And away we go!! The 2012 session of the Hawaii State Legislature started yesterday, and tomorrow morning the first bill that would hammer away at the public’s right to know will have a public hearing before the House Committee on Labor & Public Employment. The hearing is scheduled for 10:05 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in [...]
Tags: Hawaii State Legislature
It’s been strange not being at the legislature this session for the first time in quite a while. I worked as a session staffer for the past five years, and made a point to keep close to the political gossip before that, even while not reporting on politics. But this year other things intervened (like [...]
Tags: Hawaii State Legislature
It was a quick check of news updates on the Honolulu Advertiser web site that gave me the news on the attempt to pull HB444 up for another House vote. I didn’t check when it had been posted, but called down to the capitol and discovered House members were still in caucus, so it seemed [...]
Tags: civil rights·civil unions·Gay rights·Hawaii State Legislature·HB444
The Legislature is careening towards a final conclusion. The deadlines for final decking, when bills have to be filed in their final form for third and final reading, are Thursday (4/22) for non-money bills and Friday (4/23) for fiscal bills. So if legislators on sitting on any conference committees with ongoing final negotiations seem a [...]
Tags: Hawaii State Legislature
A coalition of local organizations have asked House and Senate leaders to make the legislative process “more open, inclusive, and ‘user-friendly’ for the public.” The groups suggested four changes which, they say, “would go a long way towards boosting the public’s confidence and trust in the legislative process. The suggestions include: • Increasing the broadcasts [...]
Tags: Hawaii State Legislature
