← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Hawaii
Our call — vote NO
The measure
Question 2 is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on Hawaii's November 3, 2026 ballot. It would authorize the legislature to empower counties and municipalities to issue a new class of bonds — housing infrastructure growth bonds, called Resilient Infrastructure for Shelter and Equity (RISE) bonds — for public works, improvements, and community development. The bonds would be repaid from real property taxes, specifically the tax increment above a base year within a designated district. Critically, RISE bonds would be excluded from the county debt limit, which caps county funded debt at 15% of assessed property values. Implementing legislation (SB 3218) is contingent on the amendment passing.
What YES does
A yes vote creates a new borrowing channel for local housing infrastructure, repaid from future property-tax growth in designated districts — outside the constitutional debt cap.
What NO does
A no vote keeps local borrowing inside the existing debt limit and existing bond authorities.
The math
No bond amount, total repayment cost, or district revenue estimate was published on the measure's Ballotpedia page. The debt authorized is open-ended, and because it sits outside the 15% debt limit, the usual ceiling does not price it either.
OUR CALL
Our call: NO.
Debt limits exist for exactly this moment: a popular purpose — housing infrastructure — used to justify borrowing that escapes the cap voters imposed. A bond issue with no published amount, repaid from hoped-for future tax growth, and expressly excluded from the county debt limit fails every test in our rubric: it grows bonded debt without a stated price and weakens a constitutional restraint to do it. Vote no.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Ballotpedia — Hawaii Question 2 measure page (accessed October 25, 2026)
- Ballotpedia — 2026 ballot measures — https://ballotpedia.org/2026_ballot_measures
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.