The bill would create a new low-interest loan program to help eliminate some of the 80,000 cesspools leaking millions of gallons of sewage into Hawaiʻi’s nearshore waters daily.

Faced with federal budget cuts, lawmakers hope to balance the budget in part by wiping out positions that have been vacant for more than five years.

Residents are worried the mess they are wading through is contaminated by chemicals sprayed on farms upstream. Test results are pending.

Language from one of the Senate education chair’s failed bills suddenly reappeared in an unrelated piece of legislation. Critics say that could be unconstitutional. 

Critics say cheap boards harm the ocean and give people a false sense of safety.

Bills to support families at risk for intervention by Child Welfare Services and fund domestic violence training for caseworkers are still alive at the Legislature.

A state Senate bill proposes a novel approach that one legal expert says would make the controversial national campaign finance law irrelevant in the islands.

A measure that would have required parental consent for kids under 16 to use social media was deferred indefinitely Wednesday. Similar laws in other states have been held up in court. 

Taxpayer information collected by booking companies would be used to collect taxes but not to allow counties to crack down on illegal vacation rentals.

One critic worries data from the cameras could be misused, but the state House gave preliminary approval to expanding the uses of the cameras.