Should members of the Hawaii Legislature be term-limited?

The Hawaii Senate Judiciary committee has scheduled a hearing Wednesday at the Capitol on Senate Bill 2753, which calls for exactly that.

Specifically:

Proposes a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members of the legislature to a maximum of twelve consecutive years in the house of representatives and twelve consecutive years in the senate, for terms beginning on the day of the general election of 2020.

The key word here is “consecutive.” The bill would allow lawmakers to serve additional terms after a one-term hiatus.

SB 2753 comes from Sens. Laura Thielen, Russel Ruderman and Lorraine Inouye, all Democrats.

Queen Liliuokalani statue Capitol.
The Queen Liliuokalani statue at the Capitol. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2016

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