Uncivil wars: While many liberals, including some Democrats in Congress, are agitating for civil disobedience and even stronger tactics to fight the policies of President Donald Trump, some are refusing to sacrifice respect for people and institutions.
Hawaiʻi U.S. Rep. Ed Case was one of 10 House Democrats to vote with Republicans on Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green, a fellow Democrat from Texas, for his disruptive behavior during Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday. Green was escorted out by the House sergeant at arms at the request of Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I attended the President’s address to Congress not because I agree with the President but because we must respect the institution,” Case said in an email to The Sunshine Blog on Thursday afternoon. “I voted to censure my colleague not because I disagree with what he said but because we must respect the institution. Our institutions of government — our three branches, checks and balances, free and fair elections — matter because they’re the only way forward through difficult times and if they break down they’re very hard to get back.”
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The Hill reported that the 10 Dems who voted with the Republicans are, like Case, generally “centrists, members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and front-liners.”
Hawaiʻi’s other House member, Rep. Jill Tokuda, explained her vote against the censure in a press release: “Dissent is a vital part of our democracy. Congressman Al Green is doing his job, the same job that all Members of Congress were elected to do — to voice the concerns of their communities, fight for the rights of the American people, and uphold our system of democracy — no matter the cost.”
“Republicans can spare us the faux outrage. Where was this decorum when Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled President Biden three years in a row? Where is this outrage as Elon Musk tramples all over Congress, fires tens of thousands of federal employees, and rips away programs that millions of Americans depend on?” Tokuda said. “The hypocrisy is disgusting, and I invite my Republican colleagues to put their actions where their mouths are at — by actually doing something to stand up for our Constitution.”
The House vote was 224-198 in favor of the censure. Green and another Democrat voted present.
The Hill says Green, an 11-term congressman, is the 28th House member to be censured.
Halfway there: The Legislature’s highly anticipated crossover came and went quietly Thursday. That’s the day the House and the Senate had to pass all their bills except the budget out of their own chamber. The budget, approved by the House Finance Committee on Wednesday, is slated to be the subject of floor action next week and it has until March 12 to pass the full House.
The Senate advanced an additional tax on tourists, one of Gov. Josh Green’s latest attempts at getting approval for a so-called “green fee” that could fund climate change projects.
There was no discussion on the tax bill or any of the other three bills that the Senate passed in a round of votes that lasted just under 100 seconds. The Blog was one of a couple dozen or so people watching online and if it hadn’t been for an entire row of guys from an automobile association in the gallery the spectator section would have been largely empty.
The House was even more low-key, considering some resolutions and adjourning until Friday.
The House has sent 375 bills to the Senate and the Senate sent 390 bills to the House. Committees are already busily scheduling hearings for next week.
A different fire settlement: Two of those bills that crossed over — same bill different number depending on House or Senate — ask the Legislature to approve nearly $6.5 million to settle 21 claims against the state for things ranging from sex abuse by a state school security guard to a couple people who got injured while hiking at Waimea Canyon on Kauaʻi to motor vehicle accidents on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. And of course the previously reported $275,000 payout to the guy who suffered a heart attack during the false missile alert in 2018.
Another one that caught The Blog’s eye: $5,000 to Paul Aker of Maui Alert, a small news site on that island, because the state Department of Emergency Management apparently lost his public records requests — multiple requests — and took months to finally respond. And that was after Aker had filed a lawsuit against the state and Maui County, where he also had difficulty getting the same public records that were being released to other media locally and nationally.
The money is to pay Aker’s attorney fees.
Parting shot: And this. Just another day at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol.
