This Week in Hawai'i
from Hawai'i Family Forum, January 31, 2025
HB731 Relating to Minors. We are tracking this bill to ensure that parental rights are not eroded. The bill was heard on Tuesday, January 28th in the House Human Services and Homelessness Committee. The bill passed with amendments. At this point, we are only tracking this bill but remain concerned about parental consent. The vote in the HSH committee was as follows:
7 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Chun, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi; Ayes with reservations: none;
1 Noes: Representative(s) Garcia; and
1 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos.
Status: The bill will now move to the House Committee on Commerce & Consumer Protection.
SB1246 Relating to Health. We are aware of this bill and are monitoring it. The bill will direct the Department of Health to purchase $75,000 worth of Mifepristone to stockpile it in case of access issues. This is not the first time they have done this, as doses were stockpiled in 2023. We, the taxpayers, will end up funding this request. The bill was heard on Friday, January 31st, by the Senate Health Committee and passed with amendments. The vote in the HHS Committee was as follows:
4 Ayes: Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Aquino, Hashimoto & Keohokalole
None
1 Excused: Senator Fevella
Status: The bill will now move to the Senate Committee on Ways & Means.
To see a working list of the bills we are tracking, click here. This is a working list and will change as the session progresses.
Upcoming Legislative Deadlines
FEB 5 (HOUSE) & 6 (SENATE) FIRST TRIPLE REFERRAL FILING – All bills 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.) This deadline allows ample time for successful bills to make their way to the last committee in their originating chamber by the First Lateral deadline.
FEB 13 FIRST LATERAL FILING (BILLS) – Filing Deadline for First Lateral Bills.
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, however.
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 being asked to vote on the third reading. Note: A bill must pass three readings (votes) in each chamber before being enrolled to the governor.
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Faith, Freedom, & Public Schools
Please join us for a special ZOOM CALL as an introduction to the LIVE
FAITH, FREEDOM & PUBLIC SCHOOLS EVENT we are hosting in August.
During this ZOOM CALL you’ll learn:
Students/Teachers religious liberties at school (there are many!).
Courts support teaching students about the Bible and Christianity – including religious aspects of the holidays.
How to share a concern with a teacher and teach your children discernment about what they are learning.
What the USDOE says about religion at school and how to apply it to your classroom.
ACROSS THE NATION
President Trump Ends “Radical Indoctrination” in K-12 Schools
[From Liberty Counsel] WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump signed two executive orders this week directing federal agencies to end “radical, anti-American” ideologies in schools that receive federal funding and also ordered them to expand school choice freedom for parents.
President Trump’s executive order for “Ending Radical Indoctrination In K-12 Schooling” is a sweeping move to help fulfill his campaign promise to “save American education.” The order bars federal funding for public schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology,” which the administration defines as “an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations.”
The order reads, “In recent years … parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination.”
[Read full article here.]
Ninth Circuit Temporarily Blocks California Social Media Law Aimed At Protecting Minors
[From the Sacramento Bee] The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a temporary injunction against a California law requiring social media platforms to provide minor users with a chronological feed and limiting notifications to minors during school hours and overnight. Industry groups have argued the law violates free speech rights.
[Read full article here.]
Presidential Action for the Week
This is not an exhaustive list, but it contains issues we are tracking here at Hawaii Family Forum. If you want to stay abreast of all the presidential actions to date, you can visit this link.
Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families (Signed January 29, 2025)
Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation (Signed January 28, 2025)
National Day of Remembrance of the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, 2025 (Signed January 27, 2025)