Serious question: Is there a single member of the State House of Representatives who would say under oath, that every House Committee meeting held for the purpose of making a decision is open to the public?
Anyone who’s served or worked at the Legislature knows committee decisions are made PRIOR to the actual public committee meeting, where the decision is “announced.”
Legislators don’t even try very hard to hide this. After public testimony, the Chair often adjourns the regular committee meeting, turns off the microphone and cameras, huddles with staff and maybe a committee member or two. A few minutes later, they turn the cameras back on, reconvene the meeting, and announce the decision they just made in private.
At a recent session of the Joint House/Senate Budget Conference Committee, this was totally obvious. The entire public meeting consisted of the two Chairs simply announcing “line items” they had previously agreed to in private. At the meeting’s conclusion, one Chair announced, “We will convene later today to see what we can agree upon, and reconvene (the public meeting) Thursday at 5 p.m.”
So, it’s pretty darn clear — as in 100 percent certain, and absolutely a fact — that committee decisions are regularly and routinely (as in all the time) made in private, and merely announced in public.
Article 3 Section 12, paragraph 3 of the State Constitution says, “Every meeting of a committee in either house or of a committee comprised of a member or members from both houses held for the purpose of making decision on matters referred to the committee shall be open to the public.”
Is Hawaii’s House of Representatives violating Hawaii’s Constitution?
First Circuit Court Judge Kawamura will address this question on May 1 at 10:30 a.m. at Kaahumanu Hale on Punchbowl Street in Honolulu.
I encourage all who are able, to attend and support in spirit the eight private citizen plaintiffs who’ve brought the suit forward.
My formal law school training is limited, but I did spend 16 years serving in the State Senate and on the Kauai County Council.
It’s incredulous to think the State House of Representatives would deny that House Committees make decisions in private. This fact seems incontrovertible.
Other than denial, their only defense is to argue “what the Constitution says in plain language is not really what it means.” The assertion will be that the drafters of the Constitution, and the voters who approved it, didn’t really intend to require committees to make decisions in public.
Let’s try to think this through. Hang in there, please.
Apparently, in the collective mind of the House, the drafters and voters who ratified the Constitution must have meant it to say that only the “announcement” of the decision — not the actual “decision-making” itself — must be conducted in public.
The House attorneys will no doubt say, “It’s impossible for the business of the House to be conducted any other way. There’s not enough time. This is the way we’ve always done it!”
Of course, they’d ignore the fact that every County Council, operating under the Sunshine Law, conducts all its deliberating and decision-making at public meetings.
Yes, complying with the Constitution will require some adjustments, but it’s by no means an unresolvable impediment to the lawmaking process.
If needed, committees could work year-round, without amending the State Constitution — conducting final committee hearings and votes at the start of the actual 60-day legislative session.
Bottom line is the House will essentially say (using far more words than I have here), they don’t care what the Constitution says, it must be wrong, and therefore they shouldn’t have to follow it.
Sounds familiar, yes?
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Gary Hooser served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kauai County Council. He presently writes on Hawaii Policy and Politics at www.garyhooser.blog.
But Gary, these are your Democrat pals and cohorts that can do no wrong!