It sends a message that the people’s voice doesn’t matter unless it aligns with a legislative chair’s priorities.

Every year, Hawaiʻi citizens submit testimony on bills they care about at the Legislature. Too often, those voices are silenced before they’re even heard.

In our Legislature, one person — the committee chair — has the power to decide whether bills live or die.

In the 2025 legislative session, there were several bills addressing legislative term limits pending a hearing — five in the House and one in the Senate . All of them were referred to the judiciary and finance committees. None of these bills were scheduled for a hearing.

Term-limit measures have been introduced every year as far back as the online archives go in 2007, and there have been zero opportunities for the

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