Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO CABARET LICENSES.

Expands the prohibition of class 11 cabaret licenses to premises within apartment mixed use subprecincts of special districts and special improvement districts.

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.

Prohibits counties from permitting or allowing retention or detention ponds to be constructed except under certain conditions. Establishes safety requirements for retention and detention ponds statewide. Requires the department of health to conduct a survey of existing retention and detention ponds statewide.

Glenn WakaiDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER SAFETY.

Requires, and appropriates funds for, the Department of Education to establish a standards-based Water Safety Education Pilot Program.

Glenn WakaiDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Transfers the jurisdiction of the Motor Carrier Law from the Public Utilities Commission to the Department of Transportation. Transfers the jurisdiction of the Water Carrier Act from the Public Utilities Commission to the Department of Transportation. Makes conforming amendments. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2027.

Glenn WakaiDemocrat

RELATING TO THE CONVEYANCE TAX.

Establishes the Homeless Services Special Fund. Allows counties to apply for matching funds from the Affordable Homeownership Revolving Fund for certain housing projects. Increases the conveyance tax rates for certain properties. Repeals the separate conveyance tax rates for the sale of a condominium or single family residence for which the purchaser is ineligible for a county homeowner's exemption on property tax and establishes conveyance tax rates for multifamily residential properties. Establishes new exemptions to the conveyance tax. Allocates collected conveyance taxes to the Affordable Homeownership Revolving Fund, Homeless Services Special Fund and general fund. Amends allocations to the Land Conservation Fund and Rental Housing Revolving Fund.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat

RELATING TO THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX.

Establishes the Malama Aina Visitor Impact Tax Program within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to allocate funds to state agencies to improve the quality of visitor experience to sustain the economic benefits contributed by the visitor industry and protect, restore, and manage the State's natural and cultural resources. Establishes the Malama Aina Visitor Impact Tax Special Fund to fund the program. Increases the transient accommodations tax by one per cent from 1/1/2026 to 12/31/2030 and requires the additional tax revenues to be deposited into the Special Fund. Requires the Department to submit annual reports to the Legislature. Repeals 12/31/2030.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat

RELATING TO ELECTRONIC SERVICE OF PROCESS.

Allows businesses in the State to designate an email address to accept service of process in lieu of continuously maintaining a registered agent in the State.

Jarrett KeohokaloleDemocrat

RELATING TO VACANT HOMES.

Establishes a Vacant Homes Special Fund under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation for rental assistance programs. Establishes a general excise tax surcharge on an owner that allows a residential real property to remain vacant for 180 days or more a year. Requires persons who own residential real property, but do not live there, to obtain a general excise tax license. Requires the counties to disclose to the Department of Taxation a list of properties classified as not being occupied by an owner of that property. Requires the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to calculate average annual rental value for the basis for the surcharge amount.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER USE.

Authorizes the Commission on Water Resource Management, as a condition for issuing permits, to require the use of dual line water supply systems in new residential and mixed-use developments located in designated water management areas. Authorizes those residential and mixed-use developments to be included in irrigation projects, as defined in chapter 167, HRS. Authorizes the Board of Agriculture to investigate and survey the availability of nonpotable water. Requires the Department of Health, Board of Agriculture, and the counties to update their rules, ordinances, to allow dual line water supply systems in residential and mixed-use developments.

Troy N. HashimotoDemocrat

RELATING TO A STATE BREAST MILK BANK.

Establishes a state breast milk bank under the Department of Health. Establishes the breast milk bank special fund. Appropriates moneys.

Troy N. HashimotoDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Allows authorized employees of the Department of Transportation and Department of Law Enforcement to inspect and provide a certificate of certain evidence of speed limit violations obtained by automated speed enforcement systems. Appropriates funds to the Department of Transportation to establish and implement the automated speed enforcement systems program.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Requires the Civil Rights Commission to receive and investigate complaints related to acts of discrimination committed by transportation network company drivers against riders with service animals and report the results of its investigation to the Department of Transportation, which shall issue penalties to transportation network companies.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE.

