We're almost at First Crossover -- which means successful bills must pass their Third Reading vote in their originating chamber by March 9th, in order to 'cross over' and be considered by the other chamber. On Tuesday, March 7th, there are several hundred bills that are scheduled to be voted on. The legislative broadcast project will be filming the activity... Read More Broadcasts as We Approach First Crossover...
If the Governor signs the bill early, you're all set. If not, you may have to wait until after June 27th. On or before then, the Governor will provide the Legislature with a list of the bills he may veto. Note, bills on this list may end up not being vetoed. However, any bill that is not on the list... Read More Want to know if a bill that passed the Legislature will become law?...
The First Lateral deadline for bills (February 19th) has come and gone -- bills are still alive if they've managed to get into the last committee they were referred to in their originating chamber. The Legislature's website has a convenient list of the bills that have survived First Lateral. To navigate to the list: Go to the Legislature's website (capitol.hawaii.gov).... Read More What’s Still Alive?...
While we don't know exactly when the application for Grant-in-Aid (GIA) funds will be available, we do know the deadline to complete and submit them -- 4:30 p.m. on January 22, 2016. The GIA application and instructions will be posted on the Legislature's website (capitol.hawaii.gov) sometime the week of December 21st. To find them, just click on the "Legislative Information" bar on the... Read More Grants-in-Aid (GIA) Applications...
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...
The Governor has provided a list of the bills he may veto. To find the list, and easy links to the bills and their status sheets: Go to the Legislature's website (capitol.hawaii.gov); Click on the "Reports and Lists" button; Scroll down to the "Governor's Actions" section, and click on the "Governor's Intent to Veto" link. Note that the bills appearing... Read More Governor’s Intent-to-Veto List...
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?...