History and Composition of the Hawaii State Legislature

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This covers the the First Hawaii State Legislature, which convened after statehood was approved in 1959 and concluded in 1962, to the upcoming and present Hawaii State Legislatures.

Each two-year legislature contains information on both Senate and House members, including their: political affiliation, district, and leadership or committee chair assignments.

In addition to specific information about the members, I have summarized legislative actions in policy areas that were the leading issues of that period. By no means is this summary exhaustive, but includes the top-of-mind issues during that time period.

All the information in this thread I've collected from Public Access Room at the Legislature, or the Legislative Reference Bureau.

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The First Legislature of the State of Hawaii convened on Monday, August 31, 1959 in accordance with the provisions of the Hawaii State Constitution requiring a convening of the state legislature 10 days after the admission of Hawaii into the United States.

They convened in a 45-day special session for the purposes of adopting transitional legislation regarding the organizational structure and appropriations for the three branches of the state government and legal issues related to ownership of public lands.

This First Legislature convened again on February 17, 1960 for a 42-day budget session to address both operational and capital improvement needs within the State, followed by a 17-day special session convened on June 13, 1960 to consider measures to provide disaster relief in response to the tidal wave that struck the islands on May 23, 1960.