Hawaii s top court rules against gut and replace bills - Honolulu, Hawaii news, sports & weather kitv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kitv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has ruled in favor of two government watchdog groups who sued to stop the Legislature’s use of “gut and replace” tactics on legislation. The court says lawmakers violated the state constitution when they stripped a bill of its original content and substituted it with something entirely different and afterward failed to hold a sufficient number of readings for the amended measure.
The Hawaii Supreme Court has voted unanimously to vacate the permit allowing the Thirty Meter Telescope to be built atop Mauna Kea.
In order to proceed, project officials must return to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to seek re-approval.
The justices concluded that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated due process when it approved a permit for the $1.4 billion project in 2011 prior to holding a contested case hearing.
The state and University of Hawaii, which applied for the permit in 2010 on behalf of the TMT Observatory Corporation, argued that the 2011 permit was preliminary and the final permit was issued in 2013. But the justices weren’t swayed.
“Once the permit was granted, Appellants were denied the most basic element of procedural due process — an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,” wrote Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald and associate justices Paula Nakayama and S
Hawaii Supreme Court sides with Hu Honua Biomass plant in latest ruling bizjournals.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bizjournals.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.