SB 124 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE IV, SECTIONS 4 AND 6, OF THE HAWAII STATE CONSTITUTION REGARDING REAPPORTIONMENT.

Summary

Proposes a constitutional amendment to specify that reapportionment shall be based on the resident population, as counted in the decennial United States census for the respective reapportionment year, rather than the permanent resident population. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 10, 2025 Last action Mar 10, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB124 → SB124_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends the Hawaii State Constitution to change how reapportionment (redistricting) is calculated, shifting from counting only 'permanent residents' to counting all 'residents' as defined by the U.S. Census. The change aims to include military personnel, their dependents, and college students who live in Hawaii but are not permanent residents, ensuring they are represented in state legislative districts. This aligns Hawaii with the majority of other states that use census data for representation purposes.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of reapportionment to include all residents rather than excluding non-permanent residents, affecting how legislative districts are drawn and who is represented in the state legislature.

DEFINITION

Changed the definition of population used for reapportionment from 'permanent residents' to all 'residents' as counted in the U.S. decennial census.

REQUIREMENT

Added new redistricting criteria including that districts must not favor specific persons or political factions, must be contiguous (except for multi-island districts), must be compact, and must follow permanent geographical features.

Added a new requirement that submergence of areas with substantially different socio-economic interests in larger districts should be avoided.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a ballot question for voters to approve the constitutional amendment regarding reapportionment methodology.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2025

How they voted

13–0

Passed

Total votes 13

Feb 26, 2025

D Democratic12

12 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican1

1 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 10, 2025

Introduced

Notice of bill proposing constitutional amendment transmitted to Governor pursuant to Article XVII, Section 3 (Sen. Com. No. 1).

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 92) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 21; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Fevella. Noes, 4 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte, McKelvey, San Buenaventura). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Fevella ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (13-0)

senate

Feb 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-26-25 10:03AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 6, 2025

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 73) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Jan 28, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 2 No(es): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Awa; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 01-28-25 9:15AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 10, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors