Read the full stored bill text
HB770
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
770
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
PROPOSING
AMENDMENTS TO THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH A CONTINUOUS
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that Hawaii's state
legislature is in session for only sixty session days per year, generally from
the middle of January until early May.
�
The legislature notes that the representatives and senators who comprise
the state legislature are part-time employees of the State.
����
The
legislature further finds that the efficiency, productivity, and orderliness of
the state legislature could be improved by requiring that the legislature be in
session during every month of the year.
�
The legislature notes that doing so would make the representatives and
senators who comprise the state legislature full-time employees of the State.
�
The legislature also finds this change in the
nature of legislators' employment status will warrant a reevaluation by the
commission on salaries of legislative members' salaries.
����
The
purpose of this Act is to propose amendments to the Constitution of the State
of Hawaii to establish a continuous legislative session, beginning in January
2029.
�
Specifically, this Act:
����
(1)
�
Requires the legislature to convene at
least once each month;
����
(2)
�
Removes constitutional language
regarding special sessions, adjournment, and recesses;
����
(3)
�
Creates a two-year deadline for a bill
to be submitted for gubernatorial consideration;
����
(4)
�
Standardizes the number of days that
the governor must approve or veto a bill submitted for consideration;
����
(5)
�
Requires the passage of the legislative
budget not later than forty-five days before the end of each fiscal year;
����
(6)
�
Prohibits members of the legislature
from holding any position of employment in the private sector during their
term;
����
(7)
�
Authorizes
members of the legislature to serve in the United States military reserves,
National Guard, or hold any lawful position of government employment, subject
to certain current ethical limitations; and
����
(8)
�
Establishes
salaries of the members of the legislature pursuant to recommendations by the commission
on salaries submitted during the 2028 regular session, unless those
recommendations are amended by law.
����
SECTION
2
.
�
Article III, section 8, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
DISQUALIFICATIONS
OF MEMBERS
����
Section
8.
�
No member of the legislature [
shall
hold any other public office under the State, nor shall the member]
, during
the term for which the member is elected or appointed,
shall hold any
position of employment in the private sector.
�
The member may serve in the United States military reserves, National
Guard, or hold any lawful position of government employment; provided that the
member shall not
be elected or appointed to any public office or employment
[
which
]
that
shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof
shall have been increased, by legislative act during [
such
]
the
term.
�
The term "public
offices," for the purposes of this section, shall not include notaries
public, reserve police officers or officers of emergency organizations for civilian
defense or disaster relief.
�
The
legislature may prescribe further disqualifications."
����
SECTION
3
.
�
Article III, section 10, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
[
SESSIONS
]
MEETINGS
����
Section
10.
�
The legislature shall convene
annually [
in regular session
] at 10:00 o'clock a.m. on the third
Wednesday in January.
�
The legislature
shall convene at least once each month.
����
[
At the written request of two-thirds of
the members to which each house is entitled, the presiding officers of both
houses shall convene the legislature in special session.
�
At the written request of two-thirds of the
members of the senate, the president of the senate shall convene the senate in
special session for the purpose of carrying out its responsibility established
by Section 3 of Article VI.
�
The governor
may convene both houses or the senate alone in special session.
����
Regular sessions shall be limited to a
period of sixty days, and special sessions shall be limited to a period of
thirty days.
�
Any session may be extended
a total of not more than fifteen days.
�
Such extension shall be granted by the presiding officers of both houses
at the written request of two‑thirds of the members to which each house
is entitled or may be granted by the governor.
����
Each regular session shall be recessed
for not less than five days at some period between the twentieth and fortieth
days of the regular session.
�
The
legislature shall determine the dates of the mandatory recess by concurrent
resolution.
�
Any session may be recessed
by concurrent resolution adopted by a majority of the members to which each
house is entitled.
�
Saturdays, Sundays,
holidays, the days in mandatory recess and any days in recess pursuant to a
concurrent resolution shall be excluded in computing the number of days of any
session.
]
����
All [
sessions
]
meetings
shall
be held in the capital of the State.
�
In
case the capital shall be unsafe, the governor may direct that any [
session
]
meeting
be held at some other place."
����
SECTION
4
.
�
Article III, section 12, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
ORGANIZATION;
DISCIPLINE; RULES; PROCEDURE
����
Section
12.
