Advocate for Working Families in Hawaiʻi- Join Us for May Day at the Legislature!
This week marks the beginning of the end of this year’s legislative session. It’s the last chance that legislators will have before the election to show us they are serious about standing with local working families in Hawai‘i. In addition to supporting a robust fair and sustainable food systems policy agenda, HAPA works in various coalitions with many other organizations to support a range of policies to support and uplift the common good.
While many important priorities have already been killed this year, there are still key pieces of legislation that would make a transformative impact for kama‘āina and our ‘āina that need our support.
That’s why HAPA is joining a coalition of community and labor groups, to announce what we hope will turn into an annual week of action under the banner “May Day at the Legislature!” from April 22nd through May 1st to hold our legislators accountable.
The “May Day at the Legislature” Week of Action will center around two events:
1pm 4/22 — A Rally and Lobby Day on April 22nd, the the first day of the last week of the secretive legislative “conference committee” period
10am 5/1 — A March and Rally on May 1st, International Workers Day a.k.a. “May Day,” and the official birthday of the Hawai‘i Workers Center, one of the lead organizers of the week of action.
Throughout the week in between organizers will encourage additional action to encourage legislators to take action on our key legislative priorities, as well as encourage citizen presence at the Capitol. Those priorities include:
Housing For Locals and Fire Survivors
SB2919, HB1838 & HB1902
Protect Our Water & Free the Water Commission
HB2690
Access to Quality, Affordable Child Care
Child Care Worker Wage Supplement - HB1964
Tax Relief for Working Families, Not The Rich
Fair Income Tax and Cost of Living Adjustment, Including Dependent Care Tax Credit - HB 2404/HB1776
Tax the Rich - Don’t Repeal the Estate Tax (HB2653) and Tax Capital Gains (HB1660)
Government For the People, Not Big Money
Clean Elections - SB1543
Every year thousands of ordinary people and advocates for Hawai‘i’s communities descend upon the Hawai‘i Capitol at the start of the legislative session to make their voices heard, and remind legislators who they work for. It’s all smiles and handshakes in January, but in April at the end of the legislative session — when it’s time for decision making of what bills will and won’t pass — lawmakers operate in secrecy and make backroom deals out of the public eye and normal process, and there is no one around to hold them accountable and remind them that we the people are watching.
