Weekly Recap
E Komo Mai: New Sign-Ups!
Mahalo to the new registered users! We truly appreciate all your support! Please remember that this list is not exhaustive! There are many more bills alive and moving. Stay tuned!
Assisted Suicide Expansion Bills - Safeguards: Going, Going, Gone
On Tuesday, February 5, the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Health heard two bills that chip away at the safeguards to the "Our Care Our Choice Act."
DEAD: SB3047 (Relating to Health), the bill that would have allowed an advance directive to be a valid written request for a prescription to be self-administered for the purpose of ending an adult's life. The bill also included advanced practice registered nurses under the definition of "attending provider", allows an attending provider to waive the counseling referral requirement, allows an attending provider to perform duties through telehealth (under certain conditions) and mandated health insurance policies and contracts issued after December 31, 2020, to provide coverage for services related to ending a patient's life.
STATUS: The bill was permanently deferred by the Senate CPH Committee. That means it is dead this session.
STILL ALIVE: SB2582 (Relating to Health), the bill that authorizes advanced practice registered nurses, in addition to physicians, to practice medical aid in dying in accordance with their scope of practice and prescribing authority, reduces the mandatory waiting period between oral requests from twenty days to fifteen days, and waives the mandatory waiting period for those terminally ill individuals not expected to survive the mandatory waiting period is still alive.
STATUS: On Friday, February 7, 2020, the Senate committee on CPH recommended that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.
The votes in CPH were as follows:
6 Aye(s): Senator(s) Baker, S. Chang, Nishihara, Ruderman, L. Thielen, Wakai; Aye(s)
No(es): Senator(s) Fevella
The bill will now move to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
What's Coming Up?
Upcoming Legislative Deadlines
FEB 14 - FIRST LATERAL (BILLS) - All bills referred to more than one committee (i.e., those with multiple referrals) must move to their final committee in the originating chamber by this day.
FEB 20 - 26 MANDATORY 5-DAY RECESS - Hawaii's Constitution mandates a 5-day recess between the 20th and 40th days of the regular session. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate convene or assemble formally in chamber on recess days. Committee hearings do take place.
FEB 28 - FIRST DECKING (BILLS) - Deadline for bills to emerge from all their committees (with committee reports filed) and be submitted to the clerk of the originating chamber. This "decking" ensures a mandatory 48 hour opportunity for final review by the chamber's members before they are asked to vote on the third reading. Note: A bill must pass three readings (votes) in each chamber before being enrolled to the governor.
Valentines Day Shopping
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National Marriage Week!
WASHINGTON-National Marriage Week will be observed from February 7-14, 2020, in the United States. World Marriage Day will be observed on Sunday, February 9; it is annually celebrated on the second Sunday of February.
Each year, National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day provide the opportunity to focus on building a culture of life and love that begins with supporting, promoting, and upholding marriage and the family.
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