A threat is looming as the Hawaii Legislature prepares to reconvene in January.
That impending menace can best be described as “the Blob” — an army thousands strong that sucks precious time and attention from our legislators and their staff.
During the 2023-2024 biennium, the Blob comprised a staggering 5,810 bills that were introduced by just 75 lawmakers who have no meaningful limit on how many bills they are allowed to introduce each session.
And from that massive Blob emerged only 536 measures, fewer than 10%, that were approved by both the House and Senate. Even fewer, 516, were signed into law by Gov. Josh Green.
Richard Wiens, an editor at Honolulu Civil Beat, noted in a recent commentary that former House Speaker Scott Saiki attempted to contain the Blob at the onset of the 2023-2024 biennium by limiting representatives to 20 bills each, with a higher limit for committee chairs. But the feeble rule allowed waivers, of which 36 of 51 representatives took advantage.
Hawaii’s small group of 25 senators introduced even more bills during that biennium than their counterparts in the House.
Most of the Blob never even sees the light of day through public hearings, yet it reemerges every year as a monstrous drain on public time and money.
Think of all the legislative staffers tasked with managing the Blob — researching and writing these bills, processing them and referring them to committee, most for no grand purpose but to appease various special interest groups.
Perhaps the worst consequence of allowing the Blob to overtake our Legislature year after year is how little time it leaves to pass meaningful measures at the end of session. In their annual mad dash to outrun the Blob, lawmakers inevitably find themselves rushing to pass a flurry of important bills in the final hours.
The Blob is clearly out of control. So how do we contain it?
Our senators and representatives simply need to observe some good old-fashioned self-control.
They have the power to impose limits on themselves, and they should. At least 24 other state legislatures already do, with some limits as strict as only five or six bills per year.
New House member Kim Coco Iwamoto has suggested a limit of seven bills per representative per session, which I support.
They must at least start somewhere — because battling the Blob every year has become far too unproductive and inefficient.
We don’t have to accept the Blob as a necessary evil. Banishing it will not only bolster transparency but make our legislative process run more smoothly for all.
KELI‘I AKINA is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.
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