Makes mandatory the suspension of the driver's license of a driver or registered owner of a vehicle for operating a motor vehicle without a motor vehicle insurance policy.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO IMPACT FEES.

Authorizes condominium associations and planned community associations located in a zoning district that allows for transient vacation rentals to impose an impact fee on owners who use their units as transient vacation rentals.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat

RELATING TO COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS.

Requires all health care providers who accept Medicare to provide a cognitive assessment as part of the Medicare Part B annual wellness visit for Medicare beneficiaries sixty-five years of age or older, with certain exceptions. Requires health care providers to submit certain information to the Executive Office on Aging and the Executive Office on Aging to report de-identified aggregated data to the Legislature on an annual basis. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2026.

Donna Mercado KimDemocrat

RELATING TO BUILDING CODES.

Amends responsibilities of the State Building Code Council.

Troy N. HashimotoDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.

Authorizes the use of motorcoaches, small buses, and vans for school bus services if certain conditions are met.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Designates student transportation as critical infrastructure and a critical service for Hawaii's public education system. Requires all school bus contracts between the State and the contractor to include certain standards, performance metrics, and accountability requirements to prevent service disruptions.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Establishes a ridesharing fee. Deposits fees collected into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Prohibits any person from engaging in any activity that has the intent and effect of distracting drivers along streets, roadways, or other public property within one hundred feet of an intersection.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO LAND RESTORATION.

Creates the Aloha Aina Land Trust to rehabilitate and manage lands transferred by the United States military to the State after the leases for those lands expires. Appropriates funds.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO SCHOOL MEALS.

Prohibits the denial of a school meal to a student based on the student's ability to pay. Requires the Department of Education and department schools to certify that all students eligible for certain programs receive free or reduced-price meals. Prohibits a department school from publicly identifying or stigmatizing a student. Requires the school to directly inform a parent or guardian regarding a student's unpaid meal fund account balance.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM INCENTIVES.

Appropriates funds to the Department of Agriculture for the continued administration of the Hawaii Healthy Food Incentive Program and to provide matching funds to beneficiaries who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Increases the percentages of local agricultural products that certain departments are required to purchase by certain deadlines. Expands annual reporting requirements to include the total spending by certain market channels. Requires certain departments and the University of Hawaii System to include a corrective action plan in their respective reports to the Legislature, should they not meet their benchmarks. Repeals the separate benchmark for the Department of Education that requires thirty per cent of food served in public schools to consist of locally sourced products by 2030. Appropriates funds for the establishment of a farm-to-state liaison position within the Office of the Governor.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO FEDERAL LAND.

Establishes an Advisory Committee convened by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Health to inventory lands owned by the United States government which may be reasonably transferred back to the State and to make recommendations on relevant land conditions and appropriateness of potential transfer. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO INTEGRATED LAND USE.

Requires the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to conduct an integrated land use study for the use of lands within the agricultural districts and submit interim and final reports to the Legislature.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT.

Establishes within the Department of Agriculture the Hawaii Agricultural Transportation Assistance Program, to consist of a reimbursement program and grant program, to assist certain farmers and livestock producers with transportation costs for agricultural products, inputs, supplies, and production and distribution of agricultural commodities. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO MĀMAKI TEA.

Imposes labeling requirements for māmaki tea grown in the State.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO THE STATE AUDITOR.

Requires the State Auditor to conduct management and financial audits of Medicaid health care insurance contractors at least once every two years, with the first audit report to be submitted no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2027. Appropriates funds.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE IMMERSION EDUCATION.

Requires the Department of Education to implement a plan for a Hawaiian language immersion school in Kapolei that shall be ready to educate students in grades kindergarten through 12 by the 2028-2029 school year. Appropriates moneys.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.

Requires the Hawaii Health Authority to develop a comprehensive plan for the establishment of a universal, single payer health care system to replace all other health care coverage in the State, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Prepaid Health Care Act. Establishes a universal, single payer health care system to be known as the Malama Care program under the Hawaii Health Authority to take effect one hundred eighty days after the approval of waivers from certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the State's Medicaid plan. Appropriates funds.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO SEARCH AND RESCUE.

