Bill Text: HI SB816 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 816 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Constitutional Amendment; Senate Staggering; Senate Terms; Recall (ConAm)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-28 - Referred to JDL. [SB816 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SB816-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	816
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

proposing an amendment to the hawaii state constitution to amend senate terms.

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

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to propose amendments to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii to modify the staggering of senate terms and, as of 2030, repeal the requirement that all senators be up for election in the general election at which an apportionment plan becomes effective but provide electors the option to recall senators who continue representing the newly drawn districts.

SECTION 2. Article III, section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS

Section 6. No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the senate unless the person has been a resident of the State for not less than three years, has attained the age of majority and is, prior to filing nomination papers and thereafter continues to be, a qualified voter of the senatorial district from which the person seeks to be elected; except that in the year of the first general election following reapportionment[,] in which the incumbent senator's term expires, but prior to the primary election, an incumbent senator may move to a new district without being disqualified from completing the remainder of the incumbent senator's term. No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the house of representatives unless the person has been a resident of the State for not less than three years, has attained the age of majority and is, prior to filing nomination papers and thereafter continues to be, a qualified voter of the representative district from which the person seeks to be elected; except that in the year of the first general election following reapportionment, but prior to the primary election, an incumbent representative may move to a new district without being disqualified from completing the remainder of the incumbent representative's term."

SECTION 3. Article IV, section 8, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"STAGGERED TERMS FOR THE SENATE

Section 8. [The reapportionment commission shall, as part of the reapportionment plan, assign two-year terms for twelve senate seats for the election immediately following the adoption of the reapportionment plan. The remaining seats shall be assigned four-year terms. Insofar as practicable, the commission shall assign the two-year terms to senate seats so that the resident population of each senate district shall have no more than two regular senate elections for a particular senate seat within the six-year period beginning in the even-numbered year prior to the reapportionment year; provided that in the event of a multi-member senate district, the senators elected with the highest number of votes in that district in the election immediately following the adoption of the reapportionment plan shall fill the senate seats in that district which were assigned the four-year terms by the commission.] In the year 2022, if the total number of votes counted in the general election is an odd number, senators shall be elected to represent districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25 for a four-year term, and senators for all other districts shall be elected to a two-year term. In the year 2022, if the total number of votes counted in the general election is an even number, senators shall be elected to represent districts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 for a four-year term, and senators for all other districts shall be elected to a two-year term. In the year 2024, and every four years thereafter, senators shall be elected to represent those districts up for election for a four-year term. In the year 2026 and every four years thereafter, senators shall be elected to represent those districts up for election for a four-year term. Beginning in 2030, a senator whose term continues beyond the legislative regular session following reapportionment shall continue representing the assigned district but shall be subject to recall, as provided by law, by the electors of the district as drawn in the latest reapportionment."

SECTION 4. Article IV, section 7, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"ELECTION OF SENATORS AFTER REAPPORTIONMENT

Section 7. [~~Regardless~~] As to the 2022 general election, regardless of whether or not a senator is serving a term that would have extended past the general election at which an apportionment plan becomes effective, the term of office of all senators shall end at that general election. The staggered terms of senators in each district shall be recomputed as established by the next section in this article, and the number of senators in a senatorial district under the reapportionment plan of the commission. This section shall not apply to the election of senators after the 2030 reapportionment or any reapportionment thereafter."

SECTION 5. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall the state constitution be amended to: modify the procedure for determining which senators will serve two-year terms following the 2020 reapportionment; repeal, beginning in 2030, the requirement that the terms of office of all senators end at the general election at which an apportionment plan becomes effective; repeal, beginning in 2030, the establishment of two-year terms for certain senators following reapportionment; and allow senators to complete terms that continue beyond the legislative regular session following reapportionment provided that such senators be subject to recall by electors of their newly drawn district?"

SECTION 6. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 7. 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; Senate Staggering; Senate Terms; Recall

Description:

Proposes an amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution to change the way senate terms are staggered, eliminate the requirement that all senate seats be up for election following reapportionment, and provide electors in a newly drawn district the option to recall a senator who continues representing the district after reapportionment.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.