The Hawaii state legislature put forward a bill this session to discourage vaping among youth. Photo by Grav on Unsplash
LEGISLATIVE REPORT
The frenzied action on the bills reported in my last column is beginning to wind down now that we are moving toward final decking — the legislative point-in-time where bills are finalized in the opposite chamber and are returned to the originating one.
Bills that have changed since they crossed over will either be assigned a conference committee to work out any disagreements or passed and sent off to the governor for his signature if the originating chamber agrees to the changes made.
Church-focused?
The hyper-focus on the Roman Catholic Church took an interesting turn when several legislators signed onto a resolution that urged the pope, “and the Bishops of the Catholic Church to explore the widespread adoption of viri probati, or the ordination to the priesthood of certain qualified married men.” The resolution died in committee after several testimonies in opposition; however, the testimonies (other than a few individuals) were used to directly attack the church and question the “problem” of separation of church and state. This argument makes no sense as several of the same testifiers have supported a concurrent Senate Resolution (SCR 8) asking the state attorney general to investigate the Roman Catholic Church. That resolution is still alive pending a hearing by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
The bill to repeal statutory limitations on the time period in which a survivor of childhood sexual abuse may file suit is also still alive pending a hearing by the Senate Ways and Means.
Smoking
The community rose in strong support of a bill (SB 1009 HD1) to ban flavored tobacco products and to strengthen penalties against selling products that encourage vaping among youth. Although the legislature continues to try to find ways to protect Hawaii’s keiki from the harm of these types of products, the Senate is still considering a bill to decriminalize the use of marijuana (HB 1383). The contradictory effort on these issues is not lost on the majority of the community.
Suicide: two views
The support of education on palliative care (SB 804 HD2) and suicide prevention (HB 330 SD1, HB 655 HD1, HB 1416 HD1, SB 383 HD1) continue to move ahead without issue. Although we are pleased to see so much effort in providing education on suicide awareness, we are not blind to the fact that there still seems to be a great emphasis in some circles on helping people access the assisted suicide law.
Abortion
A small victory on the bill that would have expanded the practice of abortion to allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to perform them (SB 510) happened recently. The House Health Committee gutted the bill and replaced it with language to “study” the issue via a task force. When the bill moved to the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, the bill was deferred indefinitely. Although the bill could be resurrected next session, it is dead for this one.
Poverty and housing
In line with our deep belief in the dignity of each human person, our partners at Catholic Charities Hawaii continue their phenomenal work to weed through all the changes that take place on bills relating to poverty, housing and homelessness. Working tirelessly at the capitol, they are continuing to monitor bills that provide necessary funding for so many of the programs that help people put a roof over their head and food on their table.
Minimum wage
Finally, to help people who work to support themselves and their families, advocates continue to work for a minimum wage that adheres to a recent report from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT which states that a single person with no kids, working full-time, needs at least $17 an hour to keep body and soul together.
As Catholics, we understand that we are directed by Gospel values to treat with dignity those who are powerless, voiceless and disregarded by society. As a conference we will continue to stand in the gap for our keiki, our families and our culture regardless of the pushback against people of faith.
Eva Andrade is the director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, the diocesan public policy voice.
