An effort to exhibit more aloha spirit in one chamber of Hawaii’s Legislature didn’t go over well on “Aloha Friday.”
One of this year’s first-term members of the Legislature, Republican Sen. Brenton Awa, tried to convince his Democratic colleagues to adopt a Senate rule to permit wearing aloha attire on the Senate chamber floor every day and not just on Fridays as allowed now.
“This request isn’t just about having the option to wear aloha attire on the Senate floor,” Awa said Friday in a floor speech. “This is about allowing our aloha to shine in the Senate every single day. Having it in our heart is one thing; we should be allowed to wear it on our sleeves, too.”
Awa, who represents the Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia area on Oahu, proposed the rule Thursday by offering Senate Resolution 21, which noted that “court attire” — a coat and tie for men, and jackets for women — is traditionally required for senators during floor sessions except on Fridays when aloha attire is permitted.
On Friday, Awa made a motion during the Senate’s floor session to consider his resolution. Graciously, Sen. Glenn Wakai (D, Kalihi-Salt Lake-Pearl Harbor) seconded the motion for the sake of discussion, allowing Awa to make his pitch for the change.
“I’ve heard the argument that we have to respect the institution,” Awa told his colleagues. “I argue we need to respect our people, and I ask you to adopt this mentality before it’s too late. We are the Aloha State, yet the people who carry the spirit where aloha originates from continue to leave, and now Hawaiians are the minority in our own native land.”
Awa said that embracing his resolution would represent the Senate honoring Hawaii’s people with the same respect it gives the institution.
“It’s not just Aloha Friday,” he said. “It’s aloha every day.”
Wakai’s second was important for Awa to make his case in a floor speech because Sen. Kurt Fevella, the only other Republican in the 25-member Senate, was absent.
Still, Awa’s Democrat colleagues, many of whom were wearing aloha attire, objected by raising their hands in unison to prevent the resolution from being adopted.
Hawaii’s Legislature has a long tradition of allowing aloha attire on Fridays. A 1968 House Resolution offered by then-Majority Floor Leader Stanley Hara read, in part, “The wearing of gaily- printed aloha dress is the symbol of our State’s uniqueness.”
The idea to expand the “Aloha Friday” dress code during any legislative floor session has been tried at least once before in recent years.
In 2009, resolutions to permit such were introduced by Democrats in the House and Senate but met the same fate as Awa’s bid.
