Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

Requires the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation to reduce the number of individuals incarcerated in private, out-of-state correctional institutions. Requires reports to the Legislature. Effective July 1, 3000. (HD2)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO OUT-OF-STATE OFFICES.

Requires and appropriates funds for the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to establish an out-of-state office in the Philippines. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

AQUINO

RELATING TO CONSERVATION ENFORCEMENT.

Appropriates funds for equipment for the Oahu Branch of the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Effective 1/1/2050. (SD1)

Jarrett KeohokaloleDemocrat

RELATING TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriates moneys to the Department of Accounting and General Services for the replacement and relocation of the Oahu Community Correctional Center. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Establishes the retail delivery safety fee of 50 cents to be imposed on a retailer for each transaction involving a non-food item retail delivery in the State. Allows the retailer to transfer the fee to the purchaser. Creates certain exemptions. Requires the Director of Taxation to deposit the collected fees into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund. Allows the Director of Taxation to deposit collected fees that cover the administration of the retail delivery safety fee into the state general fund. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF NON-AGRICULTURAL PARK LANDS.

Allows the Department of Land and Natural Resources to transfer certain public lands for agricultural use to the Department of Agriculture without approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources and Board of Agriculture. Requires the Department of Agriculture, upon approval of the Board of Agriculture, to accept the transfer of and manage certain qualifying non-agricultural park lands. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

Requires the Department of Human Services to: (1) Prorate or exclude certain income from household members who are ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in determining SNAP household eligibility and benefit levels; (2) Establish a standardized medical expense deduction option for elderly or disabled household members who incur medical expenses above the federal minimum threshold; (3) Establish a pre-release SNAP application process for individuals who are incarcerated and scheduled for release; and submit annual reports to the Legislature. Specifies that the restriction under federal law prohibiting individuals convicted of certain drug-related felonies from receiving SNAP benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits does not apply in Hawaii. Repeals treatment compliance requirements for TANF benefits. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

SAN BUENAVENTURA

RELATING TO YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH.

Establishes a two-year digital youth mental health platform pilot project under which the child and adolescent mental health division of the department of health shall develop and make publicly available a digital platform providing tools and resources designed to help young people address and manage mental health challenges. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. (SD1)

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

RELATING TO THE KĀNEHILI COMMUNITY HALE.

Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriates funds to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for a capital improvement project for the construction of the Kānehili community hale, a new access road, and a parking lot at the Kānehili homestead.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS ON DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES LANDS.

Appropriates funds to the Department of Land and Natural

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

RELATING TO AN EARLY LEARNING APPRENTICESHIP GRANT PROGRAM.

Establishes an Early Learning Apprenticeship Grant Program to be administered by the University of Hawaii to provide financial support for early learning program service providers in the State to participate in state- or federally-approved early learning apprenticeship programs. Requires an annual report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/31/2050. (SD1)

AQUINO

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT.

Requires the Department of Accounting and General Services and Department of Transportation to develop a plan for a Comprehensive Transportation Demand Management Program to reduce vehicle emissions and miles traveled by single-occupancy vehicles. Establishes two permanent full-time equivalent (2.0 FTE) co-administrator positions, one in the Department of Accounting and General Services and one in the Department of Transportation. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2491. (SD1)

Chris LeeDemocrat

RELATING TO INSURANCE.

Requires the Insurance Commissioner to study the feasibility of the mutual insurance model for condominium associations and submit a report to the Legislature. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Kim Coco IwamotoDemocrat

RELATING TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE.

Requires the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program to design and implement a plan to increase jobs that strengthen emergency preparedness and climate resilience. Authorizes the use of the Energy Security Special Fund to advance the State's goals of strengthening emergency preparedness and climate mitigation.

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL BIOSECURITY.

Appropriates funds to the Department of Agriculture for various programs and permanent positions in agricultural biosecurity established by Act 231, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Kirstin KahaloaDemocrat

RELATING TO RETAINAGE.

Allows procurement officers to withhold a retainage fee from the total budget from contractors to ensure satisfactory project completion. Requires the retainage fee to be paid to contractors within a certain number of days of project completion. Applies to public contracts executed on or after 1/1/2026. Effective 1/1/2491. (SD1)

AQUINO

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Authorizes for a county to impose a mileage-based road usage charge. Provides for disposition of funds of county mileage-based road usage charge. Clarifies the disposition of funds of state mileage-based road usage charge. Repeals the maximum amount a driver will pay in a state mileage-based road usage charge on June 30, 2028. Establishes a default state mileage-based road usage charge rate when missing, incomplete, or incorrect odometer reading information that will prevent the state mileage-based road usage charge from being calculated. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

RELATING TO COMMUNITY OUTREACH BOARDS.

