Hawaii GOP's disputes linger into next legislative session

Jan. 4—Heading into the legislative session for the second year in a row, Hawaii's two Republican state senators can't agree on which of them should serve as Senate minority leader.

Heading into the legislative session for the second year in a row, Hawaii's two Republican state senators can't agree on which of them should serve as Senate minority leader.

State Rep. Diamond Garcia, (R, Ewa-Kapolei ), has offered to help broker a hooponopono reconciliation effort to resolve the leadership standoff between Sen. Brenton Awa, (R, Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia ) and Sen. Kurt Fevella, (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-Iroquois Point ).

Garcia has reached out for help from Tamara McKay, state chair of Hawaii's Republican Party. McKay took over in September as the ninth Hawaii Republican state chair in two years.

"We need to set egos aside because we need to find solutions, " McKay said. "It's got to be principles before personalities. That's the bottom line. The Republican party, myself included, is absolutely in favor of hooponopono to see who's willing to come to the table. The sooner the better."

The contention is reminiscent of Republicans in Congress and the infighting that led to the historic removal of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

Fevella had been the sole Senate Republican for four years, giving him an outsized role by serving on all 15 Senate committees.

Then Awa was elected in 2022 as a first-time senator and began his first legislative session last January.

Garcia called the Senate's leadership impasse "very unfortunate. What message does it send ? We are very independent-thinking kind of people. We're not followers. We're very strong-minded. There are a lot bigger issues to focus on. We need to unite on what we believe in."

The 51-member House and 25-member Senate are dominated by Democrats. So internal disputes between Republicans are amplified and even spilled out into the open on the largely ceremonial final day of the 2023 legislative session.

The ongoing chill in relations between Rep. Kanani Souza, (R, Kapolei-Makakilo ), and the other five members of the House Republican caucus got uncomfortable during a speech by House Republican minority leader Lauren Matsumoto, (R, Mililani-Waipio Acres-Mililani Mauka ).

Asked about relations among the House's six-member Republican caucus, Garcia said, "We are fantastic, minus Rep. Souza. ... She has made the decision not to caucus with us. That is her prerogative."

Souza already had taken herself out of the Republican caucus when she interrupted Matsumoto's speech after Matsumoto said, "This is the most cohesive the caucus has been." "I found that to be a blatant lie, " Souza told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday.

Garcia then interrupted Souza.

"I found it very rude and brash and so I had to call it out, " he said Wednesday.

Souza said she had grown disillusioned with the House caucus, which she said lacks "sophistication. A lot of their positions are not well researched. They just have opinions that are based on their personal beliefs."

"The current state of Republican legislators, in general, and the Republican Party is that it's just so fractured and dysfunctional, " Souza said. "It's their approach in creating friction in our communities instead of bringing people together."

Among the two Republican senators, Fevella and Awa cannot even agree on the source of their leadership dispute.

During their first meeting before the start of the 2023 legislative session, Awa said Fevella began by asking for Awa's vote to be minority leader, which to him sent the message that Fevella wanted "to play the game " of "I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"You've got people, Democrats, who like to see where you're at, test you out and see what they can leverage, " Awa said. "Kurt buys into that. We're the minority party. We're not with the other guys."

After voting for Fevella as minority leader, Awa said he then rescinded his vote on the opening day of the 2023 legislative session after Fevella reneged "on at least three agreements :" To allow Awa to make floor speeches ; going behind Awa's back on how the Senate Minority Research Office should be staffed ; and drafting his own minority caucus legislation without consulting Awa.

"Before opening day he gave me the speech (Fevella eventually delivered ), " Awa said. "He said, 'I'm the leader. I give the speech.' So I rescinded my vote."

The lack of attorneys in the Senate Minority Research Office meant that Awa had to turn for help from the Capitol Legislative Reference Bureau to draft legislation.

During his tenure as the only Senate Republican, the Senate Minority Research Office had been restructured into "an extension of his office, " Awa said. "It wasn't set up to help more than one senator. It was set up to help him cover committees."

Throughout the rest of the session, Fevella continued to call himself Senate minority leader in emails and official correspondence, Awa said.

After the session, there are still no attorneys in the Minority Research Office to help Awa with Senate work, he said.

"There was no together, " Awa said. "Historically the Republican Party doesn't get along. Two people and you still can't get along ?"

Fevella still wants to be Senate minority leader and said Wednesday that "everything I gave my word to I never took back."

Awa continues to be a member of eight Senate committees, while Fevella serves on seven.

"I've proven to be a leader for the minority and majority in getting bills passed for the people of Hawaii, " Fevella said.

Awa "said he wanted everything I have and I said everything I have is the result of hard work " including with Democrats, Fevella said.

As for the issue of his 2023 opening day speech, Fevella said "he wanted to make corrections and do whatever he wanted to do.

I said, 'It's the minority leader's speech, not your speech. Nobody goes over the Senate president's speech.' He (Awa ) gave me a 24-hour window or he would pull back my vote."

Awa's concerns about the staffing of the Minority Research Office only arose later, said Fevella.

"He made it an issue, "

Fevella said.