�
Each house shall be the judge of
the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members and shall have,
for misconduct, disorderly behavior or neglect of duty of any member, power to
punish [
such
]
the
member by censure or, upon a two-thirds vote of
all the members to which [
such
]
the
house is entitled, by
suspension or expulsion of [
such
]
the
member.
�
Each house shall choose its own officers,
determine the rules of its proceedings and keep a journal.
�
The ayes and noes of the members on any
question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of the members present, be entered
upon the journal.
����
Twenty days after a bill has been referred
to a committee in either house, the bill may be recalled from [
such
]
the
committee by the affirmative vote of one-third of the members to which [
such
]
the
house is entitled.
����
Every meeting of a committee in either
house or of a committee comprised of a member or members from both houses held
for the purpose of making decision on matters referred to the committee shall
be open to the public.
����
[
By rule of its proceedings, applicable
to both houses, each house shall provide for the date by which all bills to be
considered in a regular session shall be introduced.
]"
����
SECTION
5
.
�
Article III, section 15, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
PASSAGE OF BILLS
����
Section
15.
�
No bill shall become law unless
it shall pass three readings in each house on separate days.
�
No bill shall pass third or final reading in
either house unless printed copies of the bill in the form to be passed shall
have been made available to the members of that house for at least forty-eight
hours.
����
Every bill when passed by the house in
which it originated, or in which amendments thereto shall have originated,
shall immediately be certified by the presiding officer and clerk and sent to
the other house for consideration.
����
Any bill pending at the final adjournment
of a regular session in an odd-numbered year shall carry over with the same
status to the next regular session.
�
Before the carried-over bill is enacted, it shall pass at least one
reading in the house in which the bill originated.
�
The general appropriations bill or the
supplemental appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, as the case may
be, shall pass each house and be submitted for gubernatorial consideration not
later than forty-five days before the end of the existing fiscal year.
�
If the last day of the period within which
the bill is required to be submitted for gubernatorial consideration falls on a
Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the period shall extend to the next day that is not
a Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
"
����
SECTION
6
.
�
Article III, section 16, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
APPROVAL
OR VETO
����
Section
16.
�
Every bill [
which shall have
]
that has
passed the legislature shall be certified by the presiding
officers and clerks of both houses and shall thereupon be presented to the
governor.
�
If the governor approves it,
the governor shall sign it and it shall become law.
�
If the governor does not approve [
such
]
the
bill, the governor may return it, with the governor's objections to
the legislature.
�
Except for items
appropriated to be expended by the judicial and legislative branches, the
governor may veto any specific item or items in any bill [
which
]
that
appropriates money for specific purposes by striking out or reducing the same;
but the governor shall veto other bills, if at all, only as a whole.
����
The governor shall have [
ten
]
ninety
calendar
days to consider bills presented [
to the governor ten or more
days before the adjournment of the legislature sine die
], and if any [
such
]
bill is neither signed nor returned by the governor within that time, it shall
become law in like manner as if the governor had signed it.
�
If the last day of the period within which
the bill presented is required to be signed or returned falls on a Saturday,
Sunday or holiday, the period shall extend to the next day that is not a
Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
RECONSIDERATION
[
AFTER ADJOURNMENT
����
The governor shall have forty-five days,
after the adjournment of the legislature sine die, to consider bills presented
to the governor less than ten days before such adjournment, or presented after
adjournment, and any such bill shall become law on the forty-fifth day unless
the governor by proclamation shall have given ten days' notice to the
legislature that the governor plans to return such bill with the governor's
objections on that day.
�
The legislature
may convene at or before noon on the forty-fifth day in special session,
without call, for the sole purpose of acting upon any such bill returned by the
governor.
�
In case the legislature shall
fail to so convene, such bill shall not become law.
]
�
Any [
such
] bill may be amended to meet
the governor's objections and, if so amended and passed, only one reading being
required in each house for [
such
] passage, it shall be presented again
to the governor, but shall become law only if the governor shall sign it within
ten days after presentation.
�
If the
last day of the period within which the amended bill is required to be signed
by the governor falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the period shall extend
to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
����
[
In computing the number of days
designated in this section, the following days shall be excluded:
�
Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and any days in
which the legislature is in recess prior to its adjournment as provided in
section 10 of this article.
