Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.
A growing force of younger legislators with similar views has been quietly carving a new path through the old-time political thickets of Hawaii’s Legislature.
Their impact on traditional lawmaking practices largely has been below the surface, but veteran legislators acknowledge that it’s there, and it’s expected to become more pronounced in the next few years.
"They’re biding their time," one House member said about a particular group of representa- tives who revolve around Rep. John Waihee, D-17th Dist. (Kalihi Kai-Pearl Harbor.)
"They have good political savvy," the Democrat said. "They know this is Henry’s (House Speaker Henry Peters) time. They’re not going to make waves."
The changes are especially dramatic in the House, where 32 new faces — making up more than half of the 51-member body — have appeared since the 1978 election.
But cracks also have appeared in the Senate stronghold of longtime politicians — with 12 of the 25 members replaced in the past two elections.
Most of the new senators graduated from the House and other young representatives, such as Waihee, reportedly are eyeing Senate races in the next election.
Despite their strength in numbers, freshmen House members posed few challenges to the House leadership during the recent session.
Peters, D-21st Dist. (Waianae-Ewa Beach), pulled some of the young House dissidents into his new organization and named a rare number of freshman members as chairmen of committees.
… New House members are told that their first session is a "time for learning," Peters said in a recent interview.
But, he added, "They’re starting off with a better foot in this process than when I started.
"They have come here with tremendous credentials, with experience in the Constitutional Convention and a lot of community activities. They are very aware of people relationships — one of the most important ingredients to be an effective legislator."
