House Floor

Will the house come to order? Mister Clerk, please call the roll.

[Roll Call] Madam speaker, 49 members are present. Two are not present.

Let the record reflect the presence of representative Olds. Item number two, reading of the journal. Representative Morikawa.

Madam Speaker, may this matter be deferred.

So ordered. Item number three, messages from the governor. Mister Clerk, are there any messages from the governor?

Madam Speaker, there are none.

Item number four, Senate communications. Mister Clerk, are there any Senate communications?

Yes, Madam Speaker. If you and the members will turn your attention to the addendum to today's order of the day, we are in receipt of a communication informing the House that the Senate has disagreed to the amendments proposed by the House to the noted Senate

Concurrent Resolutions. We are in further receipt of a communication informing the house that the Senate has reconsidered action in disagreeing to amendments proposed by the house and has moved to agree to the noted Senate bills.

Finally, we are in receipt of communications informing the House that the Senate has appointed conferees to the to the noted House and Senate bills.

Item number five, miscellaneous communications. Mister Clerk, are there any miscellaneous communications?

Yes, Madam Speaker. We're in receipt of miscellaneous communication number one 1, petitioning the house to convene an investigative committee into an alleged 2022 incident involving a legislator. May this matter be received and filed?

So ordered. Madam Speaker, may I give you address, please? Please proceed.

Pursuant to rule 46.2 of the House rules, of the of the rules of the House of Representatives for the 2025 to 2026 legislative session, I object to the simple filing and submission of this memo. If I may speak.

We're noting your you would like to appeal my.

No. I'm objecting. Pursuant to 46.2.

Please proceed.

May I request to insert written comments?

So ordered.

May I move to defer this matter for one legislative day?

Madam speaker, I second the motion.

Recess.

Will the House come to order? Members, I've been advised that the current motion is out of order. So we will be resuming, with the, with my decision to file the, petition, the communications 1,001 under miscellaneous communications.

I rise to object to your ruling to file the petition.

Members, appeals are open to limited debate. Discussion should focus on the ruling to file the communications. Is there any discussion? Representative Bellotti.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I stand up to object to the ruling in light of the request, a bipartisan request of this body to be informed of the procedures that are important so that we can dispose of this petition without just simply filing it and ignoring it.

The request that was earlier ruled out of order, which I do not concede was out of order, was a request to defer for one legislative day.

And the mere deferral of one legislative day will allow this very important petition that has touched, touched this body, the body across from this chamber and has impacted all the way up to the highest levels of our executive branch. This deserves true consideration.

It does not deserve to be simply filed and ignored. This body, you speaker, the attorney was requested and asked to provide us with with what were the proper procedures. The public deserves it. We deserve it.

with debate, with understanding, not this simple sweeping of it under the rug, Madam Speaker.

And for those reasons, this simple filing and ignoring of over 900 individuals who are upset by the corruption that hangs over this body deserves a simple one legislative day deferral.

And so this appeal should be granted because it honors the public out there who want answers and who demand us to act as an independent branch of government, that pursuant to our constitution and our rules have the direct ability to respond appropriately with consideration,

For those reasons, I ask that this appeal be granted and that this body be allowed just one mere legislative day to really and fully understand the impact of our decisions because this is something I have never seen in my twenty years.

This is a new execution of this rule. And so because of all those procedural reasons, madam speaker, I speak in support of the objection. I speak in support of the appeal, and that this body not run away.

Because if we run away, we are ignoring the call of the public for transparency and accountability, the things that will restore actual trust in government. And for those reasons, Madam Speaker, I stand up in support of this appeal.

Representative Souza.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise, in support of my own objection to your filing of this petition.

Please proceed.

Thank you. Madam Speaker, on January 5, 2026 and January 20, 2026, I along with some of my House colleagues submitted a letter to your office and to our House attorney requesting the response to two questions, which I will put on the record right now.

We asked that we had at least seventy two hour notice in advance of this petition coming to this floor, and that is pursuant to house rule 46.2 in our house rules. And we asked two specific inquiries. When, if at all, will the petition be presented to the house pursuant to house rule 46.2?

And number two, what are the procedures and rules that apply to the deliberation and decision making by the entire house on the petition and its request for the house to conduct a limited investigation into the conduct of the legislator who accepted $35,000?

You did respond to our first letter, back in January, and I do have record of that.

