HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	764
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 4, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that, according to a 2018 Civil Beat poll, seventy per cent of likely voters statewide support term limits for state legislators.  While residents have often called for term limits for legislators, this is one reform that has been consistently introduced proposing different variations of term limits but has not been adopted because of the inability for legislators to reach consensus for the best way to craft and apply term limits to state legislators.  Until there is a constitutional directive from voters to enact legislation applying a set number of term limits to legislators, it is unlikely that term limits for state legislators will be enacted.

     The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to article III, section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to limit the terms of members of the legislature, as provided by law, for the terms beginning after the general election of 2028 to enable the state legislature in the 2027 and 2028 legislative sessions to enact a law establishing term limits for legislators.

     SECTION 2.  Article 3, section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"ELECTION OF MEMBERS; TERM

    Section 4.  Each member of the legislature shall be elected at an election.  If more than one candidate has been nominated for election to a seat in the legislature, the member occupying that seat shall be elected at a general election.  If a candidate nominated for a seat at a primary election is unopposed for that seat at the general election, the candidate shall be deemed elected at the primary election.  The term of office of a member of the house of representatives shall be two years and the term of office of a member of the senate shall be four years[.]; provided that for terms beginning after the general election of 2028, members of the house of representatives and the senate shall only be authorized to serve for a set number of terms, as provided by law.  The term of a member of the legislature shall begin on the day of the general election at which elected or if elected at a primary election, on the day of the general election immediately following the primary election at which elected.  For a member of the house of representatives, the term shall end on the day of the general election immediately following the day the member's term commences.  For a member of the senate, the term shall end on the day of the second general election immediately following the day the member's term commences."

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

     "Shall the Hawaii State Constitution be amended to limit members of the Hawaii state legislature to serving a set number of terms, as provided by law, for terms beginning after the general election of 2028?"

     SECTION 4.  Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  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:

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Report Title:

Constitutional Amendment; Legislative Term Limits

 

Description:

Proposes a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members of the Legislature, as provided by law, for terms beginning after the general election of 2028.

 

 

 

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