My membership on the Senate Labor, Judiciary and Government Operations, Higher Education and Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committees gives me the opportunity to ensure that constituents have a seat at the negotiating table on the issues that affect Hawaiʻi’s future.

Please take a few moments to read through the list below to learn more about the Senate committees on which I serve.

• LBR – Labor (Chair)

The purview of this committee includes those programs relating to public officers and employees, labor, employment opportunities and training, labor-management relations, collective bargaining; the Employees’ Retirement System and the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund.

• JGO – Judiciary and Government Operations (Vice-Chair)

The purview of this committee includes those programs relating to the courts; crime prevention and control, including juvenile justice matters; criminal code revision; statutory revision; campaign spending and elections; ethics; constitutional matters; the Attorney General, Public Defender and Judiciary; the purchase of visual art and administration of the Biennium Grants Program by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts; government records and information practices; individual rights and civil liberties; and state government operations policy, including procurement and government efficiency; and state facilities not specifically identified herein.

• HRE – Higher Education

The purview of this committee includes those programs relating to the University of Hawaii, community college system, private higher education bond financing, and other matters relevant to higher education, including the Hawaii P-20 Initiative.

• WTL – Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs

The purview of this committee includes those programs relating to state planning, sustainability, urban renewal, community development, and land and water use; coastal zone management, land reclamation, naturally occurring fisheries, and ocean resources; state parks and beaches, management areas including ocean recreation management areas; and small boat harbors, agriculture and aquaculture, including mariculture; burial councils; and Hawaiian affairs, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, sovereignty, and Hawaiian home lands.