What is the House Democratic Caucus?

The House Democratic Caucus, also known as the House Majority Caucus, is composed of the Democratic Party members who have been elected to serve in the Hawaii State House of Representatives. There are currently 41 House Democratic Caucus members. The Caucus provides a forum where members may exchange ideas and discuss public policy issues.

OK, lets backtrack a bit here. What is the Hawaii State House of Representatives?

The Hawaii State House of Representatives consists of 51 Representatives elected by the voters of each of their respective districts. Representatives serve two year terms and represent the people of a specific geographic area.

In addition to the House of Representatives, Hawaii also has a legislative body known as the Senate. 25 Senators are elected by the voters of each of their respective districts. Senators serve 4 year terms and also represent the people of a specific geographic area.

Together, these two legislative bodies represent the Hawaii State Legislature.

Who Is My Representative?

Find Your Rep - Use this helpful webpage to find the Representative for your district.

This is interesting stuff. Now I know who my Representative is. But what does she and the other Representatives, along with the Senators, do at the Legislature?

The primary job of each Representative and Senator can be boiled down into one word: Law. It is the responsibility of the House of Representatives and Senate to come up with laws that best serve the people that they represent and the people of Hawaii as a whole. Our state, as is our nation, is built on laws passed by elected officials.

I've heard that laws take a lot of effort to make. Sometimes it takes years, if not decades, to pass legislation.

Yes. The legislative process is generally an arduous one. There are several critical hurdles that a bill must overcome in order to eventually become law. Take a look at this overview of the process (Citizen's Guide).

Out of the more than 3,000 bills introduced in each legislative session, only about 300 or so actually become law.

Wow! That's a lengthy process and a long document to read. Any way you can break it down for me?

Sure. Let's start with the basics. Laws start out from the very beginning as an idea or a concept that is communicated to a Representative or a Senator. The idea is put into a certain written format, known as a "bill." Bills can do a great many things - change existing law, repeal existing law, or create a whole new set of laws. Bills are also used to direct expenditures of state funds. In fact, no state funds can be expended by the state government unless expressly appropriated by the Legislature through bills that are enacted into law.

So you start with a bill that is introduced on the floor of either the House of Representatives, Senate, or both. The bill is then usually referred to an appropriate committee or committees by the leadership of the respective body that it was introduced in. For example, a bill introduced by a Representative will be referred by the Speaker's Office to the appropriate committees based on subject matter. If the bill appropriates funds for agricultural irrigation systems, it would likely be referred to the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Finance, since the bill's substance includes both agricultural and financial implications.

I've heard it said that committees are the foundation of legislative governance.

There may be a lot of truth to that. Although a bill is required to pass several votes on the floor of the House of Representatives and several votes on the floor of the Senate to ultimately make it through the Legislature, it is at the committee level where many important things, such as a public hearing on the bill, occur. Public hearings provide an invaluable opportunity for Representatives and Senators to learn about the specific issues relating to the bill. Testimony at these public hearings allow the elected officials to make informed decisions.

Ok. Let's assume that the agriculture bill you used as an example passed both the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Finance. Now what?

Well, once a bill passes out of all of the committees that the bill was referred to, it has to pass one last floor vote by the House of Representatives. If successful, the bill "crosses over" to the Senate, where it will likely undergo a similar referral process. If the bill makes it through the Senate, it will have passed both legislative bodies.

But, I take it that the bill isnt a law just yet.

Well, that depends.

First, if the bill passed out by the Senate is the exact same bill as the one passed out by the House of Representatives, then the bill has passed the Legislature and goes on to the Governor's Office. There the Governor can enact it into law or she can veto the bill. If she chooses the latter option, the bill is returned to the Legislature where the veto can be overruled by a 2/3 vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate. If this overrule is successful, the bill is enacted into law.

What happens if the bill passed out by the House of Representatives and the bill passed out by the Senate aren't the same?

That is what usually happens. Remember, as a bill passes through each legislative body, it will most likely be amended by the committees it is referred to. Sometimes the bill is even amended via a floor amendment which occurs on the floor of one of the legislative bodies instead of in committee.

If the Senate and House versions of a bill are different, there are two options.

The legislative body where the bill was originally introduced may agree with the amendments made by the other body. For example, the House of Representatives may agree with the Senate amendments made to a bill introduced in the House. If this happens, the bill goes to the Governor's Office where she can veto the bill or enact it into law.

If the legislative body where the bill was originally introduced disagrees with the amendments made by the other body, then a Conference Committee is usually formed to iron out the disagreements. The Conference Committee will be composed of House and Senate members, and they will try and come up with a version of the bill that is satisfactory to both legislative bodies. If their efforts are successful, a conference draft of the bill is passed out by both the House and the Senate, and it then goes to the Governor's Office, where she can veto the bill or enact it into law.

Thanks for the summary! I think I understand the process a little bit better now.

You're welcome. Remember to take a look at the Citizen's Guide. It will provide more detail on the things we just talked about. You can learn about the different committees, the legislative calendar, including important deadlines, and even get maps of the State Capitol building.