# Hawaii HB 1939: RELATING TO TAXATION.

Hawaii HB 1939, RELATING TO TAXATION., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2) House bill sponsored by Adrian K. Tam (Democratic); status failed, last action 2026-03-25 (Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3197) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1939-2026
- 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 1939
- State: Hawaii
- Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2)
- Title: RELATING TO TAXATION.
- Status: failed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-23
- Last action: 2026-03-25, Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3197) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
- Sponsor: Adrian K. Tam (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 17
- Subjects: DBEDT, Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit, Local Workforce Incentive, Qualified Production Incentives, Third-Party Certification, Per Production Cap, Waiver, Hawaii Film Office, Reports, EDT, WAM
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 5 (127 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Amends the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit (film tax credit) by providing additional credits to qualified productions that have a workforce of at least eighty per cent local hires in the first taxable year or second consecutive taxable year and meet other specific requirements, then increasing the local workforce threshold to eighty-two per cent in the third or fourth consecutive taxable year and eighty-five per cent in the fifth consecutive taxable year, that the additional credit is claimed; requiring independent third-party certification of qualified production costs for all film productions claiming the film tax credit; authorizing DBEDT to waive the credit cap per qualified production for one qualified production each fiscal year; and requiring the Hawaii Film Office to submit an annual report to the Legislature. Sunsets 1/1/2033. Effective 7/1/3050. (SD1)

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Adrian K. Tam (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Terez Amato (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Luke A. Evslin (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Joe Gedeon (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Tina Nakada Grandinetti (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Ikaika Hussey (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Greggor Ilagan (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Jeanne Kapela (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: Ikaika Olds (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Amy A. Perruso (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: REYES ODA
- Cosponsor: Kanani Souza (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-19 | Senate | The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 5 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-10 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 49 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-03 | House | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 16 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-18 | House | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN... | pass | 50 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-06 | House | The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 7 | 0 |   |

## Actions (19)

- 2026-03-25: Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3197) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-25: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-19: The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga, Kim, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. (Senate)
- 2026-03-16: The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-19-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 319). (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Passed First Reading. (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Referred to EDT, WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-10: Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. (House)
- 2026-03-06: Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1113-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading. (House)
- 2026-03-06: Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 03-10-26. (House)
- 2026-03-03: The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. 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)
- 2026-02-27: Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Tuesday, 03-03-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-02-18: Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 427-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. (House)
- 2026-02-18: 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 none excused (0). (House)
- 2026-02-06: The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Holt, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-02-02: Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Friday, 02-06-26 8:30AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-01-28: Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 3 (House)
- 2026-01-26: Introduced and Pass First Reading. (House)
- 2026-01-23: Pending introduction. (House)

## Bill text

- Bill Text: [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_SD1_.pdf)
- HB1939_HD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_HD1_.HTM)
- HB1939_HD2: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_HD2_.HTM)
- HB1939_SD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_SD1_.HTM)
- Original: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_.HTM), [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_.PDF)

## Related bills

- SB 847: RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS. (became law)
- HB 2021: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION. (signed)
- SB 2338: RELATING TO HOUSING. (signed)
- HB 2344: RELATING TO SCHOOL FACILITIES. (signed)
- HB 2023: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION. (signed)
- HB 1973: RELATING TO HEALTH. (signed)

## Sources
- [Bill Text (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_SD1_.pdf)
- [HB1939_HD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_HD1_.HTM)
- [HB1939_HD2 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_HD2_.HTM)
- [HB1939_SD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_SD1_.HTM)
- [Original (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_.HTM)
- [Original (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB1939_.PDF)

## Related
- [SB 847: RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB847-2026)
- [HB 2021: RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB2021-2026)
- [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 1973: RELATING TO HEALTH.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1973-2026)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1939-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).