d court companies to hire Hawaiʻi-based remote workers and fix the rules that make out-of-state health plans hard to use here.

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 live this issue. Between editing gigs I drive Uber to make our mortgage and HOA. Even with a good-paying job, it’s hard to stay ahead here. The middle class is vanishing because the cost of housing is outrunning wages. If we bring housing costs down by funding the infrastructure that drives them up, one job could cover a normal life again. We won’t grow the middle class without fixing what it costs to stay here.