# Hawaii SB 2578: RELATING TO THE FILM INDUSTRY.

Hawaii SB 2578, RELATING TO THE FILM INDUSTRY., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2) Senate bill sponsored by Lynn DeCoite (Democratic); status failed, last action 2026-04-22 (Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Fevella.); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2578-2026
- 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 2578
- State: Hawaii
- Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session (Year 2)
- Title: RELATING TO THE FILM INDUSTRY.
- Status: failed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-23
- Last action: 2026-04-22, Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Fevella.
- Sponsor: Lynn DeCoite (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: DBEDT, Hawaii Film Commission, Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit, Film Industry Development Special Fund, Establishment, Hawaii Film and Creative Industries Development Special Fund, Workforce Development, Film, Media, Reports, Appropriation, ECD, FIN
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (160 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Establishes the Hawaii Film Commission within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and transfers the rights, powers, functions, and duties of the Hawaii Film Office to the Commission. Requires appointments and hiring of staff by 12/31/2027. Establishes the Film Industry Development Special Fund. Excludes media and film from the definition of "creative industries" and renames the Hawaii Film and Creative Industries Development Special Fund as the Hawaii Creative Industries Development Special Fund. Amends the sources of moneys to be deposited into the Hawaii Creative Industries Development Special Fund. Allows the Creative Industries Development Special Fund to be used for the support and development of facilities and other initiatives to grow the State's creative industries. Requires annual reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Lynn DeCoite (Democratic), Senate
- Cosponsor: Sharon Y. Moriwaki (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-04-09 | House | House Floor Vote | pass | 49 | 0 |   |
| 2026-04-07 | House | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes ... | pass | 16 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN... | pass | 48 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-20 | House | The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The ... | pass | 6 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-06 | Senate | Senate Floor Vote | pass | 24 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-03 | Senate | The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The... | pass | 12 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-03 | Senate | The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENT... | pass | 5 | 0 |   |

## Actions (34)

- 2026-04-22: Senate Conferees Appointed: DeCoite Chair; Wakai Co-Chair; Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-04-22: Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 723). (House)
- 2026-04-21: House Conferees Appointed: Ilagan, Hussey Co-Chairs; Tam, Gedeon. (House)
- 2026-04-21: Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 800). (Senate)
- 2026-04-10: Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 514). (Senate)
- 2026-04-10: Senate disagrees with House amendments. (Senate)
- 2026-04-10: Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 564). (House)
- 2026-04-09: Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2005-26), recommending passage on Third Reading. (House)
- 2026-04-09: Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1). Transmitted to Senate. (House)
- 2026-04-07: 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)
- 2026-04-02: The committee(s) on FIN recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 04-07-26. (House)
- 2026-04-02: Bill scheduled for decision making on Tuesday, 04-07-26 10:10AM in conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-31: Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 04-02-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-25: Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1425-26) 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 none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Matsumoto, Perruso excused (2). (House)
- 2026-03-20: The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none. (House)
- 2026-03-16: Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Friday, 03-20-26 9:30AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-12: This measure has been deleted from the meeting scheduled on Friday 03-13-26 10:00AM in conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-10: Pass First Reading (House)
- 2026-03-10: Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 16 (House)
- 2026-03-10: Bill scheduled to be heard by ECD on Friday, 03-13-26 10:00AM in House conference room 423 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. (House)
- 2026-03-06: Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Ihara). Transmitted to House. (Senate)
- 2026-03-06: Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 67) in amended form (SD 1). (House)
- 2026-03-05: Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2862) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading. (Senate)
- 2026-03-05: One Day Notice 03-06-26. (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: 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, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella. (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-03-26 10:17AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2191) 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 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)
- 2026-01-30: The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference. (Senate)
- 2026-01-28: Referred to EDT, WAM. (Senate)
- 2026-01-23: Introduced. (Senate)
- 2026-01-23: Passed First Reading. (Senate)

## Bill text

- Bill Text: [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_HD1_.pdf)
- Original: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_.HTM), [PDF](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_.PDF)
- SB2578_HD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_HD1_.HTM)
- SB2578_SD1: [HTML](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_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/SB2578_HD1_.pdf)
- [Original (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_.HTM)
- [Original (PDF)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_.PDF)
- [SB2578_HD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_HD1_.HTM)
- [SB2578_SD1 (HTML)](https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2026/bills/SB2578_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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- [Hawaii state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/hawaii)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/HI-SB2578-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).