Bill Text: HI HB2575 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Elections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-04 - The committee(s) on JUD recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HB2575 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HB2575-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2575 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO ELECTIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that an understanding of the nature of citizenship is crucial to the State's ongoing democracy. Citizenship defines the boundaries of who participates in the State's democracy and on what terms.
The legislature further finds that two-thirds of Americans know at least one of the judges on the television show "American Idol", but less than one in ten Americans can name the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Additionally, nearly three‑quarters of Americans can name the "Three Stooges", but less than half can name the three branches of government.
The legislature also finds that over a million immigrants pass the civics portion of the Naturalization Test that is administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services each year. The civics test is divided into three topics with various subtopics: American government (the principles of American democracy, the system of government, and rights and responsibilities); American history (the Colonial period and independence, the 1800s, recent American history, and other important historical information); and integrated civics (geography, symbols, and holidays).
The legislature further finds that the county government is essential to the State's democratic self-governance. As noted by Alexis de Tocqueville, "local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. . . . A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty".
The legislature also finds that local governments are often the source of innovative reform on wide-ranging policy matters that are important to their constituents, which the legislature may later adopt for the broader good of the State. To paraphrase U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, a single courageous local government may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the State. Municipalities have enacted policy reforms on wide‑ranging policy objectives, including living wage laws, workers' rights, global warming reduction, public financing of campaigns, trans fat regulations, affordable housing, universal healthcare, environmental protection, gay rights, and second-hand smoking.
The legislature additionally finds that county elections are often an entry point into a career of public service. Therefore, it is particularly important that candidates for county office have an appropriate appreciation and understanding of citizenship. The purpose of this Act is to require the office of elections to establish a pilot program that requires candidates for county office to take the civics practice test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
This Act does not require those candidates to pass the practice test, but it does require the office of elections to publish whether each candidate passes or fails the practice test.
SECTION 2. (a) Beginning on January 1, 2021, the office of elections shall establish a pilot program requiring candidates for county election to take the civics practice test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(b) The office of elections shall administer the civics practice test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to all candidates for county office.
(c) A candidate for any county office shall not have their name printed upon any official ballot, in any county election, unless the candidate completed the civics practice test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(d) The office of elections shall publish on its website which candidates passed, and which candidates failed, the practice test administered under subsection (b). A candidate that correctly responds to sixty per cent or more of the questions on the practice test administered under subsection (b) shall be deemed to have passed the practice test. A candidate that correctly responds to less than sixty per cent of the questions on the practice test administered under subsection (b) or a candidate that does not complete the practice test shall be deemed to have failed the practice test.
(e) The office of elections shall submit a report
of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the
legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular
session of 2025.
(f)
The pilot program shall cease to exist on June 30, 2025.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval and shall be repealed on June 30, 2025.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
County Elections; Civics Practice Test; Pilot Program
Description:
Requires the office of elections to establish a pilot program requiring candidates for county election to take the civics practice test published by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Requires the office of elections to publish whether each candidate passes or fails the practice test.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