Defines community outreach board to mean a board established to serve in a community advisory capacity under a county department. Includes community outreach boards in existing provisions of the Sunshine Law relating to neighborhood boards. Authorizes neighborhood board and community outreach board members to attend meetings or presentations related to official board business statewide. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Jeanne KapelaDemocrat

RELATING TO TEACHER WORKFORCE HOUSING.

Establishes a Teacher Workforce Housing Stipend Program to support teacher retention at public and charter schools classified as hard-to-staff. Requires reports to the Legislature. Amends the purpose and uses of the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

KEOHOKAPU-LEE LOY

RELATING TO DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS.

Establishes the Due Process in Immigration Proceedings Program within the Judiciary to provide legal representation to individuals in immigration-related proceedings. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Greggor IlaganDemocrat

RELATING TO FIREARMS REPORTING.

Amends the annual reporting requirements imposed on the Department of the Attorney General and the chief of police of each county regarding licenses to carry firearms.

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

RELATING TO TAX COLLECTIONS.

Suspends the statute of limitations on collections of income tax, general excise tax, transient accommodations tax, use tax, fuel tax, conveyance tax, and rental motor vehicle, tour vehicle, and car-sharing vehicle surcharge tax during the period an assessment is pending on appeal before the taxation board of review or tax appeal court. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO HOTELS.

Requires hotelkeepers to provide adequate notice of service disruptions to guests and third-party vendors under certain conditions. Allows for recovery of damages by injured consumers. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO ALCOHOL.

Defines "low alcohol by volume spirits beverage". Establishes a tax on low alcohol by volume spirits beverages at a rate of $0.85 per wine gallon. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Jarrett KeohokaloleDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER CARRIERS.

Authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to establish automatic adjustment mechanisms. Authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to grant exemptions to any water carrier from any requirement under the Hawaii Water Carrier Act. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO HIGHWAY REVENUE BONDS.

Restores the revenue bond authorization for the Department of Transportation to issue Highway Revenue Bonds for highway capital improvement projects authorized in Act 164, SLH 2023, as amended by Act 230, SLH 2024. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

RELATING TO CESSPOOL CLOSURE.

Appropriates funds for residential sewer connection and cesspool closure subsidy pilot programs. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Exempts from the crime of cruelty to animals in the second degree the extermination of insects, vermin, and pests, and the extermination of feral chickens on private property by the property owner, under certain conditions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Cory M. ChunDemocrat

RELATING TO HEMP.

Establishes a Green Building Tax Credit for costs related to the construction of a primary structure made with at least thirty per cent Hawaii-grown hemp material. Allows any hemp processor with a permit from the Department of Health to sell an edible or beverage cannabinoid product that contains a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 2.5 milligrams per serving and not more than twenty-five servings per package. Prohibits the sale of an edible or beverage cannabinoid product to any person less than twenty-one years of age. Establishes child-resistant packaging requirements for edible cannabinoid products. Clarifies the tetrahydrocannabinol concentration limit for a non-edible legacy cannabinoid product or manufactured hemp product shall be subject only to federal restrictions. Amends the definition of "hemp biomass" to include stalks and foliage material. Requires the Department of Health to establish a dedicated hemp program to regulate hemp that is separate from the regulatory process for cannabinoid products with a high concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.

Establishes the Air Noise and Safety Task Force. Establishes the Airports Advisory Council. Authorizes the Department of Transportation to adopt administrative rules to designate an airport security area within an airport property. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD2)

Dru Mamo KanuhaDemocrat

RELATING TO REDRESS FOR WRONGFUL CONVICTION AND IMPRISONMENT.

Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide written notice to certain persons regarding the ability to file a claim for redress under applicable wrongful conviction law. Requires the liberal construction of that law. Changes the standard for a claim for compensation for wrongful imprisonment from actual innocence to grounds consistent with innocence. Provides for advance compensation for petitioners under certain circumstances. Requires the State to prove, for claims for compensation for wrongful imprisonment, that the reversal or vacating of the petitioner's conviction or pardoning of the petitioner was inconsistent with innocence. Requires reports to Legislature from the Department of the Attorney General. (SD1)

Karl RhoadsDemocrat

RELATING TO FARMS.

