Hawaii Remove or Reduce Pension Benefits for Public Employees Convicted of Certain Felonies Amendment (2020)
| Hawaii Remove or Reduce Pension Benefits for Public Employees Convicted of Certain Felonies Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Pension and Administration of government | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Hawaii Remove or Reduce Pension Benefits for Public Employees Convicted of Certain Felonies Amendment was not on the ballot in Hawaii as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
Measure design
The measure would have amended the state constitution to allow the legislature to create laws requiring the forfeiture or reduction of public pension benefits for individuals convicted of felonies related to the individual's employment with the state (or other political subdivision of the state).[1]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article XVI, Hawaii Constitution
The measure would have added a new section to Article XVI of the state constitution. The following struck-through text would have been deleted and underlined text would have been added:[1]
Section 2. Membership in any employees' retirement system of the State or any political subdivision thereof shall be a contractual relationship, the accrued benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired. ; provided that the legislature may enact laws to require the forfeiture or reduction of benefits of any member, former member, or retirant of the employees' retirement system who is convicted of a felony related to the member's, former member's, or retirant's employment with the State or any political subdivision thereof.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Hawaii Constitution
The state process
The Hawaii State Legislature can put a proposed amendment on the ballot upon either a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of the legislature in the same session or two simple majority votes in both chambers held in two successive sessions. Constitutional amendments must be approved by a majority of the votes cast for the question, as long as the majority also is at least 50 percent of the total votes cast in the entire election. For measures approved at special elections by a majority of votes cast for the question, the majority must be at least 30 percent of the total number of registered voters in the state at the time. The state legislative session ran from January 16 through May 2, 2019, during which time the legislature was able to place legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the ballot. The legislature coul dhave also referred amendments to the 2020 ballot during the 2020 legislative session.
2020 legislative session
This amendment was introduced as House Bill 2747 on January 23, 2020. The measure was passed unanimously in the House on March 3, 2020, with two Democratic representatives excused. The measure was not passed by the Senate before the legislature adjourned on July 10, 2020.[1]
| Vote in the Hawaii House of Representatives | |||
| Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote in each chamber; or a simple majority vote in each chamber in two sessions | |||
Number of yes votes required: 34  | |||
| Yes | No | Not voting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 49 | 0 | 2 |
| Total percent | 96.00% | 0.00% | 4.00% |
| Democrat | 44 | 0 | 2 |
| Republican | 5 | 0 | 0 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hawaii Legislature, "House Bill 2747," accessed March 5, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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