Legislative Insights
Legislative Session Review: Ohio
January 11, 2019 | Nathan Devers
Hawaii adjourned its 2018 legislative session sine die on May 3. The legislature passed a $14 billion budget that included increased spending on programs to serve the homeless and improve medical care. It also passed a number of progressive measures, ranging from banning
Legislative Highlights
- In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, Hawaiian lawmakers enacted a measure banning bump stocks in the state. It prohibits owning bump stocks, multi-burst trigger activators, and trigger cranks, and prohibits the manufacture, import, sale, and transfer of the devices.
- Lawmakers placed a measure on the November ballot that asks voters to approve a constitutional amendment imposing a tax on investment real estate. The revenue generated would go to increasing teacher pay and other efforts to relieve the state’s teacher shortage.
- Hawaii became the seventh state to approve a form of physician-assisted suicide. The measure takes
effect January 1, 2019.
- Hawaii became the first state in the nation to ban sunscreen lotions that contain oxybenzone or
octinoxate , chemicals believed to be harmful to coral reefs. The ban takes effect in 2021.
Election Preview
Governor David Ige (D) faces a primary on August 11 against Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa. Hanabusa had consistently led in polls, but the governor has closed the gap, with recent polls showing Ige with a slight lead. The winner of the primary will be the overwhelming favorite to win the general election on November