Creates an exclusion from income tax for the first $50,000 of gross income earned by farmers. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

WARD

RELATING TO A CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

Requires the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to develop and publish a Hawaii climate adaptation and resilience implementation plan. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/1/2050. (SD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO ABOLITION OF JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT ENTITIES IN HIGHWAY-RELATED CIVIL ACTIONS.

Abolishes joint and several liability for government entities in claims and cases relating to the maintenance and design of highways. Makes government entities liable only for the percentage share of the damages actually attributable. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Ronald D. KouchiDemocrat

PROPOSING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM.

Amends the Hawaii State Constitution to prohibit the State from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom, including the right to choose to obtain an abortion and to obtain or use contraceptives.

SAN BUENAVENTURA

RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH.

Requires the Department of Health (DOH) to track and publicly report certain data relating to crisis reports, emergency mental health transports, and court-ordered treatments. Requires the DOH to respond to reports about persons having severe mental illness who are in need of assistance, assess whether those persons fulfill criteria for assisted community treatment, and coordinate the process for an assisted community treatment order if indicated. Establishes that a court's denial of a petition for involuntary commitment shall serve as notification to the DOH that the subject of the petition should be evaluated for assisted community treatment. Appropriates funds. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

SAN BUENAVENTURA

RELATING TO CHILD WELFARE.

Establishes the Child Welfare Task Force to develop strategies and policy changes to transform and improve the State's child welfare system. Requires support from the Department of Human Services. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 12/31/2050. (SD1)

SAN BUENAVENTURA

RELATING TO FIREWORKS.

Repeals all permissible uses of consumer fireworks by minors. Establishes civil penalties for the use and sale of consumer fireworks, including nuisance abatement proceedings and forfeiture of assets used in the commission of the illegal use or sale of consumer fireworks. Appropriates funds to the Department of Law Enforcement to provide for community safety education programs. Effective 7/1/2077. (SD1)

Glenn WakaiDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER.

Authorizes the Department of Health to allow any county to implement a Gray Water Recycling Program that permits certain small farms of less than ten square acres in size the ability to use gray water for the purposes of irrigation. (SD1)

Herbert M. "Tim" Richards IIIDemocrat

RELATING TO IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS.

Establishes an important agricultural lands incentive to provide alternative means to develop housing for farmers and farm employees. Authorizes a landowner or lessee of important agricultural lands to apply to a county for a permit allowing the landowner or lessee to develop, construct, and maintain farm cluster housing. Requires each county to enact ordinances to allow farm cluster housing on important agricultural lands. Establishes requirements for farm cluster housing. Repeals existing requirements for farm dwellings and employee housing on important agricultural lands. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE SPAYING AND NEUTERING OF ANIMALS.

Establishes the Spay and Neuter Special Fund to reduce pet overpopulation and the reproduction of free-roaming cats. Establishes various revenue and fundraising sources for the special fund. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Andrew Takuya GarrettDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER RESOURCES.

Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds to the City and County of Honolulu for the planning, design, and construction of up to six monitoring wells, including a sentinel monitoring grid. Effective 5/13/2040. (SD1)

Mike GabbardDemocrat

RELATING TO BUILDING CODES.

Beginning on the date the International Code Council 2024 suite of published codes is adopted as the Hawaii state building code, makes the most recent Hawaii state building codes adopted by the state building code council supersede all existing county building codes and thereafter allows counties to amend the Hawaii state building code as it applies within their jurisdiction. Repeals the counties' authority to adopt, amend, and update the Hawaii state building codes for their respective county building codes. Effective 1/1/3000. (HD1)

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Increases the transient accommodations tax and allocates a portion of the tax to the general fund for projects that address climate change impacts and advance economic development and revitalization. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER RESOURCES.

Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriates funds to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply for the planning, design, and construction of up to six monitoring wells. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

LAMOSAO

RELATING TO TAX CREDITS.

Establishes a nonrefundable income tax credit for taxpayers who construct or install improvements to their residence that increase the residence's fire safety rating as calculated by the taxpayer's homeowner's insurance policy. Applies to taxable years beginning after 12/31/2025. Effective 7/1/2077. (SD1)

Angus L.K. McKelveyDemocrat

RELATING TO RECYCLING.

Establishes a lithium-ion battery recycling working group within the Department of Health to assess recycling methods for small and medium format lithium-ion batteries. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

LA CHICA

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES.

Limits the required payment of certain unpaid motor vehicle taxes and fees and accompanying financial penalties to those incurred during the most recent five consecutive years of delinquency. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Mark J. HashemDemocrat