]"
����
SECTION
7
.
�
Article XVI, section 3.5, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
"
SALARY COMMISSION
����
Section
[
[
]3.5[
]
].
�
There shall be a commission on
salaries as provided by law, which shall review and recommend salaries for the
justices and judges of all state courts, members of the legislature, department
heads or executive officers of the executive departments and the deputies or
assistants to department heads of the executive departments as provided by law,
excluding the University of Hawaii and the department of education.
�
The commission shall also review and make
recommendations for the salary of the administrative director of the State or
equivalent position and the salary of the governor and the lieutenant governor.
����
Any salary established pursuant to this
section shall not be decreased during a term of office, unless by general law
applying to all salaried officers of the State.
����
Not later than the fortieth legislative day
of the 2007 regular legislative session and every six years thereafter, the
commission shall submit to the legislature its recommendations and then
dissolve.
����
The recommended salaries submitted shall
become effective as provided in the recommendation, unless the legislature
disapproves the entire recommendation as a whole by adoption of a concurrent
resolution prior to adjournment sine die of the legislative session in which
the recommendation is submitted; provided that any change in salary which
becomes effective shall not apply to the legislature to which the
recommendation for the change in salary was submitted.
����
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
of this section, the commission on salaries shall convene no later than the
month of November 2027 for the sole purpose of making recommendations for the
salaries of the members of the legislature, to take effect from January 1, 2029,
to December 31, 2032.
�
Members of the
commission shall be appointed in the same manner that members are normally
appointed as provided by law.
�
Not later
than the fortieth legislative day of the 2028 regular legislative session, the
commission shall submit to the legislature its recommendations and shall then
dissolve.
�
The recommended salaries
submitted shall become effective as provided in the recommendation, unless amended
by law.
"
����
SECTION
8
.
�
Article III, section 11, of the Constitution
of the State of Hawaii is repealed.
["
ADJOURNMENT
����
Section
11.
�
Neither house shall
adjourn during any session of the legislature for more than three days, or sine
die, without the consent of the other.
"]
����
SECTION
9.
�
The question to be printed on the
ballot shall be as follows:
����
����
"Shall the legislature meet
continuously throughout the year, beginning in January 2029, subject to the
following:
����
����
(a)
�
Members
shall be prohibited from holding any position of employment in the private
sector during their term;
����
����
(b)
�
Members may serve in the United States
military reserves, National Guard, or hold any lawful position of government employment,
subject to certain current ethical limitations;
����
����
(c)
�
The legislature shall be required to
meet at least once each month;
����
����
(d)
�
Procedures for convening special
legislative sessions shall be repealed;
����
����
(e)
�
A two-year deadline for a bill to be
submitted for gubernatorial consideration shall be established, the governor shall
within ninety calendar days approve or veto a bill submitted for consideration,
and passage of the legislative budget shall be required not later than forty‑five
days before the end of each fiscal year; and
����
����
(f)
�
Salaries of the members of the legislature
shall be established pursuant to recommendations submitted to the legislature by
the commission on salaries during the 2028 regular session, unless those
recommendations are amended by law?"
����
SECTION 10.
�
Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
�
New constitutional material is underscored.
����
SECTION 11.
�
These amendments shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII,
section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii during the 2026 general
election; provided that sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 shall take effect on
January 1, 2029.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Continuous
Legislative Session; Constitutional Amendment; Constitutional Repeal
Description:
Establishes
a continuous Legislature.
�
Requires the
Legislature to convene at least once each month.
�
Repeals language regarding special sessions,
adjournment, and recesses.
�
Creates a 2-year
deadline for a bill to be submitted for gubernatorial consideration.
�
Standardizes the number of days that the
Governor must approve or veto a bill submitted for consideration.
�
Requires the passage of the legislative
budget within 45 days before the end of each fiscal year.
�
Prohibits members of the legislature from holding
any position of employment in the private sector during their term.
�
Authorizes members to serve in the United
States military reserves, National Guard, or hold any lawful position of government
employment, subject to certain current ethical limitations.
�
Establishes salaries of the members of the
Legislature pursuant to recommendations by the Commission on Salaries submitted
during the 2028 regular session, unless those recommendations are amended by
law.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.