HOUSE PASSES MORE THAN 150 MEASURES ON THIRD READING
Highway safety, public health, government ethics bills move to Senate
News Release from House Democratic Caucus, February 28, 2020
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – In advance of First Crossover next week, the House of Representatives today passed more than 150 measures on third reading including bills on government ethics, highway safety, and public health. These bills now move to the Senate for their consideration.
March 5 is the First Crossover deadline for bills to pass third reading in order to move (or “crossover”) to the other chamber. If successful, House bills are sent to the Senate and Senate bills are sent to the House for further consideration.
Bills passed today include:
HB2678 HD1 Relating to Government Employees
Requires forfeiture of a state or county officer's or employee's compensation and fringe benefits upon a felony conviction.
HB1676 HD1 Relating to Highway Safety
Establishes a three-year photo red light imaging detector system pilot program. Authorizes any affected county to administer the photo red light imaging detector system pilot program. Establishes a photo red light imaging detector systems pilot program account as a special account within the general fund. Requires proceeds of fines expended in the county from which they were collected for operation of the photo red light imaging detector systems pilot program. Appropriates funds. Sunsets 6/30/2023.
Family Issues
HB2148 HD1 Relating to Family Leave
Extends Hawaii family leave to include care for employees' grandchildren. Defines "sibling." Amends the definition of "child" to include grandchildren.
HB2067 HD1 Relating to Domestic Violence
Amends the offense of abuse of family or household members to provide for a lesser included petty misdemeanor offense. Allows a deferred acceptance of guilty plea in cases involving misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor abuse offenses. Requires the judiciary to submit annual reports to the legislature on the number and outcome of abuse of family or household members cases. Sunsets pilot program 6/30/2023.
Public Health
HB2457 HD2 Relating to the Youth Vaping Epidemic
Beginning 1/1/2021: bans the sale of flavored tobacco products; prohibits mislabeling of e-liquid products containing nicotine; and establishes fines and penalties for violations. Requires the Department of Education to establish a safe harbor program by which persons under 21 years of age may dispose of electronic smoking devices in their possession. Requires public school teachers and educators to confiscate electronic smoking devices. Increases fines for the purchase or possession of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices by persons under 21 years of age. Authorizes a court to impose, as a penalty on a person 18-21 years of age who is convicted of possession of a tobacco product or electronic smoking device, the requirement to complete a tobacco education program, complete a tobacco use cessation program, or perform community service instead of paying a fine.
Other Bills
HB2010 HD1 Relating to the University of Hawaiʻi
Appropriates funds to provide scholarships to students pursuing Hawaiian language certifications or degrees within the University of Hawaiʻi system.
HB2485 HD1 Relating to Hawaiʻi National Guard Retirement Benefits
Requires the board of trustees of the employees' retirement system to conduct a study to determine and provide retirement benefits for Hawaiʻi national guard members who are activated under state active duty orders, and submit findings and recommendations to the legislature prior to the regular session of 2022. Appropriates funds.
HB2037 HD2 Relating to the Hawaiʻi State Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus Commission
Establishes the Hawaiʻi state lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus commission. Appropriates funds.
See all 2019 and 2020 House bills that have crossed over to the Senate this session here
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HOUSE PASSES KEY MEASURES ON THIRD READING
Gun violence prevention, women's rights, Hawaiʻi Promise bills move to Senate
News Release from House Democratic Caucus, February 27, 2020
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – The House of Representatives today passed more than 100 measures on third reading including important bills on gun violence prevention, family issues and education. The bills now move to the Senate for their consideration.
Honolulu Police Department Chief Susan Ballard along with more than a dozen police officers and members of Mother's Demanding Action attended today's session in support of the gun violence prevention bills. Members of the Hawaiʻi Firearms Coalition attended the session in opposition to those same bills.
Bills passed today include:
Gun Violence Prevention
HB 2709 Relating to the Uniform Probate Code
Requires a personal representative of a decedent appointed under the Uniform Probate Code to notify the police department of the appropriate county of any and all firearms in an estate. Requires the police department to certify that all firearms in an estate are properly transferred or disposed of before the estate may close.
HB 2744 Relating to Gun Violence Prevention
Establishes the gun violence and violent crimes commission. Requires reports to the Legislature. Makes it a class C felony to purchase, manufacture, or otherwise obtain firearm parts for the purpose of assembling a firearm having no serial number. Amends certain requirements relating to firearms registration.
HB 1902 HD2 Relating to Firearms
Extends the prohibition for large capacity magazines to all firearms, rather than just pistols. Provides an exception to the prohibition for law enforcement agencies and duly authorized officers. Prohibits
certain individuals from owning firearms who: (1) as a minor, were diagnosed with behavioral, emotional, or mental disorders, unless the person has been medically documented to be no longer either adversely affected by the behavioral, emotional, or mental disorder or deemed a danger to themselves or others; or (2) were adjudicated by the family court to have committed a certain number of crimes of violence. Requires records of these diagnoses or adjudications to be made available to law enforcement officials.
HB2736 HD1 Relating to Firearms Ammunition
Requires the licensing of sellers of ammunition, and for the identification and proper permitting of purchasers or possessors of ammunition. Regulates ammunition in the same manner that firearms are regulated.
Family Issues
HB2060 HD1 Relating to Domestic Abuse
Provides that family courts may withhold from public inspection any record of a denied temporary restraining order or denied protective order; provided that these records shall remain accessible to law enforcement without a court order.
HB2425 HD1 Relating to Domestic Abuse
Amends the definition of "domestic abuse" under Hawaiʻi's insurance laws and laws relating to domestic abuse protective orders to include coercive control between family or household members. Defines "coercive control."
HB1701 HD1 Relating to Equal Pay
Conforms statutory prohibitions against wage discrimination with other prohibitions on employment discrimination. Clarifies allowable justifications for compensation differentials and remedies for pay disparity. Requires employers to disclose wage ranges to employees and prospective employees.
Higher Education
HB2250 HD1 Relating to the University of Hawaii Promise Program Plus.
Establishes the University of Hawaii promise program plus to provide scholarships for the unmet direct cost needs of qualified students enrolled in bachelor's degree programs in teaching, health care, social work, or engineering at the University of Hawaii who commit to work for at least three years in Hawaii. Appropriates funds to establish, implement, and manage the program.
Other bills
HB2725 HD1 Relating to Capital Improvement Projects (CIP)
Including all means of financing, CIP projects for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 totaling more than $4.9 billion.
HB2362 HD2 Relating to Public Safety
Appropriates funds to purchase the Honolulu Federal Detention Center.
HB2102 HD1 Relating to Hemp Products.
Requires labels on hemp products. Prohibits unwarranted health-related statements about hemp products. Establishes standards for hemp product manufacturers. Prohibits the manufacture or sale of any food into which a hemp product has been added. Prohibits the sale of hemp products designed to appeal to children. Establishes that a product shall not be considered adulterated or misbranded solely by the inclusion of hemp with certain exceptions. Clarifies that a licensed medical cannabis dispensary is not prohibited from manufacturing, distributing, or selling products that contain hemp, or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from hemp, subject to certain conditions. Prohibits the sale of hemp products to persons under twenty-one years of age. Requires DOH to report to the legislature.
Also approved today were House Resolution 18 and House Concurrent Resolution 34 requesting that the Wall Street Journal include Hawaiian Airlines in the newspaper's future ranking of the best and worst airlines in the United States.
See all 2019 and 2020 House bills that have crossed over to the Senate this session here