The Democrat-dominated state House will see a mix of veteran and new committee chairs when the next legislative session begins in January, along with new House leadership.
The reshuffling of the 51-member House was the result of several factors, including the primary election defeat of former House Speaker Scott Saiki, which led House Democrats to select former Majority Leader Nadine Nakamura to be their new leader. Other factors include resignations,
retirements, other election losses, the death of Rep. Mark Nakashima and several other chairs moving up into House leadership, which prevents them from chairing committees, although some will serve as vice chairs.
Nakamura also renamed several of the 18 House committees, such as the old Committee on Health and Homelessness, and separate Housing and Human Services committees.
They are now known as the Health Committee, Human Services and Homelessness Committee, and Housing Committee.
The former Committee
of Corrections, Military and Veterans has been renamed the Committee on Public Safety. It still has responsibility for adult corrections, correctional facilities, military facilities, veterans’
affairs, emergency management and the safety, welfare and defense of Hawaii.
The newly renamed committee will be chaired by onetime Saiki ally Rep. Della Au Belatti.
Its vice chair will be
incoming freshman Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, who beat Saiki on her third consecutive try to represent Kakaako and parts of downtown and Ala Moana.
Along with Public Safety, six other committees also will see newly elected
freshmen serving as vice chairs: Reps. Shirley Ann Templo (Tourism), Sue L. Keohokapu-Lee Loy (Health), Mike Lee (Labor), Tina Nakada Grandinetti (Transportation), Ikaika Hussey (Economic Development and Technology) and Matthias Kusch (Agriculture and Food Systems).
Gov. Josh Green picked Kusch in August to fill the vacancy representing
Hamakua-Hilo following
Nakashima’s death.
Green reappointed Kusch last week to serve a full two-year term.
Twelve of the 18 House committees, including the new Public Safety Committee, will have new chairs, including Rep. Scot Matayoshi, who replaces Nakashima, who died in July at the age of 61 and had chaired the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.
Rep. Jackson Sayama replaces Matayoshi as chair
of the Labor Committee.
Rep. Andrew Takuya Garrett takes over as chair of the Higher Education Committee after Rep. Amy Perruso, who will serve as one of three majority whips and also becomes vice chair of the Energy and Environment Committee.
Rep. Gregg Takayama will chair the Health Committee and replaces Bellati.
Rep. Darius Kila, who
had been vice chair of the Transportation Committee, now becomes its chair after former Chair Chris Todd became majority caucus leader.
Rep. Mark Hashem replaces Water and Land Committee Chair Linda Ichiyama, who will now serve as House vice speaker.
The Committee on Tourism will now be chaired by Rep. Adrian Tam after former Chair Sean Quinlan became majority leader. Quinlan also becomes the new vice chair of the Committee on Legislative Management.
Tam had chaired the Culture and Arts Committee and is being replaced by Rep. Jeanne Kapela.
Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa becomes chair of the Agriculture and Food Systems Committee,
replacing former Rep. Cedric Gates, who unsuccessfully ran for state Senate this year.
Rep. Greggor Illagan takes over as chair of the Economic Development and Technology Committee.
Illagan replaces Rep. Daniel Holt, who replaces Speaker Nakamura as chair of the Legislative Management Committee.
House members who will notably continue to chair key committees include Rep. Kyle Yamashita, whose first term as chair of the powerful Finance Committee ended in chaos two years ago when both senators and representatives openly complained during conference committee votes that they did not understand what they were voting on and demanded explanations of why bills had inexplicably died.
Former Speaker Saiki previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Yamashita had worked to better prepare himself for his second year as Finance chair last session.
Rep. David Tarnas will continue to chair the influential Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee and has spent the months between last session and the upcoming one drafting a new bill that would legalize adult recreational use of cannabis in response to concerns.
