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                                                        1636
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 10, OF THE HAWAII
   CONSTITUTION, TO REQUIRE THE LEGISLATURE TO CONVENE ON AN
   BIENNIAL INSTEAD OF AN ANNUAL BASIS



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Findings and purpose.  The purpose of this Act
 
 2 is to propose an amendment to article III, section 10. of the
 
 3 Constitution of the State of Hawaii to reduce the number of
 
 4 session the legislature is required to convent from an annual to
 
 5 a biennial basis.  This measure will encourage government
 
 6 efficiency and is cost-effective.
 
 7      SECTION 2.  Article III, section 10, of the Constitution of
 
 8 the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
 
 9                             "SESSIONS
 
10      Section 10.  The legislature shall convene [annually]
 
11 biennially in regular session at 10:00 o'clock a.m. on the third
 
12 Wednesday in January.
 
13      At the written request of two-thirds of the members to which
 
14 each house is entitled, the presiding officers of both houses
 
15 shall convene the legislature in special session.  At the written
 
16 request of two-thirds of the members of the senate, the president
 
17 of the senate shall convene the senate in special session for the
 
18 purpose of carrying out its responsibility established by Section
 

 
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 1 3 of Article VI.  The governor may convene both houses or the
 
 2 senate alone in special session.
 
 3      Regular sessions shall be limited to a period of sixty days,
 
 4 and special sessions shall be limited to a period of thirty days.
 
 5 Any session may be extended a total of not more than fifteen
 
 6 days.  Such extension shall be granted by the presiding officers
 
 7 of both houses at the written request of two-thirds of the
 
 8 members to which each house is entitled or may be granted by the
 
 9 governor.
 
10      Each regular session shall be recessed for not less than
 
11 five days at some period between the twentieth and fortieth days
 
12 of the regular session.  The legislature shall determine the
 
13 dates of the mandatory recess by concurrent resolution.  Any
 
14 session may be recessed by concurrent resolution adopted by a
 
15 majority of the members to which each house is entitled.
 
16 Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, the days in mandatory recess and
 
17 any days in recess pursuant to a concurrent resolution shall be
 
18 excluded in computing the number of days of any session.
 
19      All session shall be held in the capital of the State.  In
 
20 case the capital shall be unsafe, the governor may direct that
 
21 any session be held at some other place."
 
22      Section 3.  The question to be printed on the ballot shall
 

 
 
 
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 1 be as follows:
 
 2      "Shall the number of regular sessions that the legislature
 
 3 is required to convene be reduced from once every year to once
 
 4 every two years?"
 
 5      SECTION 4.  Constitutional material to be repealed is
 
 6 bracketed.  New constitutional material is underscored.
 
 7      SECTION 5.  This amendment shall take effect upon compliance
 
 8 with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of
 
 9 Hawaii.
 
10 
 
11                           INTRODUCED BY: ________________________