# Hawaii HB 2546: RELATING TO TAX CREDIT FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.

Hawaii HB 2546, RELATING TO TAX CREDIT FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2) House bill sponsored by Nadine K. Nakamura (Democratic); status failed, last action 2026-05-01 (Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 11:30AM in Conference Room 411.); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB2546-2026
- 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 2546
- State: Hawaii
- Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2)
- Title: RELATING TO TAX CREDIT FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.
- Status: failed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-28
- Last action: 2026-05-01, Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 11:30AM in Conference Room 411.
- Sponsor: Nadine K. Nakamura (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Subjects: DBEDT, Tax Credit, Research Activities, Qualified High Technology Businesses, Annual Cap, Tax Credit Distribution, Certification, EDT, WAM
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (163 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Amends the tax credit for research activities by: allowing qualifying taxpayers to claim the credit for all qualified research expenses without regard to the amount of expenses for previous years; amending from March 31 to March 1 the deadline for qualified high technology businesses to submit to the Department of Business, Economic development, and Tourism written, certified statements identifying qualified expenditures and the tax amount of tax credits claimed in the previous taxable year; for any taxable year the annual aggregate cap is reached, requiring the credit to be divided between all qualified high technology businesses in proportion to the amount of qualified research expenses claimed; and requiring DBEDT to establish an annual application period and notify each qualified high technology business applicant of the credit amount certified. Applies to costs incurred beginning after 12/31/2025. Repeals the credit on 1/1/2029. Effective 7/1/3050. (SD2)

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Nadine K. Nakamura (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Daisy Hartsfield (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Greggor Ilagan (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: KEOHOKAPU-LEE LOY
- Cosponsor: Lisa Kitagawa (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Matthias Kusch (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Tyson K. Miyake (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Dee Morikawa (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Amy A. Perruso (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Shirley Ann Templo (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-04-14 | Senate | Senate Floor Vote | pass | 25 | 0 |   |
| 2026-04-06 | Senate | The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 12 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-24 | Senate | The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 4 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-10 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 49 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-02 | House | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 16 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-19 | House | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN... | pass | 50 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 7 | 0 |   |

## Actions (37)

- 2026-05-01: Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 11:30AM in Conference Room 411. (House)
- 2026-05-01: Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 05-01-26 at 4:31PM in Conference Room 411. (House)
- 2026-05-01: Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:37 PM; Conference Room 329. (Senate)
- 2026-05-01: Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 05-01-26 5:40 PM; Conference Room 309. (Senate)
- 2026-04-30: Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 05-01-26 8:01AM in conference room 411. (House)
- 2026-04-28: Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Thursday, 04-30-26 8:30AM in conference room 411. (House)
- 2026-04-23: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 725). (House)
- 2026-04-22: Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-04-20: House Conferees Appointed: Ilagan, Hussey Co-Chairs; Tam, Gedeon. (House)
- 2026-04-20: Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 786). (Senate)
- 2026-04-17: Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 780). (Senate)
- 2026-04-16: House disagrees with Senate amendment (s). (House)
- 2026-04-14: Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. (Senate)
- 2026-04-14: Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 701) in amended form (SD 2). (House)
- 2026-04-09: Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3686) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). (Senate)
- 2026-04-09: 48 Hrs. Notice 04-14-26. (Senate)
- 2026-04-06: The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. 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 deferred the measure until 04-06-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-30: Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3238) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-30: The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-01-26 10:03AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-30: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-03-24: The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Kim, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga. (Senate)
- 2026-03-20: The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-24-26 1:04PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 435). (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 Representative(s) Iwamoto 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. 1111-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading. (House)
- 2026-03-06: Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 03-10-26. (House)
- 2026-03-02: 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; Noes: none; and Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-02-27: Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Monday, 03-02-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-02-19: Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 511-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. (House)
- 2026-02-19: 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)
- 2026-02-13: 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)
- 2026-02-10: Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Friday, 02-13-26 8:30AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-02-02: Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 6 (House)
- 2026-01-28: Introduced and Pass First Reading. (House)

## Bill text

- Bill Text: [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD2_.pdf)
- HB2546_HD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_HD1_.HTM)
- HB2546_HD2: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_HD2_.HTM)
- HB2546_SD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD1_.HTM)
- HB2546_SD2: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD2_.HTM)
- Original: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_.HTM), [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_.PDF)

## Related bills

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

## Sources
- [Bill Text (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD2_.pdf)
- [HB2546_HD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_HD1_.HTM)
- [HB2546_HD2 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_HD2_.HTM)
- [HB2546_SD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD1_.HTM)
- [HB2546_SD2 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_SD2_.HTM)
- [Original (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_.HTM)
- [Original (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/HB2546_.PDF)

## Related
- [SB 847: RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB847-2026)
- [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 2338: RELATING TO HOUSING.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2338-2026)
- [HB 1973: RELATING TO HEALTH.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-HB1973-2026)
- [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-HB2546-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).