Legislative Wrap Up of 2020 by Rep. Aquino

Legislative Wrap-Up for 2020

By: State House Rep. Henry Aquino Chair, House Committee on Transportation

The Legislature convened its Regular Session of 2020 as usual on January 15, 2020 and moved swiftly through early March.

At the First Crossover deadline, the legislative chambers crossed over a combined total of 880 bills for consideration by the non-originating chamber until the Second Decking and Crossover which was slated for early April.

The global and local impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March brought the legislative session to a complete halt with an ensuing and unprecedented extended recess starting on March 17th. scheduled for late May.

The revenue forecasts from the Council on Revenues took into consideration the Governor’s Emergency Proclamations, including the stay-athome orders and the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine period for travelers.

As we know well, the global impact of COVID-19 has been well documented and Hawai‘i has been severely affected.

With a near-complete shutdown of the tourism industry, Hawai‘i is experiencing economic damage, historic levels of unemployment impacting many families and a significant loss of tax revenue. In light of the economic downturn, the Council’s May 2020 General Fund revenue forecasts for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years are negative. Specifically, a drop in revenues of 7.0% for fiscal year 2020 and a drop in revenues of 12.0% for fiscal year 2021.

Then on June 22, 2020, the Legislature reconvened a second time.

During this particular reconvene session, the House and Senate reached agreement and passed additional legislation to protect the health and safety of the people; provide funding for rental assistance, counseling and loan modification assistance to homeowners, and personal protective equipment to those most in need; improve travel safety and screening and workforce development and new economic initiatives; increase food security; provide state plus-up unemployment benefits when comparable federal benefits expire; enhance consumer and environmental protections; provide homelessness and housing support; further early learning, allocate funding for the purchase of devices for certain public school

When the Legislature reconvened on May 11th, nearly two months after the first extended recess, the direction of legislation focused on important, fiscal needs of the State and counties as a result of the pandemic.

During that brief, eight-day reconvene session, the Legislature passed seven fiscal measures to the Governor that addressed emergency funding for the State through the CARES Act, Executive and Judicial branch budgets, capital improvement project funding, and deferral of certain state employment costs.

Then on May 22nd, the Legislature began a second extended recess to await state tax revenue findings and projections from the Council on Revenues meeting which was