State House awash with bills as end of session draws near

HONOLULU — Hawaii lawmakers are heading into the last week of the 2014 Legislative session, preparing to clear the decks on hundreds of bills before the action ends May 1.

On Monday, lawmakers will take a recess to digest all the bills that made it out of committee and to take an accounting of what is still alive and what died.

Major bills including the state budget and a proposal to increase the minimum wage moved out of committees, but many of the most difficult bills still have to be approved by both chambers. The floor voting action will begin Tuesday morning.

Here’s a handful of juicy bills that are likely to be voted on this week:

SCHOOL RULES: A proposal to make kindergarten mandatory for children who are 5 years old by July 31 of the school year is awaiting approval. Opponents said there aren’t enough qualified kindergarten teachers to meet the need.

SEX ABUSE CLAIMS: A deadline to file lawsuits that claim child sexual abuse outside the statute of limitations has passed, but lawmakers in a committee chose to extend the period of time people have to file. That irked opponents, who say that when too much time passes, detailed memories fade.

POLICE SEX: Police officers in Hawaii will no longer have a strange loophole that allowed them to have sex with prostitutes on the job under a proposal that cleared committees.

REVENGE PORN: If you post a nude photo of your ex without permission, you will have committed a crime under a proposal that aims to help Hawaii law catch up with life on the Internet.

NO FAKE TANS: Teens will have to get their tans on the beach instead of at the salon under a proposal that seeks to help minors stay healthy.