HONOLULU — The Hawaii House and Senate will retain their top leaders heading into the next legislative session.
House members voted Thursday to re-elect Speaker Joseph Souki, who said the vote was unanimous.
Policies on genetically modified organisms and funding for early childhood education — both hot topics during the election — may be on the House agenda, but the official priorities of the legislative body will released later, Souki told reporters.
The House also will continue working on solutions for the cash-strapped Hawaii Health Systems Corp. — the state’s public hospital network — and its troubled health exchange, with Reps. Della Au Bellati and Angus McKelvey taking the lead, Souki said.
“Clearly the public hospitals were an issue during the election, and it’s an issue we’ve been dealing with for years,” Bellati said in an interview.
To help the hospitals, the Legislature could consider updating laws to facilitate public-private partnerships, Bellati said.
Rep. Sylvia Luke will retain her chairmanship of the Finance Committee as long as she still wants it, Souki said.
House Democrats plan to formally announce committee heads at a later date.
In the Senate, President Donna Mercado Kim will continue serving in her post after her run for Congress ended with a loss in the Democratic primary.
Gov.-elect David Ige, who had led the Ways and Means Committee, will be moving on, and Sen. Jill Tokuda will take over the powerful committee.
“Our state continues to face a number of fiscal challenges, and the Senate majority stands ready to work with both the House and the Ige administration to address these issues and help Hawaii families,” Tokuda said in a statement.
Souki said there are always challenges with the state budget because there’s never enough money.
“We’ve always had a good relationship with the Senate,” Souki said. “Of course, each one has their own priorities. But we try to merge it in the end, as much as we can.”
The Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee will be led by Sen. Gilbert Keith-Agaran after Sen. Clayton Hee gave up his seat to mount an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor.
Sen. Laura Thielen will lead the Water and Land Committee, and Sen. Russell Ruderman will take over the Agriculture Committee.
Sen. Will Espero, who also unsuccessfully ran for Congress, will serve as vice president and will continue to be chairman of the Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee.
Sen. Josh Green will be floor leader and will lead the Health Committee.
“I appreciate the confidence the members have in my leadership, and I am pleased that we were able to organize so quickly,” Kim said in a statement.
