The Twenty Ninth Hawaii State Legislature is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the State of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, composed of the

Hawaii House of Representatives The Hawaii House of Representatives is the lower house of the Hawaii State Legislature. Pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of Hawaii, amended during the 1978 constitutional convention, the House of Representatives consists ...

and the

Hawaii Senate The Hawaii Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the membe ...

. It met in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

from November 10, 2016, to November 6, 2018, during the final two years of

David Ige David Yutaka Ige (; born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1995 to 2014 and the Hawaii House of Repres ...

's first term as governor. The 2016 elections gave Democrats an even larger majority in both legislative bodies, with the losses of one Republican representative and lone Republican senator

Sam Slom Samuel Morgan Slom (born April 13, 1942) is an American politician and a former member of the Hawaii Senate, where he represented the 9th District (which included Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina, Kahala and Diamond Head on the island of Oahu) from 1996 ...

. On March 22, 2017, former House Minority Leader

Beth Fukumoto Beth Keiko Fukumoto (formerly Fukumoto Chang, born March 30, 1983) is an American politician who served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, representing District 36. Fukumoto was first elected to the state House of Represent ...

announced she would leave the Republican Party and seek membership in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. This lowered Republican membership in the Hawaii House of Representatives to 5 against 45 Democrats.

Major Events

* January 18, 2017: Opening Day of the 2017 Legislative Session * February 2, 2017: House Minority Leader

was ousted over her criticisms of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. She was replaced by Minority Floor Leader

Andria Tupola Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia (southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) a ...

of Nanakuli. * March 22, 2017: Republican Representative and former House Minority Leader Beth Fukumoto announced her resignation from the Republican Party and her intention to seek membership with the Democratic Party. * May 3, 2017: A bill to fund Honolulu's rail transit system failed when the Senate and House of Representatives could not reach an agreement after 11 hours. Governor

announced he would not extend the legislative session unless the two houses came to a consensus despite the requests of all four Hawaii mayors. * May 4, 2017: Senator

Jill Tokuda Jill Naomi Tokuda (born March 3, 1976) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district since 2023. Tokuda represented the 24th district in the Hawaii Senate from 2006 to 20 ...

was removed from the Senate Ways and Means Committee for her role in killing the rail funding bill. House Speaker Joseph M. Souki resigned from his post and was replaced by House Majority Leader

Scott Saiki Scott K. Saiki (born July 17, 1964) is an American attorney and politician. Since 1994, he has served as a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing the state's 26th district. He served as majority leader from 2013 to ...

. This was also the final day of the 2017 Legislative Session.

Major Legislation

Enacted

Proposed

* May 2, 2017: SB562: Requires the Attorney General to defend any civil action against the county based on negligence, wrongful act, or omission of a county lifeguard for services at a designated state beach park. * May 3, 2017: HB100: State Budget for fiscal years 2018-2019 * May 3, 2017: HB115: Requires all counties with populations over 500,000 to take ownership and jurisdiction over all "disputed roads" under certain circumstances * May 3, 2017: HB335:

Office of Hawaiian Affairs The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is a self-governing corporate body of the State of Hawaii created by the 1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention. Background In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy and formed the ...

budget for fiscal years 2018–2019. * May 3, 2017: HB451: Reduces the minimum Hawaiian blood quantum requirement of certain successors to lessees of Hawaiian home lands from one-quarter to one thirty-second. * May 3, 2017: HB1098: Requires emergency shelters to have partitioned space for homeless persons or families.

Vetoed

Party Summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ron Kouchi Ron Kouchi is a Democratic politician and current 14th President of the Hawaiʻi Senate (replacing Donna Mercado Kim who lost her position in an unusual mid-year leadership reorganization). Personal life Ron Kouchi is married to Joy Naomi Tani ...

(D) * Vice President:

Michelle Kidani Michelle N. Kidani (born September 30, 1948, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since January 16, 2013 representing District 18. Kidani served consecutively from 2009 until 2013 in the Dist ...

(D)

Majority (Democratic) Leadership

* Majority Leader: J. Kalani English * Majority Caucus Leader:

Brickwood Galuteria Brickwood M. Galuteria (born 1955), is an American politician, radio host, musician and actor. He was the Hawaii State Senator representing District 12 of Honolulu. He previously served as state chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii (2004� ...

* Majority Floor Leader: Will Espero * Majority Whip:

Donovan Dela Cruz Donovan M. Dela Cruz (born July 6, 1973, in Wahiawa, Hawaii) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since November 2, 2010, representing District 17 since 2022 and previously representing the same area as Distric ...

* Assistant Majority Whip:

Brian Taniguchi Brian T. Taniguchi (born November 7, 1951 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since January 16, 2013 representing District 10. Taniguchi served consecutively from 1995 until 2013 in the Di ...