Establishes within the Office of the State Fire Marshal the Office of the State Search and Rescue Coordinator. Provides for the authority and duties of the State Search and Rescue Coordinator. Establishes the search and rescue special fund. Appropriates moneys.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO STATE COMPUTER LANGUAGE.

Adopts, establishes, and designates Python as the official computer language of the State.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

Appropriates moneys for one temporary full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) archaeologist position within the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO EMPLOYER HEALTH CARE REQUIREMENTS.

Requires all health insurers in the State, including Medicaid managed care programs, to cover dental and vision treatment.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENTS.

Establishes and appropriates moneys for the development of a structural integrity assessment program within the Department of Accounting and General Services to inspect certain multi-story structures. Requires the Department of Accounting and General Services to develop a standardized assessment methodology, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii and Department of Land and Natural Resources, for use in program inspections. Requires the program to begin with assessments of structures in South Maui and West Maui. Requires annual reports to the Legislature.

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO NICOTINE.

Requires the Department of Health to determine standards for safe levels of nicotine in products to ensure the prevention of addiction. Requires the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to restrict the sale of any products that contain levels of nicotine that exceed the standards determined by DOH. Authorizes DOH and DCCA to adopt rules.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII HURRICANE RELIEF FUND.

Requires the plan of operation for the Hawaii hurricane relief fund to include the filing and litigation of subrogation claims against responsible parties for claims paid by the fund for losses attributable to climate change. Requires insurance rates for the fund to account for proceeds paid to the fund from subrogation claims.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION.

Prohibits a business from requiring cash-only payments on transactions of $25 or more. Authorizes businesses to include any actual convenience fees for credit card or debit card transactions.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP FEES.

Establishes the Environmental Stewardship Fee Program within the Department of Land and Natural Resources, through which the DLNR shall, after 7/1/27, collect a fee from visitors for a license to visit a state park, forest, hiking trail, or other state natural area. Establishes the Environmental Stewardship Fee Special Fund. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO NON-COMPETE CLAUSES.

Prohibits non-compete and non-solicit clauses in employment contracts for employees of restaurants and retail stores. Effective retroactive to 7/1/2015.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO DEEPFAKES.

Establishes the crime of unlawful creation or distribution of a sexually explicit deepfake.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO THE LAND USE COMMISSION.

Allows the counties to amend district boundaries involving land areas greater than fifteen acres without appearing before the Land Use Commission if the affected lands are included in the County General Plan or County Development Plan. Requests the LUC to update the digital state land use district maps and to encourage transit-oriented development that preserves the character of the State's rural areas.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Requires the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine to construct, establish, and operate a disease and environmental toxins testing laboratory to test samples submitted by the public for diseases; water, air, and soil quality; and complex testing. Requires a report to the Legislature. Authorizes the Director of Finance to issue general obligation bonds. Appropriates funds.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Establishes the Agricultural Development and Food Security Special Fund. Requires a portion of the Environmental Response, Energy, and Food Security Tax to be deposited into the special fund. Appropriates funds for the Department of Agriculture in an amount equal to three per cent of the State Budget.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO TAXATION.

Excludes from state income taxes the gross income, adjusted gross income, and taxable income derived from tips received by employees.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO ASSISTED REPRODUCTION.

Establishes a streamlined procedure for determining parentage in cases of assisted reproduction.

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO THE HAWAII FARM TO FOOD BANK PROGRAM.

Establishes the Hawaii Farm to Food Bank Program and Hawaii Food Assistance Program Special Fund to alleviate food shortages in the State. Appropriates funds into and out of the Hawaii Food Assistance Program Special Fund.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO NOISE POLLUTION.

Establishes that a person's conduct that produces, or causes to be produced, noise exceeding a certain decibel level during nighttime hours in any area zoned as residential or mixed-use residential is an unreasonable noise that constitutes the offense of disorderly conduct. Appropriates funds.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat

RELATING TO DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES.

Makes it a deceptive practice to advertise, display, or offer a price for goods or services that does not include all mandatory fees or charges, with certain exceptions.

Sharon Y. MoriwakiDemocrat