Gov. David Ige signals acceptance of bill to alter emergency declaration powers

Gov. David Ige and future chief executives of the state of Hawaii probably will be subject to additional rules for managing public emergencies.

Ige indicated Wednesday that he’s probably OK with a bill the Legislature passed recently that would make several amendments to the state’s emergency declaration statute, including giving Hawaii lawmakers the ability to partly or wholly terminate such a state of emergency by a two-thirds vote.

However, the bill also allows a governor to re-­declare a local state of emergency that has been terminated.

“Probably we’re OK with that measure,” Ige said on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight Hawaii livestream interview program.

There had been tension over the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic about the length and scope of restrictions imposed by Ige, often based on requests from county mayors, via more than 20 emergency proclamations, many of which extended 60-day emergency declarations in the name of public safety.

A bill introduced in 2021 to curtail the governor’s emergency powers failed to pass. This year at least six bills aimed to address the issue.

“The issue there was not necessarily the power itself, because the governor should have emergency powers,” House Speaker Scott Saiki said in early January shortly before the Legislature began its session. “I think the issue was the length of time that these orders were in effect.”

Most drafts of the bill that passed, Senate Bill 3089, contained language that would allow the Legislature to terminate a state of emergency by a two-thirds vote, and the measure was endorsed by some public interest groups, public worker unions and state departments.

“Needless to say, the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic immediately and significantly impacted every person in our state, therefore it was appropriate for the governor to take action to provide relief for damages and to protect our health, safety, and welfare by suspending some laws via emergency proclamation in March 2020,” Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, said in written testimony in March. “However, it has been over two years since the beginning of the pandemic and the great majority of us are now functioning in a ‘new normal,’ therefore we respectfully question the need to continuously suspend a wide variety of state laws.”

One area of special interest for many testifiers on the bill had to do with access to public records being suspended during an emergency, as was the case during the coronavirus pandemic.

SB 3089 would require that public records generated during a suspension, or containing information from the time of a suspension, be subject to disclosure after the emergency state ends.

Significant speculation has circulated over whether Ige might veto the bill because it modifies the power granted to him and future governors.

On Wednesday’s Spotlight program, Ige noted that representatives of his administration emphasized to lawmakers that the pandemic presented unprecedented and unforeseen challenges that kept changing and required a series of evolving emergency response actions.

“We’ve been stressing with the Legislature that if you tie the chief executive’s hands it will only make an emergency situation worse, not better,” he said.

After recounting his concerns, Ige indicated that he is probably fine with the bill’s final version becoming law.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency testified in support of the bill, though it raised concerns that allowing lawmakers to terminate a state of emergency with a super-majority vote would reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of an ongoing emergency response.

“The HI-EMA is in support of Senate Bill 3089, SD2, HD1 and believes it will benefit the public, the department, and other state and county agencies by providing more transparency, adaptability, and clarity in emergency management functions, and affirmatively state that such functions must occur within the framework of both the U.S. and Hawaii state constitutions,” Luke Meyers, the agency’s administrator, said in written testimony March 30.

The provision allowing a governor to re-declare a local state of emergency that has been terminated was added to SB 3089 by the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee March 30 following public testimony.

A final version of the bill was produced by a joint House-Senate conference committee April 28 with some further changes, including the removal of provisions that would have allowed county councils to terminate a local state of emergency while also allowing county mayors to re- declare the same if terminated.

The full House and Senate voted unanimously May 3 to enroll the bill to the governor, who can either sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature.

Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii Public Policy Center, predicted earlier this year that any veto from Ige on one of the bills aimed at amending emergency declaration powers would be overridden by the Legislature.

Ige has until June 27 to inform the Legislature of any bills he may veto, and has until July 12 to issue vetoes.