56
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  CALLING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT INTERIM COMMITTEE TO
    DEVELOP A POLICY ON LEGISLATIVE BILL LIMITS.  


 1        WHEREAS, the Legislature has no uniform policy regarding
 2   legislative bill limits; and 
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, the Senate has no policy limiting the number of
 5   bills that may be introduced each legislative session; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, the Speaker of the House of Representatives
 8   issued a memorandum urging House members to abide by a limit of
 9   ten bills per session, subject to exceptions for the Speaker,
10   minority chair, and committee chairs; and 
11   
12        WHEREAS, during the 1997 legislative session, a total of
13   4,287 bills (1,958 Senate bills and 2,329 House bills) were
14   introduced, of which 385 passed; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, during the 1998 legislative session, in addition
17   to the bills that carried over from the 1997 legislative
18   session, a total of 2,553 bills (1,258 Senate bills and 1,295
19   House bills) were introduced, of which 311 were passed; and 
20   
21        WHEREAS, during the 1999 legislative session, a total of
22   3,397 bills (1,642 Senate bills and 1,755 House bills) were
23   introduced, of which 349 were passed; 
24   
25        WHEREAS, of the 3,397 1999 bills, 340 Senate bills were
26   state and county package bills, 270 were House state and county
27   package bills, 176 were Senate short form bills and 101 were
28   House short form bills; and 
29   
30        WHEREAS, every session, duplicate bills are introduced
31   because special interest groups or individuals have the same
32   bill introduced by several legislators; and
33   
34        WHEREAS, bill limits have been established by chamber
35   rules in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana,
36   Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1   Wyoming, and by constitutional amendment in Louisiana; and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, a comparison of Hawaii to other states indicates
 4   that the number of bills introduced in Hawaii is high; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, proponents of bill limits argue that bill limits:
 7    
 8        (1)  Reduce the number of duplicative and superfluous
 9             legislative proposals;
10   
11        (2)  Allow legislators more time to read and understand
12             bills; 
13   
14        (3)  Reduce printing, paper, and distribution costs; and
15   
16        (4)  Allow committees to manage their workload more
17             effectively; 
18   
19   and
20   
21        WHEREAS, establishing a uniform policy on bill limits for
22   the Senate and the House of Representatives would promote
23   greater efficiency, economy, and productivity in the processing
24   and passage of bills; now, therefore,
25   
26        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
27   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
28   Representatives concurring, that the presiding officers of the
29   Senate and House of Representatives are urged to convene a
30   joint interim committee to develop a uniform policy on bill
31   limits to be adopted by rule in each chamber; and
32   
33        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
34   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the
35   Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
36 
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39                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________