HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	471
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

proposing an amendment to article III, section 15, of the hawai`i state constitution to enact a supermajority voting requirement for passage of legislation proposing to raise or create taxes or fees.

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

     SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to propose an amendment to Article III, section 15, of the Constitution of the state of Hawai`i to enact a two-thirds supermajority requirement for passage of legislation proposing to raise either taxes or fees.

     SECTION 2.  Article III, section 15, of the Constitution of the State of Hawai`i is amended to read as follows:

     "PASSAGE OF BILLS

Section 15.  No bill shall become law unless it shall pass three readings in each house on separate days.  No bill shall pass third or final reading in either house unless printed copies of the bill in the form to be passed shall have been made available to the members of that house for at least forty-eight hours.

     Every bill when passed by the house in which it originated, or in which amendments thereto shall have originated, shall immediately be certified by the presiding officer and clerk and sent to the other house for consideration.

     Any bill pending at the final adjournment of a regular session in an odd-numbered year shall carry over with the same status to the next regular session.  Before the carried-over bill is enacted, it shall pass at least one reading in the house in which the bill originated.

Passage of legislation proposing to increase the rates for any tax collected by the State or to enact a new tax shall require a two-thirds vote of all members to which each house is entitled.  Passage of legislation proposing to increase fees or to create new fees that are charged by the State or any agency or entity controlled by the State shall require a two-thirds vote of all members to which each house is entitled."

    SECTION 3.  The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

    "Shall the Constitution be amended to include a two-thirds supermajority voting requirement for the legislature to pass laws increasing or creating taxes or fees?" 

     SECTION 4.  New constitutional material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This amendment shall take effect upon compliance with Article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________
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Report Title:

Taxation; constitutional amendment

Description:

Proposes a constitutional amendment to include a two-thirds supermajority voting requirement for the legislature to pass laws that increase or create taxes and fees.

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