The 26th Session of the Hawaii State Legislature is scheduled to start this coming Wednesday, January 19 starting at 10 a.m. in both the House and Senate Chambers.
The Hawaii State Senate is set to go despite it not having an official session calendar due to the continued organizational delay that has been going on in the House. Despite that the Senate is ready to go, even as it tackles a controversial issue of the opening prayer at the start of the session.
Session will start at 10 am and continue to about 12 noon.
For those who cannot attend, the Senate Opening Day Session will be shown live on Olelo TV Channel 53 starting at 10:00 a.m. The House session will also air live on Olelo TV starting at 10:00 a.m. on Channel 49.
Senate and House offices will be open for meet and greet, light refreshments after sessions conclude on opening day.
By then the first wave of bill introductions will formally begin as the Senate and House Clerk offices are expected to start processing up to 1600 bills (or more) per house from opening day on to the bill introduction deadline, which may occur a week from now.
The Senate Minority of which Senator Slom is the only member, is expected to introduce at least 60 bills this session tackling many issues including first and second amendment rights, tax reduction, term limits, initiative, referendum and recall, capitol punishment, right to life issues, workers comp and unemployment insurance reforms, and more. Senator Slom will introduce about a dozen core bills that will make up the minority package.
The State Legislative session is scheduled to last at least official 60 session days lasting to either the end of April or the first week of May. The 60 day session include a number of non-session recess days, weekends and holidays.