Well, it’s May 5th, which means the Hawai’i State Legislature is in recess until January 2018 (they can and may be called into special session later this year, most likely to pass a funding bill for Honolulu Rail).

Unfortunately the list of good environmental bills that made it into law is short – from pesticides to clean energy, some of our state legislators took a pass on making our environmental future brighter. Our friends who work on affordable housing and other important social issues also saw very little helpful legislation passed.

But on the bright side – we were successful at beating back many bad bills. House Bill 1536 was killed and House Bill 1469 was recommitted to next year’s session, in no small part because of Sierra Club of Hawai’i’s Executive Director Marti Townsend.

There was also some great creative activism around HB1580, a cutting edge bill that set a goal of 100% clean ground transportation by 2045 – #Bananasfor1580. Although HB1580 was eventually killed, it spurred many new and young activists to participate, and we’re excited to see what’s in store for 2018! Learn more about #Bananasfor1580.

Sierra Club Maui Group wants to extend a huge mahalo to all Sierra Club of Hawai’i Chapter Staff and allies in Honolulu who worked tirelessly to pass the good bills and beat back the bad ones!

If you want to get involved more with helping pass good bills in the next legislative session, sign up for Sierra Club of Hawai’i’s Capitol Watch Action Network.