And to our second letter dated I'm sorry. April 21 was the second letter, and you responded January 20 to the first letter of January 5. But to our your response to the April 21 letter, it was received today at 11:42AM prior to this noon floor session.

And you informed us again like you did in the initial response to our request asking these two questions that House Resolution 8 should satisfy the petition and the request from the citizens over 900 plus citizens who signed on to mister Alexander Silvert's petition that was

filed in this House on 01/07/2026. My greatest concern is that this particular citizen's petition was filed on January 7.

And if there was no publicity around this situation and if the public outcry was not so large and mister Silvert himself did not email mMmbers of this body individually, we still till this day up until right now when we're actually dealing with this communication,

this body would have no idea that this was that this petition was sitting basically at the clerk's office.

I find that to be a travesty to the people of this state who deserve transparency and who deserve answers to their call for justice and to form a legislative investigative committee to do a limited investigation.

House Resolution 8that you point to in your letter as to the reason why you are filing this particular petition only addresses the attorney general's role in doing her own investigation.

It does not acknowledge this body's autonomy to conduct its own limited investigation, as the legislature, whether it's the House Chamber or the Senate Chamber.

And so that is very alarming because we have our own autonomy to do an investigation, especially in light of some feelings that's in the public sphere as to the legitimacy and transparency involved in the attorney general's own investigation and whether even if there should

be an independent investigator as we have proffered into the public sphere before.

So for those reasons, Madam Speaker, I do object to your filing of the petition. I do agree that we need to wait at least one legislative day to take this up in a proper manner and to adhere to the request that we submitted in our letters previously.

And I would like to also insert written comments into the journal. So ordered. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Representative Hussey.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise in support of the objection from the represent from Makakilo with a request to insert written comments into the journal.

So ordered.

Thank you.

Representative Tarnas.

I rise in support of the chair's ruling to file a petition.

Please proceed.

Is that appropriate for me to speak to that? Thank you. The reason why I support the Chair's ruling to file a petition is because I think we've taken steps to address the concerns that have been brought up.

As we've discussed before, I don't think the house has the expertise to conduct the investigation or the authority to file charges or prosecute someone. We only have the authority to discipline someone who's currently a member of this body.

And as I said when we had discussion before on the floor, a house investigative committee would interfere with the investigation's

Point of order, Madam Speaker.

Being conducted by the attorney general. So I support.

Representative.

I'm just gonna make a. Yes. I'm just gonna make a simple objection that he's talking about the substance of the actual, citizen's petition, and we're supposed to be limited to the procedural aspects.

Your ruling.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I'll keep my.

I think I gave some latitude, so I'm gonna give some latitude here.

So but I appreciate it. I will speak to your ruling to file this petition. You know, I think the the facts have changed since the very beginning of this session.

Objection.

Represent Who was that? Representative Belatti? Was that you?

Point of order again speaking to the content of the underlying motion.

What rule are you objecting to?

I'm objecting the to the form of the debate, but it's because it's going to the substance of the petition.

Okay.

Okay. Representative Tarnas, just can you please speak the to the ruling?

I support your ruling to file this petition. I think we've taken steps in order to address this, so I think the filing is an appropriate move at this point.

This body has lots of other things to work on right now, and I think it's more appropriate for us to work on, the matters before us as we enter conference committee as part of our session. And filing this petition right now, I believe, is the most efficient way to handle this.

And we should let the attorney general do their job without interference. Thank you, Speaker. I urge all members to support your ruling to file this petition. Thank you.

Representative Ichiama.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Chair's ruling and against the appeal.

Please proceed.

Permission to insert written comments into the journal.

So ordered.

And I'd like to adopt the words of the Chair of the Judiciary Committee and just provide a brief additional comment.

Please proceed.

Thank you. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of your ruling to receive and officially officially receive and file this petition. I think it puts it on record that the House has received it, and it also opens the door for us to take further action on it in the future.

I disagree with the characterization that we are sweeping anything under the rug. In fact, we are bringing it before this body, allowing this debate, and by filing it and receiving it, we can take action on it in the future.

I also agree with the previous speaker's comments that while the attorney general's investigation is pending, which we as a body have urged our attorney general to complete expeditiously and to provide updates on the status of the investigation.

While that is pending, it is not appropriate for us to take action on this petition. So that's why I agree it is appropriate procedurally for us to file it at this time. Thank you.

