Bills & Legislation

RELATING TO UTILITIES.

Short form bill relating to utilities.

Scot Z. MatayoshiDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Decreases the time period for the legislative body of a county to approve, approve with modification, or disapprove housing developments exempt from certain requirements pursuant to section 201H-38, HRS, from forty-five days to thirty days.

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Establishes a working group to revise the State's Qualified Allocation Plan, the prioritization of the Rental Housing Revolving Fund, and the terms of loans made from the RHRF. Requires a report to the Legislature.

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY.

Amends the sunset date of Act 83, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, to repeal section 46-19.8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, on June 29, 2025.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO FIREWORKS.

Amends the definition of "cultural". Prohibits the use of consumer fireworks except for cultural use by permit. Repeals the wording of section 132D-3(1), HRS, that generally allows the use of consumer fireworks without a permit on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the Fourth of July. Makes it unlawful to offer, display for sale, sell, or furnish consumer fireworks to any person except for cultural use by permit. Prohibits the sale of fireworks to a person more than 5 calendar days before a permitted cultural use. Imposes a fee of $25 per permit for the purchase and cultural use of consumer fireworks. Imposes a statewide limitation on consumer fireworks, except by permit for cultural use.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO DISASTERS.

Short form bill relating to disasters.

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO MIDWIVES.

Establishes a licensing scheme for licensed certified midwives and licensed certified professional midwives, to be overseen by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Re-establishes the home birth task force to provide recommendations on issues related to home births. Dissolves the task force on 6/30/2026. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO ISLAND BURIAL COUNCILS.

Decreases the size of the Island Burial Councils from 9 to 7 members. Removes the requirement for the councils to include members having development and large property owner interests.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO DEFERRED RETIREMENT FOR POLICE.

Establishes a deferred retirement option program for police officers.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER.

Defines the public trust responsibilities of the Commission on Water Resource Management. Allows the Commission to retain independent legal counsel. Amends the scope of the Commission to include declaration of emergencies. Repeals the position of Deputy to the Chairperson of the Commission on Water Resource Management and establishes the position of Executive Director. Amends the composition of the Commission. Authorizes entities to challenge an emergency order of the Commission under certain conditions. Establishes fines for certain water use offenses.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO STATEWIDE COMPOSTING.

Requires the Department of Health to adopt or amend rules to establish a classification system for composting facilities or operations. Allows composting and co-composting in the agricultural district, including on lands with class A or class B soils. Appropriates moneys.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE SUNSHINE LAW.

Authorizes any member of a board to attend an informational meeting or presentation on matters relating to board business; provided that the meeting or presentation is not specifically and exclusively organized for or directed toward members of the board. Repeals the requirement of a subsequent report of attendance and the matters presented and discussed that related to board business at the informational meeting or presentation.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO GOVERNMENT.

Short form bill relating to government.

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE JURORS.

Authorizes the Judiciary to determine the format of the juror qualification form and the means of its delivery and return. Removes the requirement that the form be mailed.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO ENERGY.

Short form bill relating to energy.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, ORAL, OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION.

Removes requirement that all wiretapping applications made to a designated judge be accompanied by a written memorandum from the Department of the Attorney General recommending approval or disapproval.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO BRIBERY.

Establishes heightened penalties for the offense of bribery, under certain circumstances.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO TORTURE.

Defines and prohibits the offense of torture.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO LAND USE.

Short form bill relating to land use.

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO ELDER CRIME VICTIMS.

Removes state of mind requirement pertaining to a victim's age for felony assaults aggravated by the victim's age. Raises the threshold age from 60 years of age or older to 65 years of age or older.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO RECORDKEEPING.

Establishes recordkeeping requirements for secondhand dealers, requiring records to be retained for 2 years from the date of sale. Amends and standardizes recordkeeping requirements for pawnbrokers, requiring records to be retained for 2 years from the date of maturity.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES.

Short form bill relating to the department of land and natural resources.

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO DEFERRED RETIREMENT FOR POLICE.

Establishes a deferred retirement option program to allow qualified officers who are eligible for retirement to continue working.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

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. 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, and Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund. Amends allocations to the Land Conservation Fund and Rental Housing Revolving Fund.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO GENERAL EXCISE TAX.

Authorizes each county that has established a surcharge on state tax before 7/1/2015 to extend the surcharge until 12/31/2045, at the same rates, if the county does so before 1/1/2028; Provides that no county surcharge on state tax authorized for a county that has not established a surcharge on state tax before 7/1/2015, shall be levied before 1/1/2019, or after 12/31/2045; and Repeals certain conditions on the use of surcharges received from the State for counties having a population equal to or less than 500,000 that adopt a county surcharge on state tax.

Nadine K. NakamuraDemocrat

RELATING TO NATURAL RESOURCES.

