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The midpoint of Hawaii’s legislative session, when bills cross over or pass out of one chamber and enter another, is usually the time when ordinary people start to lose interest and back off from engaging. Crossover , and now the process of subject matter committees scheduling bills for hearings  begins again.

In case you’re curious about which bills actually made it this far, you can go to the Hawaii State Capitol website, click on  and scroll down to the section that says “first crossover.” There are spreadsheets for Senate bills that crossed to the House and vice versa. I like to press the “current status” column header on those spreadsheets twice to make the list sort with the latest bill updates on top, allowing me to know exactly what’s happening for every bill at any given point in time.

Now I mentioned that this is the point in time where ordinary people often make the mistake of losing interest and backing off. Why is that? For one, at the beginning of session the public always gets the spectacle of seeing controversial or exciting bills reported in the news, only for them to get thinned out before crossover. When the bills are “dead” people think the worst is over and start to relax.

Other times, bills will be passed out of a chamber regardless of what the public or important stakeholders think, and people get so worn out by this process that after crossover, they automatically assume that the Legislature has made up its mind and there’s no point in resisting any further.

But as a former committee clerk, I will tell you that this is actually the most dangerous time for the public to disengage. No matter what anyone tells you, nothing is really “dead” until the Legislature adjourns, because at any point in time language can be inserted into a living bill either by subject matter committee amendment, floor amendment or conference committee draft. Alternatively, some bills appear to cruise with no major debate or opposition, only to die at the last minute. Lesson to be learned? Pay attention.

I’d like to share some pro-tips to “citizen up” as we enter into the final half of the 2024 legislative session. The more informed you and your family are, the less likely you are to be disappointed.

Don’t Slack On Hearing Notices

This is where most people fail after crossover. Hearings have already started again for bills that crossed over, which means that you need to make sure you know exactly when something you support (or oppose) is before a committee. This also means you can’t automatically assume that a bill that cruised through one chamber will be readily heard in the other. In some cases, the policy opinions of the House and Senate committees and their members can be vastly different. 

To be prepared for this, you should be personally tracking the status of bills that are important to you using the, and not rely on TV news to inform you about a bill hearing or even expect the nonprofit or political group you align with to tell you about it. 

I usually like to contact committee chairs in advance and tell them why I think they should hear a certain bill or not hear a bill. If a bill has a triple referral — meaning it has to be heard by three committees — I’ll repeatedly emphasize the need for a hearing or even ask that chair to request a re-referral or waiver to drop their committee. In some instances, the priority of a chair can be so focused on other things that they will gladly accelerate or stop a bill they don’t care about.

People said in the past, “Danny, you’re not an ‘ordinary’ person. Of course they’ll talk to you, but how can we talk to chairs?” And my response to that is to stop lowballing yourself. This is not the White House or 10 Downing St. Every single person at the Hawaii State Capitol will entertain a phone call or on-site visit if you ask politely and persistently.

Do The Homework For Others

Throughout the session, it’s important to have situational awareness not only of where bills are at any given point, but also how their language and policy implications have changed over their committee journey. The vast majority of people fixate on the description section of a bill and don’t bother to read the proposal in its entirety. That’s playing with fire. There can be mistakes in a bill that render it useless or unconstitutional. Other times, amendments can be inserted which make it impossible to execute. 

If there are bills that are important to you, make sure to familiarize yourself with the language in every single draft. When you submit testimony for a hearing, make sure that you talk about the changes that have been made. Sometimes chairs and their staff don’t notice these flaws because they may not understand or be as passionate about an issue as you are.

When you submit testimony, don’t just talk about why you want or don’t want a bill to pass. Do the homework for others and explain what needs to happen and why.

Be Careful About Publicity Stunts

The right optic at the right time can spark meaningful change, we all know this. But some people go too far with this here in Hawaii and use the political process as a kind of year-round adult Halloween to be excessively dramatic. 

Instead of passing good legislation or stopping bad bills, more often than not this simply results in embittering or offending people. And it makes committee chairs shrink into a siege mentality where they feel they have to stonewall critics and be cautious about what they say to the media. Over time, that makes them less amenable overall, and it sometimes turns people petty.

I’ve found that in most cases, it’s better to just seek out the gatekeepers at the Legislature and ask them what their opinion is about something. If you know what their concerns or interests are, you can address that instead of just embarrassing them. 

A great example of this is how  but not a state holiday. Though I and other activists have always wanted Juneteenth to be a state holiday,  and we supported what chairs had the stomach for rather than attacking them and getting nothing out of it.

Don’t Take Things Personally

Last but not least, be able and willing to fail and not get upset. Yes, it’s awful when an idea that many people were excited about falls flat. And yes, it’s even more awful when an idea that so many people don’t like gets propped up. In most cases, this is just politics as usual. Don’t take it personally. 

The best part about participating in Hawaii’s legislative session is that we have a small state and interacting with this process allows us to meet and connect with people who we would, in any other state, probably never be able to meet. Today’s opponents are in many cases tomorrow’s allies, and people on both sides of the aisle respect someone who is sincere and consistent in their participation.

And that’s the most important lesson to take away for the rest of the session – you win some, you lose some, but it’s not about any one of us. It’s about all of us, together.