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HB764 • 2026

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 4, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS.

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 4, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS.

Elections
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
BELATTI, AMATO, GARRETT, GRANDINETTI, HUSSEY, MATSUMOTO, PERRUSO, PIERICK, POEPOE, REYES ODA, SOUZA, WARD
Last action
2025-12-08
Official status
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify who will decide on the exact number of term limits, only that they 'as provided by law'.

Proposing Term Limits for Hawaii Legislators

This bill proposes to add term limits to the Constitution of Hawaii, limiting how many times legislators can be elected after the general election in 2028.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds a new rule to the Hawaii Constitution that sets term limits for state lawmakers starting from elections after 2028.
  • Requires voters to decide if they want this change by voting on it in an upcoming election.

Who It Names or Affects

  • State legislators who will be elected or re-elected after the general election of 2028.
  • Voters who will decide if this change should happen through a ballot vote.

Terms To Know

Constitution
The main set of rules for how a government works, like a big rulebook for the state.
Term limits
Rules that say how many times someone can be elected to an office before they have to stop serving.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The exact number of terms legislators will be allowed to serve is not decided yet and will depend on future laws.
  • This bill needs voter approval through a ballot measure, which means it won't become law unless enough people vote for it.

Bill History

  1. 2025-12-08 D

    Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

  2. 2025-01-21 H

    Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 2

  3. 2025-01-21 H

    Introduced and Pass First Reading.

  4. 2025-01-17 H

    Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 4, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS.
Constitutional Amendment; Legislative Term Limits (ConAm)
Proposes a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members of the Legislature, as provided by law, for terms beginning after the general election of 2028.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB764

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

764

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

PROPOSING
AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 4, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF
HAWAII TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that, according to a
2018 Civil Beat poll, seventy per cent of likely voters statewide support term
limits for state legislators.
�
While
residents have often called for term limits for legislators, this is one reform
that has been consistently introduced proposing different variations of term
limits but has not been adopted because of the inability for legislators to
reach consensus for the best way to craft and apply term limits to state
legislators.
�
Until there is a constitutional
directive from voters to enact legislation applying a set number of term limits
to legislators, it is unlikely that term limits for state legislators will be
enacted.

����
The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to article
III, section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to limit the terms
of members of the legislature, as provided by law, for the terms beginning
after the general election of 2028 to enable the state legislature in the 2027
and 2028 legislative sessions to enact a law establishing term limits for
legislators.

����
SECTION 2.
�
Article 3, section 4, of the Constitution of
the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"
ELECTION
OF MEMBERS; TERM

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Section 4.
�
Each member of the legislature shall be
elected at an election.
�
If more than one
candidate has been nominated for election to a seat in the legislature, the
member occupying that seat shall be elected at a general election.
�
If a candidate nominated for a seat at a
primary election is unopposed for that seat at the general election, the
candidate shall be deemed elected at the primary election.
�
The term of office of a member of the house
of representatives shall be two years and the term of office of a member of the
senate shall be four years[
.
]
; provided that for terms beginning
after the general election of 2028, members of the house of representatives and
the senate shall only be authorized to serve for a set number of terms, as
provided by law.
�
The term of a
member of the legislature shall begin on the day of the general election at
which elected or if elected at a primary election, on the day of the general
election immediately following the primary election at which elected.
�
For a member of the house of representatives,
the term shall end on the day of the general election immediately following the
day the member's term commences.
�
For a
member of the senate, the term shall end on the day of the second general
election immediately following the day the member's term commences."

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SECTION 3.
�
The question to be printed on the ballot
shall be as follows:

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"Shall
the Hawaii State Constitution be amended to limit members of the Hawaii state
legislature to serving a set number of terms, as provided by law, for terms
beginning after the general election of 2028?"

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SECTION 4.
�
Constitutional material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New
constitutional material is underscored.

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SECTION 5.
�
This amendment shall take effect upon
compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of
Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Constitutional
Amendment; Legislative Term Limits

Description:

Proposes
a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members of the Legislature, as
provided by law, for terms beginning after the general election of 2028.

The summary description
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not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.