On November 19th, Lambda Law Hawaii hosted a Lawmaking 101 series called “Intro to the HI State legislative process.” The webinar was held via zoom and professionals from all over Hawaii tuned in. Our host, Isis “Izzy” Usborne was able to pack in a TON of information in one hour and provided all attendee’s with her presentations slides to reference. There were so many great nugget’s of info, but I’m only going to focus on some of the key points that stuck out to me
Izzy opened her presentation with the questions “What is civic engagement?” My first thought was doing something that contributed to society, like voting. The American Psychology Association defines civic engagement as an individual and collective actions designs to identify and address issues of public concern. Another definition is any activity that contributes to a more effective democracy. Learning and understanding how laws are created is a great place to participate in civic engagement.
“What’s a legislator?“
A legislator is a person who makes laws and policy. In the State of Hawaii we have a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate and the House are filled with politicians representing their respective district and are responsible for creating laws and policy to support their communities and overall the state of Hawaii. The Senate is made up of 25 members with a 4 year term and the House is made up of 51 members with a 2 year term. Do you know who your House Representative and Senator are for your district? Below will have a link you can use to find your legislator’s.
“I can participate in Law making?”
You sure can! Have you ever heard people requesting testimony for a proposed bill? That’s where you come in, civic engager! In order for a law to be made, a bill must be proposed by a lawmaker. The bill then must be assigned to a committee, at this point usually there is a request for testimony to be written or presented to committee. You can submit a written testimony via online or you can attend a live hearing a provide a verbal testimony. Keep an eye out for a later blog, where we will go through the complete process of submitting a testimony online!
The kick off for the 2025 Hawaii state legislative season was on January 15th and set the tone for an interesting and productive legeslative season! Stay tuned for additional blogs on upcoming bills and opportunities to practice Civic Engagement.
Additional links:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/legislators.aspx?chamber=H
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/home.aspx
2025 Legislative schedule
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/docs/sessioncalendar2025.pd
