The House and Senate leadership announced on March 16 that the 60-day legislative session is going into an immediate recess expected to last eight weeks.

Legislators are following the recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines urge the public to refrain from gathering in groups of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

The session will resume where it left off subject to the call of Senate President Ron Kouchi and House Speaker Scott Saiki.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission will hold a public hearing on its proposed administrative rules on March 19.

These proposals will include amendments to the state lobbying and gift laws.

The committee will also review changes to Title 21, addressing procedures such as issuing advisory opinions.

Decisions on the proposed rules will either take place at the conclusion of the public hearing or at a properly noticed meeting of the ethics commission.

The Campaign Spending Commission released a statement indicating that the State Office Tower will have a security guard stationed in the lobby.

This will begin March 2 due to heightened security measures.

All visitors to the building must sign in and out with the security guard and will be asked to provide a photo ID.

Additionally, all visitors will be issued a visitor pass at check-in, which must be returned to the security guard at check-out.

Voters in the November 3 election will decide whether the Honolulu prosecuting attorney should be limited to two consecutive four-year terms.

Honolulu City Council members voted unanimously on January 29 to add the measure to the 2020 election ballot.

Voters last addressed a potential term limit on the prosecutor in 2016.

That year, citizens voted down a measure that would have established a three-year term limit for the prosecuting attorney, the mayor and council members.

After nearly 10 years in the state House, Rep. Chris Lee will not run for re-election for his House District 51 seat.

Lee’s focus is now on the state Senate seat representing District 25.

The Senate District 25 seat is open because incumbent Laura Thielen is not seeking another term.

Ahead of the 2020 legislative session, the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission has submitted six measures to the Senate President and the House Speaker for introduction.

The proposed measure relating to campaign finance reports clarifies that the increased fine for the late-filing of preliminary reports only applies to the reports due 10 days before a primary, general, or special election.

This proposed change is due to the additional preliminary reports mandated by the Legislature last session.

Other proposals include legislation introduced but not passed last session, such as House Bill 164 relating to electioneering communications.

The measure includes:

• Changing the disclosure date of electioneering communication
• Adding advertisements sent by mail to the definition of electioneering communication
• Rewording an exception to that definition to make it clear that candidate committees rather than noncandidate committees are required to file statements of information

The 2020 Legislative session is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, January 15.

The Hawaii Senate will convene in special session on September 16 to review gubernatorial nominees to the state courts.

The gubernatorial nominees up for consideration by the Senate are:

• • • Clyde J. Wadsworth to the Intermediate Court of Appeals as associate judge for a term of 10 years
    • Kevin A.K. Souza to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Lisa W. Cataldo to the First Circuit Court for a term to expire in 10 years
    • Ronald G. Johnson to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Trish K. Morikawa to the First Circuit Court for a term to expire in 10 years
    • John M. Tonaki to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Jeffrey A. Hawk to the Third District Court for a six-year term

Hearings on the appointees before the Senate Committee on Judiciary are scheduled to begin on September 10.

Leaders in the state Senate and House of Representatives announced on July 5 that lawmakers will not attempt to override any vetoes issued by Gov. David Ige.

House Speaker Scott Sakiki said the Legislature would not convene an override session due to a lack of consensus between the Senate and the House.

Gov. Ige has identified 20 bills that he intends to veto of the 303 passed by lawmakers this year.

Ige has until Tuesday, July 9 to make his final decision on issuing vetoes.

Gov. David Ige signed a lobbying bill into law on June 25.

The bill removes statutory remnants from when lobbying violations resulted in criminal penalties.

Senate Bill 144 replaces “willfully” with “negligently” in the requirements of proof that a violation of the lobbyist law was committed for failure to file a statement or report.

Proceedings that were begun prior to the signing of the bill are not affected.

Additionally, rights and duties that matured and penalties that were incurred prior to the bill are not affected.

The bill became effective when signed.

The 30th Hawaii Legislature adjourned sine die on May 2 after 60 legislative days in session.

During the session, House Bill 165 passed adding a new registration and reporting requirement for noncandidate committees.

Committees that do not intend to receive contributions or make expenditures of more than $1,000 in an election period must notify the commission of its intent in the committee’s organizational report by the fifth calendar day, before the due date of the preliminary primary report.

The 31st Legislature is scheduled to convene on January 15, 2020.

Gov. David Ige signed House Bill 165 on April 16, adding a new registration and reporting requirement for noncandidate committees in an election period.

Under the bill, a noncandidate committee that does not intend to receive contributions or make expenditures in aggregate of more than $1,000 in an election period must notify the commission of its intent in the committee’s organizational report.

Notification must be made by the fifth calendar day before the due date of the preliminary primary report.

The bill became effective April 16 upon approval by the governor.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission’s electronic filing system for lobbying disclosures is now available.

The E-Filing System allows for filing of lobbyist registrations and expenditures reports.

The E-Filing system is available at: https://hawaiiethics.force.com/lobbying/s/

A proposed House bill relating to campaign reports is progressing through the Legislature, passing its third reading and arriving in the Senate.

House Bill 165 would require candidates who do not intend to receive or spend more than $1,000 in an election period to notify the Campaign Spending Commission of this intention by June 30 of an election year.

The bill further provides that noncandidate committees that do not receive or spend more than $1,000 in an election period must notify the commission of this intention by the fifth day before the due date of the preliminary report.

The proposed bill would take effect upon its approval.

A special election will take place on Saturday, April 13, to fill a vacancy in Honolulu City Council District 4.

The Hawaii Supreme Court invalidated the results of the November special election that showed incumbent Trevor Ozawa beating challenger Tommy Waters by 22 votes.

The invalidation triggered a mail-in special election for the candidates.

There will be a voter registration deadline of March 14. Early walk-in voting will take place at Honolulu Hale between April 1 and April 13, excluding Sunday.

City Council District 4 runs from Hawai’i Kai to Waikiki.