Hawaii Supreme Court say no to lawmakers cater to special interests fooling voters / Hawaii Lawmakers Grapple With Ruling That Bars Last-Minute Bill Changes By Kevin Dayton
A state Supreme Court ruling last month has upended a longtime legislative tactic known as “gut-and-replace.”
For decades, the Legislature has swapped out the entire contents of bills almost at the last minute.
But that’s now prohibited after the state Supreme Court’s rejection.
Ahead of the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers are trying to determine what changes they must make in the flow of legislation to comply with the court decision.
The court ruling apparently reaches beyond that narrow gut-and-replace tactic and potentially affects any bill that lawmakers amend late in the session to include material that is “non-germane” to the content of the earlier drafts of the bill.
Find out more about the implications of the ruling in this story by reporter Kevin Dayton.
Johnson Choi Biz 