Some Native Hawaiian community members dispute Naʻi Aupuni’s authority and consider the process it is undertaking—an ʻaha, or constitutional convention—to be illegitimate.

A bill that would have given the state broader authority to preempt county ordinances it finds inconvenient, such as those restricting biotech, failed to find enough support to pass through the senate agriculture committee.

The “People Not Profits” rally brought together diverse issues, united by the message that government should serve the people, not corporations and developers.