Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Members of the House and Senate were to meet today to finalize plans for a joint special session scheduled to begin Monday for 11 days. Special session
Privacy bill causes confusion
to address unequal
Senate terms, medical
privacy billBy Crystal Kua
Star-BulletinLawmakers will try to correct a constitutional flaw that created unequal terms in office between challengers and incumbents seeking state Senate seats in 2002.
The special session will also likely deal with confusion over a medical information privacy bill that is causing concern because of its stiff fines and jail time.
Lawmakers yesterday released a draft of the proposed bill intended to fix the inequity in Senate terms in office.
"The focus is now on the voters and not on the specific senator," Senate Judiciary Co-Chairman Matt Matsunaga said.
Currently, some incumbent senators would have a longer term in office than challengers in the 2002 elections as the result of a constitutional requirement to reapportion legislative districts next year.
To maintain the staggered terms of the 25-member Senate, 14 winning candidates this election will get two-year terms.
The proposed constitutional amendment would mandate the state Reapportionment Commission to decide which Senate seats get two years in office and which Senate seats get four years.
"And that will be done regardless of whether that Senate seat is filled by an incumbent or a challenger," Matsunaga said.
If the majority of voters in the new district were previously in a district represented by a senator who had a four-year term, the winner of the 2002 election would get a two-year term.
If the majority's previous senator had a two-year term, the winner would get a four-year term.
Meanwhile, Matsunaga said House and Senate negotiators are leaning toward postponing penalties for a year in the medical information privacy bill so that lawmakers can take up the matter at next year's regular session.
The Senate will apparently also take up Gov. Ben Cayetano's appointment of Gil Coloma-Agaran as director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Legislature Directory
Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes
eHawaiiGov.com
www.hawaii.gov
