# Hawaii HB 1661: RELATING TO CAFETERIA PLANS.

Hawaii HB 1661, RELATING TO CAFETERIA PLANS., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2) House bill sponsored by Jackson D. Sayama (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-06-25 (Act 144, 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1245).); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1661-2026
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Hawaii HB 1661
- State: Hawaii
- Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2)
- Title: RELATING TO CAFETERIA PLANS.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-20
- Last action: 2026-06-25, Act 144, 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1245).
- Sponsor: Jackson D. Sayama (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 11
- Subjects: Cafeteria Plans, Wage and Salary Reduction Benefit Programs, Flexible Spending Accounts, Public Service, Maximum Contributions, Carryover Limits, LBT, WAM
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 10 (215 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Requires the maximum contribution and carryover amounts for a public service flexible spending account plan to be set annually in accordance with the maximum amounts allowed under section 125 of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Effective 7/1/3000. (SD1)

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Hawaii workers’ flexible spending limits track inflation: benefit, low. Effective upon approval, the law allows Hawaii public employers to offer benefit plans funded through eligible employees’ pretax pay. These plans must meet federal cafeteria plan rules. Flexible spending accounts established under this law must set contribution and carryover limits each year using…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jackson D. Sayama (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Greggor Ilagan (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Darius K. Kila (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Matthias Kusch (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Mike Lee (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: M.
- Cosponsor: Lisa Marten (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Scot Z. Matayoshi (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Tyson K. Miyake (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Ikaika Olds (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Gregg Takayama (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: David A. Tarnas (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-05-06 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 51 | 0 |   |
| 2026-05-01 | House | The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments.... | pass | 3 | 0 |   |
| 2026-05-01 | Senate | The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.... | pass | 2 | 0 |   |
| 2026-04-10 | Senate | Senate Floor Vote | pass | 25 | 0 |   |
| 2026-04-06 | Senate | The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The... | pass | 12 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-16 | Senate | The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 4 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-05 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 49 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | House | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes ... | pass | 16 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-17 | House | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN... | pass | 47 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-10 | House | The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 6 | 0 |   |

## Actions (45)

- 2026-06-25: Act 144, 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1245). (Senate)
- 2026-06-25: Act 144, on 06/25/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1245). (House)
- 2026-05-08: Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888). (Senate)
- 2026-05-07: Transmitted to Governor. (House)
- 2026-05-06: Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none. (Senate)
- 2026-05-06: Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). (House)
- 2026-05-06: Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 816). (House)
- 2026-05-01: Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 12:00PM in Conference Room 016. (House)
- 2026-05-01: The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 3 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Kapela; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Reyes Oda. (House)
- 2026-05-01: The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) Elefante, Kim; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-05-01: Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 146-26) as amended in (CD 1). (House)
- 2026-05-01: Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-06-26. (House)
- 2026-05-01: Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 146-26). (Senate)
- 2026-05-01: 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26 (Senate)
- 2026-04-29: Senate Conferees Appointed: Elefante Chair; Kim Co-Chair; Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-04-29: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 791). (House)
- 2026-04-29: Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Friday, 05-01-26 8:45AM in conference room 016. (House)
- 2026-04-20: House Conferees Appointed: Sayama, Lee, M. Co-Chairs; Kapela, Reyes Oda. (House)
- 2026-04-20: Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 786). (Senate)
- 2026-04-16: Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 599). (Senate)
- 2026-04-14: House disagrees with Senate amendment (s). (House)
- 2026-04-10: Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. (Senate)
- 2026-04-10: Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 523) in amended form (SD 1). (House)
- 2026-04-09: Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3641) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading. (Senate)
- 2026-04-09: One Day Notice 04-10-26. (Senate)
- 2026-04-06: The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C.. (Senate)
- 2026-04-01: The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-06-26 10:32AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-23: Reported from LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3121) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-23: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-16: The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in LBT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Elefante, Lamosao, Ihara, Moriwaki; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: The committee(s) on LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-16-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-10: Referred to LBT, WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 34). (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Passed First Reading. (Senate)
- 2026-03-05: Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 794-26), recommending passage on Third Reading. (House)
- 2026-03-05: Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. (House)
- 2026-02-26: The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-02-24: Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 02-26-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-02-17: Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 276-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. (House)
- 2026-02-17: Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lee, M., Poepoe excused (3). (House)
- 2026-02-10: The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-02-05: Bill scheduled to be heard by LAB on Tuesday, 02-10-26 9:30AM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-01-26: Referred to LAB, FIN, referral sheet 1 (House)
- 2026-01-21: Introduced and Pass First Reading. (House)
- 2026-01-20: Prefiled. (House)

## Bill text

- Bill Text: [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_CD1_.pdf)
- HB1661_CD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_CD1_.HTM)
- HB1661_HD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_HD1_.HTM)
- HB1661_SD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_SD1_.HTM)
- Original: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_.HTM), [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/GM1245_.PDF)

## Related bills

- SB 847: RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS. (became law)
- SB 2338: RELATING TO HOUSING. (signed)
- HB 2344: RELATING TO SCHOOL FACILITIES. (signed)
- HB 2023: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION. (signed)
- HB 2021: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION. (signed)
- SB 2964: RELATING TO PROPERTY INSURANCE. (signed)

## Sources
- [Bill Text (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_CD1_.pdf)
- [HB1661_CD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_CD1_.HTM)
- [HB1661_HD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_HD1_.HTM)
- [HB1661_SD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_SD1_.HTM)
- [Original (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1661_.HTM)
- [Original (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/GM1245_.PDF)

## Related
- [SB 847: RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB847-2026)
- [SB 2338: RELATING TO HOUSING.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2338-2026)
- [HB 2344: RELATING TO SCHOOL FACILITIES.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB2344-2026)
- [HB 2023: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB2023-2026)
- [HB 2021: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB2021-2026)
- [SB 2964: RELATING TO PROPERTY INSURANCE.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2964-2026)
- [Hawaii bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/hawaii/bills)
- [Hawaii state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/hawaii)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1661-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).