Bill Text: HI HB1731 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Bill 1731 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Proposing An Amendment To Article Iii, Section 15, Of The Hawaii State Constitution To Enact A Supermajority Voting Requirement For Passage Of Legislation Proposing To Raise Or Create Taxes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-17 - Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 3 [HB1731 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-HB1731-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1731
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

proposing an amendment to article III, section 15, of the hawaii state constitution to enact a supermajority voting requirement for passage of legislation proposing to raise or create taxes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that proposed legislation that would create new taxes or raise existing taxes should be considered and enacted in a different manner than other legislation. The power of the State to tax its citizens has a huge impact on the cost of living in Hawaii. The more the State takes in taxes, the less local families have to spend on their own priorities. Therefore, the legislative power to create or raise taxes should only be exercised after the greatest care and deliberation.

The legislature further finds that requiring a supermajority to create or raise taxes would do two important things for the State of Hawaii. First, it would require consensus on new or additional taxes. Second, a supermajority requirement would encourage lawmakers to work within existing revenue streams rather than seek new ones.

The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to Article III, section 15, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, to require a two-thirds supermajority for passage of legislation proposing to raise taxes or create new taxes.

SECTION 2. Article III, section 15, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"PASSAGE OF BILLS

Section 15. No bill shall become law unless it shall pass three readings in each house on separate days. No bill shall pass third or final reading in either house unless printed copies of the bill in the form to be passed shall have been made available to the members of that house for at least forty-eight hours.

Every bill when passed by the house in which it originated, or in which amendments thereto shall have originated, shall immediately be certified by the presiding officer and clerk and sent to the other house for consideration.

Any bill pending at the final adjournment of a regular session in an odd-numbered year shall carry over with the same status to the next regular session. Before the carried-over bill is enacted, it shall pass at least one reading in the house in which the bill originated.

Passage of legislation proposing to increase the rates for any tax collected by the State or to enact a new tax to be collected by the State shall require a two-thirds vote of all members to which each house is entitled."

SECTION 3. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall the Constitution be amended to include a two-thirds supermajority voting requirement for the legislature to pass laws that would raise taxes or create new taxes?"

SECTION 4. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with Article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Constitutional Amendment; Bill Passage; Taxation; Supermajority

Description:

Proposes a constitutional amendment to include a two-thirds supermajority voting requirement for the legislature to pass laws that raise taxes or create new taxes.

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