This archive contains past news articles preserved for reference, research, and recordkeeping purposes only. Archived content is presented exactly as it appeared at the time of archiving. No updates or revisions have been made since it was archived.
Mark your calendars: Session gets underway again next year on the third Wednesday in January -- January 20th, 2016. The 2015 Regular Session ended Thursday, May 7th. A total of 252 bills passed the Legislature this session! All but one (SB143, a proposed Constitutional Amendment that will appear on the 2016 ballot) have gone off to the Governor for possible enactment. Find the... Read More Adjournment sine die (Session pau for now)...
The deadline for all House Bills to successfully pass through all of the committees that they were referred to and pass three readings on the House floor is Thursday, March 12th. It's the same deadline for all Senate Bills to successfully pass through all of the committees they were referred to and pass three readings on the Senate floor. What... Read More Almost at First Crossover...
Hear ye! Hear ye! On Tuesday, April 8th, we’ll see plenty of speeches on the floor of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Numerous bills will be debated prior to undergoing their Third Reading votes. To survive, a bill must pass its Third Reading vote by the Second Crossover deadline (April 10th). While you can follow the action by coming down to... Read More Third Reading / Second Crossover...
That was fast! We're already coming up on the deadline for bills to be out of their originating chamber's committees. February 28 is the First Decking deadline. By this date, a bill needs to: pass through all of the committees it was referred to in its chamber of origin; and be submitted to the House or Senate clerk so that... Read More Quickly Approaching First Decking Deadline...
Update: The 2014 Session Calendar is here: https://lrbhawaii.org/par/fyi/2014cal.pdf . It's that time of year! Folks are starting to call the Public Access Room looking for the 2014 Legislative Calendar. We'd provide it if we could, but it hasn't been issued yet. The Calendar will be jointly issued by the Senate President and House Speaker sometime before Session starts on January 15, 2014. On... Read More Where’s the 2014 Calendar?...
Some dates to keep in mind... April 25th: Last day to file Non-Fiscal Bills to deck for Final ReadingApril 26th: Last day to file Fiscal Bills to deck for Final ReadingMay 2nd: Adjournment sine die (Session pau! Come to 401 for our End-of-Session Potluck 12 noon -2 p.m.) Governor's Deadlines: June 24th: Notice of intent to veto deadline (35th day... Read More We’re in the homestretch...
Second Decking Friday, April 5th is the Second Decking deadline. That's the date by which a bill must be filed with the non-originating chamber's Clerk for 3rd reading. The Hawaii Constitution, Article III, Section 15 states in part, "No bill shall become law unless it shall pass three readings in each house on separate days. No bill shall pass third or final... Read More “Second verse, Same as the first!”...
March 7th is the deadline for bills (other than the budget) to crossover to the other chamber for consideration. It's a great time to take a look at what's still alive. How? Just go to the Legislature's website, click on "Reports and Lists" and under the "First Crossover" section view the Senate Bills Crossed Over to the House or the House Bills Crossed... Read More First Crossover — Time to take a Fresh Look...
Last Friday, February 15th, was the First Lateral deadline -- now all bills must be in the last committee to which they've been referred in their originating chamber. Otherwise, barring extraordinary measures, they're dead. (Or, more accurately, "zombified" until next year's session.) You can take a look at which've survived -- and how they've morphed -- by going to the... Read More First Lateral — 58% Survive...
We've just passed a major deadline -- First Crossover. The majority of bills introduced will have failed to make it this far, and you can access a quick report that will show you the bills that have survived, their current descriptions and status. It's a great time to scan what's still alive to make sure you're aware of the legislation that's... Read More First Crossover. What’s Survived?...