Short form bill relating to natural resources.

Mark J. HashemDemocrat

RELATING TO ANIMALS.

Establishes cat owner liability for harm to property or native birds. Prohibits the care of predators on state lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Establishes administrative fines.

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL LAND TRANSFER.

Requires the conveyance of a certain parcel of land from the Department of Education to the County of Kauai. Appropriates funds.

Luke A. EvslinDemocrat

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Requires the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to: (1) Adopt the National Incident Management System as the standard for all incident management and emergency response operations; (2) Complete an after-action review for all significant emergency incidents or exercises; (3) Develop and manage position task books; (4) require the use of standardized Incident Command System forms; (5) Maintain accreditation through the Emergency Management Accreditation Program; and (6) Define specific roles and responsibilities for all Incident Command System and emergency operations center positions. Expands training and education qualifications and responsibilities for the Administrator of Emergency Management and county-level administrators or directors of emergency management. Amends the contents of the state comprehensive emergency management plan.

Linda IchiyamaDemocrat

RELATING TO OAHU CORAL REEF RESILIENCE ENHANCEMENT.

Establishes bag limits for kala, nenue, and uhu fish around the island of Oahu. Requires the Division of Aquatic Resources to conduct population assessments of these fishes and report to the Legislature. Sunsets on 6/30/2035.

Linda IchiyamaDemocrat

RELATING TO HURRICANE SHELTERS.

Appropriates funds for the Office of the Governor, in collaboration with the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, to strengthen existing hurricane shelters and develop new hurricane shelters to withstand category five hurricanes.

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO THE STATE BUILDING CODES.

Requires all newly constructed single-family residences and apartment buildings located within specified geographic areas to be built to withstand certain categories of hurricanes and to contain residential safe rooms with attached bathrooms. Effective 1/1/2026.

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Authorizes certain state government entities to establish a self-certification process for behind-the-meter, customer-sited solar distributed energy resource systems and exempt the systems from the Federal Emergency Management Agency No-Rise/No-Impact declaration requirements under certain circumstances.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Appropriates funds for the Office of the Governor, in collaboration with the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, to: (1) plan and administer income tax credits relating to emergency management or disaster preparedness and grants for low-income taxpayers to fortify their residential real property; (2) oversee the development of emergency shelters; and (3) hire necessary personnel.

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO AN INCOME TAX CREDIT.

Establishes a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for expenses paid to retrofit a residence with wind resistive devices.

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS.

Appropriates funds for the Office of the Governor, in collaboration with the Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, to oversee and administer grants to low-income residents, and condominium associations on behalf of low-income condominium owners, to fortify residential real property against hurricanes.

Della Au BelattiDemocrat

RELATING TO LONG DURATION CLEAN ENERGY STORAGE.

Amends the Hawaii renewable hydrogen program and hydrogen investment capital special fund to include a broader focus on long duration clean energy storage. Transfers responsibility for the program to the Hawaii State Energy Office. Appropriates funds.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Short form bill relating to health.

Gregg TakayamaDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Requires the Hawaii State Energy Office to conduct a statewide environmental assessment for, and subsequently administer, a Slim-Hole Resource Characterization Program. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO GOATS.

Prohibits the Department of Land and Natural Resources from establishing or implementing bag limits for goats in public hunting areas.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a streamlined grid-ready homes interconnection process. Authorizes the use of the Hawaii electricity reliability surcharge for cost recovery of certain expenses of the Hawaii electricity reliability administrator associated with the grid-ready homes interconnection process. Requires report to the Legislature on the grid-ready homes interconnection process.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO WATER.

Defines "isolated wetlands" and "wetlands". Clarifies the definition of "state waters" to include wetlands and isolated wetlands. Requires the Director of Health to determine all wetlands in the State, including whether a wetland is an isolated wetland or is included in the waters of the United States. Prohibit persons from discharging any water pollutant into or at any location that enters state waters.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO HEALTH.

Short form bill relating to health.

Gregg TakayamaDemocrat

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Establishes a two-year pilot program that, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, requires the Department of Education to provide free school lunch to all students enrolled at a department school. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Repeals on 6/30/2027.

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS.

Requires condominium associations to repair defective conditions of common elements that constitute health or safety violations. Allows unit owners to make the repairs at the association's expense.

Trish La ChicaDemocrat

RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Requires and appropriates moneys for the Public Utilities Commission to establish standards requiring each electric utility company to remove from the rate base a commensurate amount of costs related to fossil fuel resources when adding new or converted renewable electrical energy and renewable energy resources.

Nicole E. LowenDemocrat

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Beginning with the - school year, requires public elementary, middle, and high school classes to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Requires the Department of Education to adjust state-provided bus and school meal schedules accordingly.

Trish La ChicaDemocrat