Comments on HB 59 proposing an amendment to the Hawaii Constitution related to residence requirements for members of the Legislature

House Committee on Legislative Management (LMG) - chair: Tokioka, vice chair: Oshiro

Friday, February 6, 2009, 2:00 P.M. Conference Room 423

Testifier: Jean Aoki, LWV of Hawaii Legislative Liaison

Click here to view HB59

Chair Tokioka, Vice Chair Oshiro, members of the Committee on Legislative Management, The League of Women Voters have no reservations about requiring a candidate to have resided in the district he/she hopes to represent for at least a year. We do wonder about the change in the state residency requirement. We feel that the present three years is sufficient time for anyone to learn about the state, its policies, its shortcomings, its strengths, etc. We believe it would be very helpful if for all proposed constitutional amendments, the reasons for the amendments were clearly stated in the introduction. In fact, that should be a requirement. Thank you for this opportunity to comment on HB 59.