House of Representatives

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

: Joseph M. Souki (D), until May 4, 2017 **

(D), from May 4, 2017 *Speaker ''Emeritus'':

Calvin Say Calvin K.Y. Say (born February 1, 1952) is an American politician and former Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives. Say currently serves as a member of the Honolulu City Council, representing Honolulu's 5th District. He was sworn in a ...

(D) *Speaker ''Emeritus'': Joseph M. Souki (D), from May 4, 2017 *Vice Speaker: John Mizuno (D)

Majority (Democratic) Leadership

*Majority Leader:

, until May 4, 2017 *Majority Floor Leader: Cindy Evans *Majority Policy Leader:

Marcus Oshiro Marcus R. Oshiro (born April 24, 1959 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 16, 2013 representing District 46. Oshiro consecutively served from January 1995 un ...

*Majority Whip: Kent Ito *Assistant Majority Leaders: Chris Lee,

Dee Morikawa Daynette 'Dee' Morikawa is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 19, 2011 representing District 16. Education Morikawa earned her AS in accounting from Kauai Community College. El ...

, and Roy Takumi

Minority (Republican) Leadership

*Minority Leader:

, until February 2, 2017 **

, from February 2, 2017 *Minority Leader ''Emeritus'': Gene Ward *Assistant Minority Leader:

Bob McDermott Robert Charles McDermott (born August 5, 1963) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since November 6, 2012, representing District 40 (ʻEwa, ʻEwa Beach, ʻEwa Gentry, Iroquois Point). McDerm ...

*Minority Floor Leader:

, until February 2, 2017 ** Gene Ward, from February 2, 2017 *Assistant Minority Floor Leader: Cynthia Thielen *Minority Whip:

Lauren Matsumoto Lauren Kealohilani Cheape Matsumoto (born August 16, 1987) is an American politician and beauty pageant titleholder who has served as a member of the Hawaii State House from Hawaii's 45th District since 2012. Matsumoto represents Schofield, M ...

Members

Senate

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

* Kaiali‘i Kahele (D-1) *

Russell Ruderman Russell E. Ruderman is an American politician and was a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from 2012 to 2020 representing District 2. Education Born to a Jewish family, Ruderman earned his BS in biology from Pennsylvania State University ...

(D-2) * Josh Green (D-3) * Lorraine Inouye (D-4) *

Rosalyn Baker Rosalyn H. Baker (born September 20, 1946) is an American politician. She has been a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate for District 6 since January 16, 2013. Baker served consecutively from 2003 until 2013 in the District 5 seat, and previ ...

(D-6)

Maui, Molokai, and Lanai

Gilbert Keith-Agaran Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Hawaii Senate from the 5th district. Elected in November 2012, he assumed office in 2013. He previously represented the 9th district in the Hawaii House ...

(D-5) * J. Kalani English (D-7)

Kauai and
Niihau Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland ha ...

(D-8)

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

Stanley Chang Stanley Chang (born September 13, 1982) is a Democratic member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing the 9th district. Before entering the legislature, he served as a Honolulu city councilman. He defeated Sam Slom, the last remaining Republi ...

(D-9) * Les Ihara, Jr. (D-10) *

(D-11) *

(D-12) *

Karl Rhoads Karl A. Rhoads (born January 24, 1963) is an American politician, lawyer and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since 2016 representing District 13. Rhoads previously served consecutively from 2013 to 2016 representing District 29 in the ...

(D-13) *

Donna Mercado Kim Donna Mercado Kim is an American Democratic party politician from Hawaii. She is a state senator from Senate District 14 and was President of the Hawaiʻi Senate for almost three years. Education Kim attended, and graduated from Farrington Hig ...

(D-14) *

Glenn Wakai Glenn S. Wakai (born May 14, 1967) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since January 2011 representing District 15. Wakai consecutively served in the Hawaii State Legislature where he served from 2003 until 2 ...

(D-15) * Breene Harimoto (D-16) * Clarence K. Nishihara (D-17) *

(D-18) * Will Espero (D-19) * Mike Gabbard (D-20) *

Maile Shimabukuro Maile S.L. Shimabukuro (born October 1, 1970) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing the state's 21st district since her election in 2011. The district includes Kalaeloa, Hawaii, Kalaeloa, ...

(D-4) *

(D-22) * Gil Riviere (D-23) *

(D-24) * Laura Thielen (D-25)

References

{{Reflist Government of Hawaii

Major Events

Major Legislation

Enacted

Proposed

Vetoed

Party Summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

Majority (Democratic) Leadership

House of Representatives

Majority (Democratic) Leadership

Minority (Republican) Leadership

Members

Senate

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

Maui, Molokai, and Lanai

Kauai and Niihau Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland ha ...

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

References

Kauai and
Niihau Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland ha ...