It takes Hawaiʻi state lawmakers 60 days to complete a legislative session, but high school students go through the entire process in one week.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the Office of Hawaiian Affair's ʻAha ʻŌpio program let 37 Native Hawaiian teenagers from Hawai‘i and the continental U.S. play lawmaker last week at the state Capitol. They drafted bills, discussed them in committee, then gathered in the House chamber to debate and vote on measures.
The week-long mock legislative program, established in 1988, used to draw hundreds of students before it was phased out in 2004, partly due to budget changes.
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