Madam Speaker.

Representative Kahaloa.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In support of filing the petition or filing the petition.

Please proceed.

And Madam Speaker, may I please adopt the words of the Vice Speaker and the Chair of the Judiciary and Hawaiian affairs committee?

So ordered.

Thank you.

Representative Matayoshi.

In support of of the, decision to file, I'd like to just adopt the words of Vice Speaker and the Chair of Judiciary in Hawaiian affairs.

So ordered. Okay. Members. We'll be taking a hand

Second time.

Oh, Representative Bellotti.

Thank you. I did not ask, for this request to insert written comments and further rebuttal, please.

So ordered. Please proceed.

I would ask the Chair if she would entertain a question in light of the Vice Speaker's, comment that we are able to take up matters, to this, filed petition, in the future. Will you answer your question, Madam Speaker? Madam Speaker, yes, sir.

Can you please answer the question as to when we will be able to take this matter up in the future?

Recess. Will this meeting be called back to order? We will not be taking questions at this time. However, discussions can occur following this meeting. Members will be taking a hand vote.

Please note that a Aye vote is a vote in support of the Chair's ruling. A no vote is in opposition to the Chair's ruling. Representative Belatti.

Madam speaker, request for a roll call vote.

Madam speaker, I second the motion.

Members, a roll call vote has been requested. All those in favor of a roll call vote, please signify by raising your hand. Please keep your hands up. Mister Clerk, is there a sufficient number of votes?

Yes, Madam Speaker. There is a sufficient number of votes for a roll call.

Members, we are going to take a roll call vote. Vote aye if you are in favor of the Chair's ruling. Vote no if you are opposed to the Chair's ruling. Mister Clerk, please call the roll.

[Roll Call] Madam Speaker, there are 39 votes Aye and 11 votes no.

The appeal has been defeated, so the petition will be filed. Moving on to introductions. Members, are there any introductions? Representative Bellotti.

Madam Speaker, I would like to introduce in the gallery a friend of the people, mister Alexander Silvert, who was the author of the petition who has bravely taken on corruption in our state. He is here to join us to represent the 900 and plus people who signed that petition.

Mr. Ali Silvert, please rise and be recognized and applauded by your House of Representatives.

Any further introductions? If not, let's move on to the order of the day. Members, please turn to your digital action sheets by clicking on the action sheet tab on the mid top middle of your screen. We will be taking up two motions.

One, to suspend the rules to reconsider our previous action in disagreeing to the Senate amendments, and one, to reconsider our previous action and give notice of the intent to agree.

Representative Kahaloa for the motion to suspend the rules to reconsider previous action.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules of the House to reconsider action previously taken in disagreeing to amendments made by the Senate to certain House Bills.

Representative Morikawa.

Madam Speaker, I second the motion.

Any questions? All those in favor, say Aye. All those opposed, say no. The motion is carried.

Representative Kahaloa for the motion to reconsider.

Madam Speaker, I move to reconsider action previously taken in disagreeing to the amendments made by the Senate and to give notice of the intent to agree to the amendments to the following House bills as reference in your digital action sheets.

Number one, House Bill number 389 HD1. Number two, House Bill number 469 HD2 . Three, House Bill number 1510 HD2. Or House bill number 1573 HD3.

Five House Bill number 17O5, House Draft 1. Number six, House Bill number 1858, House Draft 2. Number seven, House Bill Number 1875, House Draft 2. Number eight, House Bill Number 1946, House Draft 2. Number nine, House Bill Number 1961, House Draft 2.

10, House Bill Number 1962, House Draft 2. Number 11, House Bill Number 2001, House Draft 2. Number 12, House Bill Number 2093. Number 13, House Bill Number 2096, House Draft 2. And lastly, Number 14, House Bill Number 2097, House Draft 1.

Representative Morikawa.

Madam Speaker, I second the motion.

Any discussion? All those in favor say, Aye. Aye. All those opposed say, no. The motion is carried.

Members, these measures will appear on tomorrow's order of the day for agree and final reading. Members, we are back on the order of the day item six. Are there any announcements? Representative Morikawa.

Madam Speaker, I move that this house stand adjourned until 12:00 noon tomorrow.

Representative Garcia.

Madam Speaker, I second the motion.

All those in favor say Aye. All those opposed, say no. The motion is carried. The House stands adjourned until twelve noon tomorrow.