Fold against adversity, just like the Legislature
Dear Youth of Hawaii, this is a letter from your state legislators if they actually wrote you a letter. Read more
Hawaii Legislature 2017
Coverage of the 2017 Hawaii state legislative session.
Hawaii’s $28B budget a mixed bag on homelessness, housing
Hawaii lawmakers voted Tuesday to spend $28 billion over the next two years in a budget that includes money for homelessness programs, improving school buildings and fighting rat lungworm disease. Read more
Souki resigns as House speaker in leadership shake-up
House Speaker Joe Souki has officially resigned from that post effective immediately in the aftermath of Wednesday night’s House leadership reorganization. Read more
Ige scorns special session for rail
Gov. David Ige rejected the notion Wednesday of extending the 2017 legislative session to try to salvage a rail-funding deal, calling it a “waste of time” if state legislators don’t already have an agreement in place. Read more
Tokuda out due to rail, Souki also to lose post
House Speaker Joe Souki and Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Jill Tokuda are expected to be ousted from their positions of power today in an end-of-session leadership shakeup. Read more
Ige rejects 4 mayors’ request to extend legislative session to deal with rail
Gov. David Ige today rejected the idea of extending the 2017 legislative session to consider a bill to fund Honolulu rail’s project. Read more
Dueling votes kill rail funding bill
Honolulu’s financially strapped rail project faces an even more uncertain future now that a controversial 11th-hour funding deal has crumbled in the state Legislature. Read more
Fate of rail funding bill in limbo as lawmakers float new proposals
State House and Senate lawmakers extended their fierce disagreement today over how to bail out the financially strapped Honolulu rail project, with senators proposing to extend the half-percent excise tax surcharge for rail for another decade, and the House rejecting that idea. Read more
Lawmakers tentatively agree on proposal to raise hotel tax for rail, education
House and Senate negotiators tentatively agreed this afternoon to a plan to increase the state hotel room tax to 12 percent to raise $1.3 billion to help fund both the rail project and public education. Read more
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Bill empowering Stadium Authority dies
A bill that would have given the Aloha Stadium Authority expanded powers to redevelop the 98-acre parcel containing the current stadium met a prolonged and somewhat surprising death today. Read more
Rush is on at the Capitol to decide bills’ fates
State lawmakers scrambled to move dozens of bills ahead of a Thursday night deadline for gaining approval from key House and Senate negotiators on measures that don’t carry a price tag. Read more
10-year tax idea for rail falters
Key state lawmakers gathered Wednesday to discuss a new plan to extend the Oahu excise tax surcharge for rail by another 10 years, but it isn’t clear whether the idea has the support it would need to win approval in either the Senate or the House. Read more
Birth control bill to face final floor votes
Women would no longer have to make a trip to the doctor to get a prescription for birth control pills or other forms of hormonal contraception under a bill that gained approval from negotiators in the House and Senate on Tuesday. Read more
Having a bong less of a big deal under bill agreed on by leaders
House and Senate negotiators agreed Monday morning on a bill that would decriminalize possession of drug paraphernalia, reducing the penalties for being caught with items such as a marijuana pipe or cigarette papers to no more than $500. Read more
Legislators greenlight $28 billion budget for operations
House and Senate lawmakers reached agreement on a new two-year, $28.4 billion state operating budget Monday that would increase state spending over this year’s level but would trim the overall budget somewhat from what Gov. David Ige originally proposed. Read more
U.S. ConCon resolution advances
Hawaii is close to joining a growing number of states urging Congress to convene a national constitutional convention — an event that, other than the original 1787 convention, has never taken place in U.S. history. Read more
Kids, activists rally for bill setting clean-fuel goal
More than 600 students joined activists at the state Capitol rotunda Thursday in support of a bill that sets a goal of having all ground transportation in Hawaii run on renewable fuel by 2045. Read more
Lawmakers tussle with bill to fight painkiller addiction
With addiction to prescription painkillers on the rise in Hawaii, state lawmakers prioritized legislation this session aimed at cutting down on abuse and making sure that health care providers counsel patients on the risks of opioid medications. Read more
Hawaii lawmakers kill bill seeking equal access to fertility treatment
The decision came after health care lobbyists argued it was a bad idea to make insurers cover a fertility procedure for surrogate mothers that gay male couples rely on to have a child. Read more
Health care lobby pushes back on Hawaii LGBT fertility bill
Health care lobbyists in Hawaii are pushing lawmakers to kill part of a bill that would expand access to fertility treatments to same-sex couples who want to have a child. Read more
Bill on transparency at tourism agency is killed
Legislative measures to increase accountability and transparency at the Hawaii Tourism Authority are dead this session, but lawmakers have attempted an end run by asking the state auditor to deliver the agency’s 2018 management audit by the start of next session. Read more
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