From LWV Hawaii President, Donna Oba:

Aloha Members of League in Hawaii,

Today saw another great success for the League of Women Voters. You saw the headlines in the online and print papers. The Hawai`i Supreme Court ruled, in favor of the League of Women Voters of Honolulu and Common Cause Hawaii, that the Legislature should not be allowed to gut the contents of a bill and replace it with new content, sometimes unrelated to the original bill and often near the end of a session[1].

Why does it matter? Good government is accountable, representative, responsive and open. The Hawai`i Constitution recognizes the need for transparency and informed public by requiring three readings of a bill in each house (Section 15). When members of the legislature make last minute changes to a bill without the requisite readings, neither the legislators nor the public have time to consider or comment on the bill.

Petition to the State Senate and State House of Representatives. The League has long been aware of the Legislature’s practice of gut-and-replace. During the 2013 legislative session LWV Hawaii and Common Cause Hawaii presented a formal petition to each house to enforce internal rules prohibiting these tactics. This proved insufficient to deter use of “gut and replace.”

Rusty Scalpel. In 2014, LWV Hawaii and Common Cause Hawaii began awarding a “Rusty Scalpel” annually for the most altered bill due to gut and replace. Unfortunately, public shame in winning the award did not deter the practice.

The Lawsuit. Despite the Rusty Scalpel awards, use of gut and replace remained common among legislators. . One example was SB 2848 which began as a bill requiring annual reports on recidivism among prison inmates, but in its final version, the measure introduced a new subject (mandates for hurricane shelters in new public buildings). SB 2858 did not have three separate readings in both the House and Senate but passed out of the legislature and when signed by  Governor Ige in July 2018 became law. In 2018, the Honolulu League and Common Cause Hawaii (Plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court seeking to void Act 84 (Senate Bill 2858).

The Appeal Leading to the Supreme Court. After the Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of the State (Defendants, the Honolulu League and Common Cause appealed, and the State Supreme Court agreed to hear the lawsuit. In a 3-2 decision on November 4, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that SB 2858 violated the requirement of three readings, thus ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

What Next? I expect the Supreme Court decision to curtail gut and replace, but if it does not eliminate it, I am confident League members will be ready to respond.

With thanks. LWV Honolulu members Janet Mason and Douglas Meller and Common Cause Hawaii’s Niki Love Kingman, Carmille Lim and Corie Tanida, and Sandy Ma have been the leaders for the research and work behind these efforts. Barbara Polk of Americans for Democratic Action testified early and often. LWV Honolulu members Nancy Davlantes and Christopher Edwards initiated the lawsuit. R. Brian Black, President and Executive Director of the Civil Beat Law Center, represented the plaintiffs on a pro bono basis. Many other League members provided individual testimony and public comments.

Mahalo nui to our members. With your support, LWV Hawaii will continue “Making Democracy Work.”

Donna Oba, President
League of Women Voters of Hawaii
P.O. Box 235026
Honolulu, HI 96823
Voicemail (808) 377-6727
voters [at] lwvhi.org (
)my.lwv.org/hawaii