# Hawaii SB 2438: RELATING TO CIVIL INTERFERENCE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS.

Hawaii SB 2438, RELATING TO CIVIL INTERFERENCE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2) Senate bill sponsored by Karl Rhoads (Democratic); status failed, last action 2026-04-27 (Senate Conferees Appointed: Rhoads Chair; Kanuha Co-Chair; Awa.) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2438-2026
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Hawaii SB 2438
- State: Hawaii
- Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2)
- Title: RELATING TO CIVIL INTERFERENCE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS.
- Status: failed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-22
- Last action: 2026-04-27, Senate Conferees Appointed: Rhoads Chair; Kanuha Co-Chair; Awa.
- Sponsor: Karl Rhoads (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Counties, Hawaii Civil Rights Protection Act, Constitutional and Statutory Rights, Civil Remedies, Relief, JHA, FIN
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 7 (149 yes, 15 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Establishes a civil cause of action for interference with constitutional and statutory rights through threats, intimidation, or coercion. Authorizes private rights of action. Authorizes actions to be brought by the Attorney General, County Corporation Counsel, or County Attorney. Authorizes injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and certain monetary relief. Includes protections for constitutionally protected speech. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Karl Rhoads (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-04-14 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 43 | 7 |   |
| 2026-04-07 | House | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes ... | pass | 15 | 1 |   |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN... | pass | 43 | 5 |   |
| 2026-03-18 | House | The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 5 | 2 |   |
| 2026-03-10 | Senate | Senate Floor Vote | pass | 25 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The... | pass | 13 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | Senate | The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 5 | 0 |   |

## Actions (30)

- 2026-04-27: Senate Conferees Appointed: Rhoads Chair; Kanuha Co-Chair; Awa. (Senate)
- 2026-04-27: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 783). (House)
- 2026-04-16: Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 660). (Senate)
- 2026-04-16: Senate disagrees with House amendments. (Senate)
- 2026-04-16: Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 710). (House)
- 2026-04-14: Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Cochran, Iwamoto voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia, Gedeon, Kong, Matsumoto, Muraoka, Shimizu voting no (7) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. (House)
- 2026-04-10: Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2162-26), recommending passage on Third Reading. (House)
- 2026-04-07: The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Alcos; and Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-04-02: Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Tuesday, 04-07-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-25: Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1413-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. (House)
- 2026-03-25: Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Cochran voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia, Gedeon, Muraoka, Shimizu voting no (5) and Representative(s) Matsumoto, Perruso excused (2). (House)
- 2026-03-18: Re-referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 18 (House)
- 2026-03-18: The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Kahaloa, Takayama; Ayes with reservations: none; 2 Noes: Representative(s) Garcia, Shimizu; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Hashem, Sayama, Cochran. (House)
- 2026-03-16: Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Wednesday, 03-18-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-12: Pass First Reading (House)
- 2026-03-12: Referred to JHA, referral sheet 17 (House)
- 2026-03-10: Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. (Senate)
- 2026-03-10: Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 241) in amended form (SD 1). (House)
- 2026-03-06: Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2968) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading. (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: One Day Notice 03-10-26. (Senate)
- 2026-03-05: The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: The committee(s) on WAM has rescheduled its decision making to 03-05-26 12:04PM; CR 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-05-26 10:15AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2158) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. (Senate)
- 2026-01-30: The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-26 9:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-01-28: Referred to JDC, WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-01-22: Introduced. (Senate)
- 2026-01-22: Passed First Reading. (Senate)

## Bill text

- Bill Text: [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_HD1_.pdf)
- Original: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_.HTM), [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_.PDF)
- SB2438_HD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_HD1_.HTM)
- SB2438_SD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_SD1_.HTM)

## 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 2031: RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION. (signed)

## Sources
- [Bill Text (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_HD1_.pdf)
- [Original (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_.HTM)
- [Original (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_.PDF)
- [SB2438_HD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_HD1_.HTM)
- [SB2438_SD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2438_SD1_.HTM)

## 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 2031: RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2031-2026)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2438-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).