A Senate committee on Wednesday voted to recommend that Anne Lopez become Hawaii’s permanent attorney general after she pledged to brainstorm ideas to legalize recreational marijuana and come up with constitutional ways to allow more local residents to buy homes, among other issues important to committee members.

The lone vote against recommending Lopez’s confirmation by the full Senate came from state Sen. Brenton Awa, (R, Kaneohe-­Laie-Mokuleia), who disagrees with Lopez’s position that the U.S. Constitution prohibits Hawaii from barring real estate sales to people and companies from out of state.

“One of the toughest problems that we face here in the state of Hawaii is outsiders that continue to come in and buy homes and buy property,” Awa said. “Obviously we’re here to represent local people in the Aloha State but yet our own people continue to have to leave.”

Awa contended that Lopez’s office would support potentially unconstitutional bills but not a bill barring outside land ownership.

Fourteen other states have some forms of restrictions on real estate sales to entities from out of state, Awa said.

“Why can’t Hawaii be the 15th or the 16th? … How are we going to ever get anywhere (with housing) if we don’t even try?” he asked.

Lopez responded that “the issue of restricting the sale of property to non-Hawaii residents violates the United States Constitution. I understand that other states may have passed similar kinds of bills. I don’t believe those are constitutional and I believe that they will be overturned at some point.”

But she and her department plan to work with legislators before the 2024 session to come up with bills that would legally allow more local residents to buy affordable homes, “and ensuring that there’s affordable housing for everybody.”

“I really believe we can find solutions if we put our heads together,” Lopez said.

Karl Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, recommended that Lopez be confirmed by the full, 25-member Senate during a vote that he said likely will occur sometime in the last week in April.

Before the committee voted, Awa said he was going to vote no but is open to having his mind changed.

“I hope you guys can get something together, and I’m willing to change my vote on the floor,” Awa said. “But right now it’s no.”

Rhoads repeatedly pressed Lopez on what separates her role as the state’s legal counsel from recommending policy as a member of Gov. Josh Green’s cabinet.

“You’re not just the state’s law firm, you’re also a think tank,” said Rhoads, (D, Nuuanu-Downtown-Iwilei).

Lopez did not identify a clear line between legal advice and policy recommendations but said her department advocated for abortion rights and firearms restrictions and changed its position on legalizing recreational marijuana.

She plans to meet ahead of the 2024 legislative session with other state departments to work on ways to avoid the “pitfalls” experienced by other states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

In general, Lopez said her department’s role is to help define “guard rails” for ideas that legislators want to turn into law.

So if legislators want to make recreational marijuana legal in Hawaii, Lopez said, “let’s find a way to help you and implement the law that you want.”

Rhoads asked Lopez if she has a formula to compensate innocent inmates who were wrongfully convicted only to be exonerated.

“If the state does something wrong, I would advise our clients in the executive branch, I would advise the Legislature that if we’re wrong we admit it,” Lopez said. “We make it right, and we move on and we not fight it.”

Rhoads and fellow Judiciary Committee member Joy San Buenaventura, (D, Puna), helped introduce a bill that died this legislative session that would have limited government asset seizures to people convicted of felonies.

Rhoads asked Lopez about her position on seizing assets of someone who has not been convicted.

During consideration of this year’s bill, Lopez said she was briefed on the issues and agreed that “taking somebody’s assets who is not convicted of a crime and not giving them back seems like it might be a bad idea.”

If Rhoads wants to reintroduce the bill next session, Lopez said she would be willing to work with him on it in advance.