Proposing an amendment to Article III, Section 6, of the Hawaii State Constitution

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 HB495

Representative James Kunane Tokioka, Chair, Vice Chair Blake K. Oshiro, members of the Committee on Legislative Management, The League of Women Voters of Hawaii supports HB 495 which proposes a constitutional amendment that would require candidates to either house of the Legislature to have lived in the district the candidate wishes to represent for at least one year prior to the deadline for filing nomination papers. It took several years for the Legislature to approve the constitutional amendment which presently requires a candidate to have lived in the district the candidate wishes to represent, prior to filing nomination papers for the seat. The requirement of a year's residency in the district, as this bill provides, would even be better, we believe. Having said this, we feel that all bills proposing constitutional amendments should present reasons for the proposed amendments. As we all know, all provisions in the constitution have been at one time or another, ratified by the voters of Hawaii. Changes should not be proposed without good reason, and the public should know the reasons for the changes before supporting or opposing the amendments. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on HB 495.