“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Thomas Jefferson
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Loss of a COS Champion
Our COS Hawaii Ohana is deeply saddened by the passing of our good friend and COS Hawaiʻi champion Senator Sam Slom. Sam was the first legislator in the Hawaiʻi Senate to sponsor our resolution in 2016. Sam also was a key speaker at many of our events providing us his sage advice.
Senator Slom was the longest-serving Republican in the Hawaiʻi State Senate, serving for 20 years from 1996 to 2016. During his time in office, he fought tirelessly for fiscal responsibility, limited government, and individual freedom.
Sam shared this message on opening day of the 28th Hawaiʻi State Legislature, "It has become increasingly difficult to stand up and speak out against the status quo and to call for change in Hawaiʻi...Yet it must be done!"
Rest in peace Sam, mahalo for being our champion, you will be missed!
Mahalo to our friends at Surfing4Truth for the graphic.
Local News
2023 Oahu Neighborhood Board Election Results
Congratulations to the following COS supporters who've WON their election to their respective Neighborhood Board:
#1 Hawaii Kai - Herb Schreiner
#2 Kuliouou-Kalani Iki - Steve Libscomb
#5 Diam. Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis - Julia Allen
#9 Waikiki - Jillian Anderson, Michael Brown, Lisa Cabanero
#10 Makiki-Tantalus - Paul Klink
#13 Downtown-Chinatown - Ernest Caravalho, Kevin McDonald
#15 Kalihi-Palama - Donald Guerrero
#18 Aliamanu-Salt Lake - Lorene Godfrey
#20 Aiea - Francie Whitfield
#24 Waianae Coast - Richard Landlord, Tiana Wilbur
#25 Mililani-Waipio - Emil Svrcina
#26 Wahiawa-Whitmore Village - John Miller
#27 North Shore - Leif Andersen
#30 Kaneohe - Lora Burbage, Adriel Lam
#31 Kailua - Bill Hicks
#35 Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley - Alice Rogers
Mahalo all our voters who voted for these Patriots of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and freedom!
2023 Legislature
On May 4th the 32nd State Legislature adjourned sine die! While we knew early in the session our resolutions calling for an Article V Convention of States died in committee, as expected. Our resolution champions in the House were Rep. Terez Amato HD-11, Rep. Cory Chun HD-35, Rep. David Alcos HD-41, Rep. Diamond Garcia HD-42, Rep. Sam Kong HD-33, and Rep. Elijah Pierick HD-39. Our resolution champions in the Senate included Sen. Brenton Awa SD-23, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz SD-17, and Sen. Glen Wakai SD-15.
The rest of the session as our friend Keli‘i Akina, Grassroot Institute Hawaiʻi president and CEO stated, “I’d be tempted to give this year’s Legislature a bland grade of B-. Not a lot of bad bills got through, some good ones managed to get across the finish line, but spending increased tremendously, and that’s bad, so I’m going to give them a C or a D.” Here are more reports on the session:
Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi Weekly Report May 12, 2023
Hawaiʻi Legislature | 2023 | Regular Session
LRB Report - Bills Passed by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature Regular Session of 2023
PBS Hawaiʻi 2023 Legislative Review
What Now?
Now that the 2023 Legislative Session is sine die, we shift our focus to building our teams, educating our communities, and recruiting District Captains and Volunteer Activists in preparation for the 2024 Legislative Session. We also need to focus on our County Councils and be vigilant to both good and bad ordinances that support or oppose fiscal responsibility, government overreach, parental rights, or self-governance.
Read More HERE.
Our ʻOhana (family)
Aloha (goodbye) - to District Captain Lorinda (Lori) Alana HD-10 (Portion of Waiehu, Paukukalo, Wailuku, Wailuku Heights, Waikapu, Hyashi Village), Lori is moving to California, Palm Springs area. Lori has been an awesome member of our team on Maui and will be sorely missed. She plans to continue her COS involvement in CA and I know COS California will be excited to have her. We wish her all the best!
E komo mai (welcome) - to our newest District Captain Robert Santillan HD-30 (Kalihi, Kalihi Kai, Keehi Lagoon, Hickam Village), and Volunteer Activist Colvena Zoller HD-42 (Portions of Varona Village, Ewa, and Kapolei, Fernandez Village).
Hoʻomaikaʻi (congratulations) - to District Captain Teri Savaiinaea HD-45 (Waianae, Makaha) for her election as the Vice Chair of Candidate Recruitment & Training for the Hawaiʻi Republican Party on May 6th.
Article V Convention of States Myths Debunked
The Article V convention process has no safeguards to protect our Constitution from rogue delegates or big-money special interest groups.
To the contrary, the process is so well-safeguarded that it has proven incredibly difficult to invoke! There are numerous, redundant safeguards on the process.
First, the topic specified in the 34 applications that trigger the convention act as an initial limitation on it. These applications are the very source of authority for the convention, so any proposals beyond their scope would be out of order.
Second, state legislatures can recall any delegates who exceed their authority or instructions. Convention delegates are the agents of their state legislature and are subject to its instructions. As a matter of basic agency law, any actions taken outside the scope of a delegate’s authority would be void.
But the final and most effective protection of the process is the simple fact that it takes 38 states to ratify any amendment proposed by the convention. This means that it would only take 13 states to block any ill-conceived or illegitimately advocated proposal.
The idea that 38 states would ratify an amendment that was proposed by rogue delegates acting blatantly beyond the scope of their authority and against the expressed will of their state legislatures is deeply insulting to the American people, suggesting that we are no longer capable of wise self-governance.
To learn more, visit https://conventionofstates.com/resources.
Save the Date
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We Need District Captains!
The Time Is Now! Our duty as citizens, is to stand in times such as these. We can lament the current state of our nation, but it’s our duty as America's and Hawaii's stewards and self-governing citizens to fix it.
"Doing nothing, gives us a predictable ending. What we tolerate, we empower." Senator Tom Coburn
District Captains play one of the most fundamental roles on our state leadership teams. They recruit, educate, and organize volunteers in their district, and work closely with the State Director and Grassroots Coordinator to ensure passage of the Convention of States application.
If you support the Convention of States effort, we need you to consider being a District Captain. We rely every day on the hard work and leadership of our District Captains, and we'd love to work with you in this historic effort.
Plus, it's not difficult and we provide all the training and support you'll need to be successful! If you know (or can contact) 100 people and can commit 15-20 hours a month, you can be a District Captain.
As a District Captain, you'll have three primary responsibilities:
- Recruit 100+ volunteers in your district by having them sign up on our website, and act as a point person.
- Educate your district about Article V and a Convention of States.
- Report weekly progress to your State Grassroots Coordinator and participate in regular state and national conference calls.
With your help, we can move one step closer to preserving liberty and ensuring a secure future for our children and grandchildren.
Quick Links
| COS Hawaiʻi - E komo mai | COS Action | |
| COS Hawaiʻi - Blog | COS Action - News | |
| COS Hawaiʻi - Calendar | COS University | |
| COSHI Courier | COS Convention Courier | |
“There’s only ONE movement standing up to the destruction of America, and that’s Convention of States!” Mark Levin
