Legislative Week in Review
From Hawaii Family Forum, March 16, 2018
Assisted Suicide Bill Passes Senate CPH Unamended
SB2739 HD1 has passed the Senate CPH unamended. The short hearing (compared to other hearings) and lackluster attention to the concerns expressed by medical, legal and many community members were ignored. The bill will now move to Senate Judiciary where we can hopefully get the committee to listen to our strong concerns.
The committee(s) on CPH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPH were as follows: 6 Aye(s): Senator(s) Baker, Tokuda, Espero, Ihara, Nishihara, Ruderman; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) S. Chang.
Therapy "ban" bill passes Consumer Protection & Health
The bill (SB 270 SD1) that prohibits specific state-licensed persons who are licensed to provide professional counseling from "pseudo-scientific", "harmful", "abusive" "coercive" therapy has passed its next committee. We believe that harmful therapy should be reported to the state licensing board, NOT THE HAWAII LEGISLATURE. We have a system already in place to deal with "bad" therapy and/or therapists. Therapy in this bill is vague, so it could even mean talk therapy for a child who has been abused by an older person of the same-sex that may experience gender confusion in their teens. In this scenario, parents would be unable to find help for their child unless it was a therapist who would affirm and support their homosexuality.
Click here for more information.
On March 14, 2018, the CPC committee recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Takumi, Ichiyama, Aquino, Ito, Johanson, LoPresti, Mizuno, Say, Tokioka, Yamane; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) McDermott.
Big Island Pilot Program
On March 12, 2018, HB 2277 HD1, a bill that will establish the East Hawaii Child Welfare Services Section Pilot Project within the Department of Human Services to increase staff and reduce caseloads in the East Hawaii Child Welfare Services Section passed the Senate Human Services committee. Child abuse and neglect falls through the cracks because caseworkers are severely overloaded. With an increase of children in foster care, and lack of support from case workers who simply are burdened by unmanageable case loads, this pilot program will help improve resources and response times for families crisis.
The committee(s) on HMS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HMS were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Green, S. Chang, Harimoto, Wakai; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Tokuda.
Listen to our podcast (click the box below) about this very issue and why the bill will help families in crisis.
Upcoming Legislative Dates:
MARCH 19, 2018 | TRIPLE REFERRAL FILING (HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS)
All House concurrent resolutions referred to three or more committees must be filed so that they can be in their second-to-last committee by the following day. (Note: A referral to a joint committee counts as one committee referral.)
MARCH 23, 2018 | SECOND LATERAL (BILLS)
All bills with multiple referrals must move to their final referral committee in the non-originating chamber by this date.
MARCH 28, 2018 | FIRST LATERAL FOR CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS
Concurrent resolutions require adoption in each chamber and are used to state the official position of the Legislature on an issue, or to request action formally without having to mandate it by law. All concurrent resolutions with multiple referrals must move to their final committee in the originating chamber by this date.
Take Action!
Consider a Gift: Shop Amazon
The AmazonSmile triple donation promotion started on Monday, March 12! Amazon is tripling the donation amount to 1.5% when customers make their first eligible smile.amazon.com purchase from March 12 - 31. This is a great opportunity to increase Hawaii Family Forum's AmazonSmile donations by shopping at smile.amazon.com.
What's Coming Up?
NIFLA Case at Supreme Court
At long last, Tuesday, March 20th is the day of oral arguments for NIFLA v. Becerra.Hawaii Family Forum signed an amicus brief with 40 other Family Policy Councils!
Also, here are some resources and articles on the case:
Don't Miss Out On Your Chance to Impact Your Teens
It's in the news-from medical journals to news stories to personal blogs. There's even been a viral sensation on Facebook. It seems like EVERYONE is talking about the importance of healthy interaction on social media ... especially as it relates to teens and kids.
Click here for more information and to get tickets.
And Kirk Cameron's CONNECT provides great steps to help us as parents help our kids navigate through choppy waters. You have two final chances to experience the movie next week:
TUESDAY, MARCH 20
SATURDAY, MARCH 24