Status of Hawaii’s New Voices Bill

Status+of+Hawaiis+New+Voices+Bill

Hawaii’s House bill, HB1529, did not get a hearing during the 2019 session. With the help of our House sponsor, Representative Takashi Ohno, we will try again in 2020 to protect the rights and clarify the responsibilities of all those involved with scholastic journalism in Hawaii. We will also have Senate bill sponsored by Senator Les Ihara.

Visit the legislature’s page to read the House bill. Stay up to date by visiting our Facebook page.

New Voices of Hawaii is a movement to guarantee student journalists in the state the freedom to report without fear of consequence. Right now, there is no added protection against administrative censorship for high school or college journalists and their advisers in Hawaii, leaving them vulnerable to censorship for simply reporting the truth. Find out about New Voices legislation around the country at splc.org/new-voices.

If you have a story of censorship, contact Hawaii Scholastic Journalism Association at [email protected].